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2017 Garden Bloggers' Fling - Enchanted woodland gardens
Today's post covers the last 2 of the 6 private gardens participants in the Capital Region Garden Bloggers' Fling toured on the second day of the event back in June. Both were large wooded parcels,...
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In a Vase on Monday: Silver looks good with everything
The silvery Leucadendron 'Pisa' that sits outside my home office had become top-heavy and during the high winds that accompanied last week's thunderstorm I was concerned that some of its branches might...
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Wednesday Vignette: Full moon over the Los Angeles Harbor
Last week, on September 5th, I caught sight of the full moon hanging low over the Los Angeles Harbor just after twilight's end. Usually, any photos I take of the harbor at night are blurry at best....
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September Scavenger Hunt - Bloom Day Edition
I stepped into the garden to conduct my Bloom Day survey believing once again that I didn't have much going on. In actuality, there are a lot of plants with blooms but few plants with a lot of blooms....
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Foliage Follow-up - The first signs of fall
With the return of cooler temperatures in coastal Southern California, I've thrown myself into a variety of fall garden projects and had just about forgotten that it was time to celebrate the foliage...
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In a Vase on Monday: Zinnias steal the show
I'd planned to showcase one of my large-flowered Grevilleas, 'Ned Kelly', accenting it with Dahlia 'Terracotta', but the latter's blooms were looking shabby so I cut Zinnias instead. As it turned out,...
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Wednesday Vignette: Checking out the Dahlias
I'd been planning to stop by my local botanic garden to check out its dahlia display for well over a month. Last weekend, the garden had an orchid show so I popped over. There were lots of pretty...
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2017 Garden Bloggers' Fling: Final views
I'm wrapping up my coverage of the Capital Region Garden Bloggers' Fling with photos from 2 more venues from the last day of our tour. The first stop of the morning on June 25th was Merrifield Garden...
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In a Vase on Monday: Summer re-run
After 2 pleasantly cool, fall-like weeks, summer is mounting a re-run here this week, with temperatures expected to climb back up into the mid-to-upper 80sF as our notorious Santa Ana winds return....
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Wednesday Vignette: Autumn's Darker Side
Unlike gardeners in cold winter climates, Southern California gardeners generally welcome autumn, which is frequently referred to here as our second spring. Temperatures drop and our winter rainy...
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First Fall Garden Project: Succulent Bed Renovation
I haven't been happy with the succulent bed I created in front of our garage since I finished it in March 2016. After removing all the lawn in that area, we laid a flagstone walk; my husband created a...
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September Favorites
I'm once again joining Loree of danger garden in identifying the plants that earned my favor this month. The exercise, which has me making the rounds of my garden to see what's doing well, is always...
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In a Vase on Monday: One side or another
I almost always show the arrangements I create for "In a Vase on Monday" from various angles. While the front and back views are sometimes very different, the front view is usually the splashier of...
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Wide Shots - October 2017
How quickly 3 months can fly by! My last wide shots post was published in July, at which time I bemoaned the condition of my summer garden. At the time, I harbored the delusion that the weather would...
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Not much to look at
In addition to the one major project I've undertaken since our seasonal shift began last month, I've been chipping away at a host of smaller garden projects and tasks. They're not much to look at, at...
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In a Vase on Monday: There's always something
Stepping into the garden to cut flowers and foliage for "In a Vase on Monday," hosted each week by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden, I'd no big ideas about what to use. First up, I checked the...
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Wednesday Vignette: Looking for the bright spots
In a painful year, the last several weeks have been especially bad, as hurricane after hurricane battered the US and the Caribbean Islands, a major earthquake hit Mexico, a madman attacked...
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Plants and Pumpkins
Last Saturday, a friend and I visited the "Fall Plant Boutique" at my local botanic garden. This event replaced a more robust fall plant sale the garden used to sponsor annually. Although I buy...
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Bloom Day - October 2017
It's a subdued October Bloom Day. Some of the flowers I count on to make the biggest splash at this time of year are running late relative to the last 2 years, which I find strange as we were plagued...
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In a Vase on Monday: The last dahlia
While there are yet a few buds on the dahlias, most of these dry up in no time during the hot, dry weather we've been experiencing. Dahlia 'Punkin' Spice' surprised me by producing one beautiful,...
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