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In a Vase on Monday: Opposites
My garden is in the midst of its summer doldrums; however, with little help from me beyond regular watering, my cutting garden has stepped up production in response to our higher temperatures. While...
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Bloom Day - August 2024 (Early Edition)
August is the low point for floral color in my garden. If it wasn't for a burst of new blooms from my cutting garden, I'm not sure it'd be worth publishing a Bloom Day post. After a slow start the...
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Filling in the Gaps in my Day One Coverage of the Fling
It's been a busy week as I struggled to catch up with delayed housekeeping and garden demands. I've made only dents in both but I decided this was a good opportunity to catch up on my Day One coverage...
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In a Vase on Monday: Abundance
Some of the stragglers among the dahlias I've grown from tubers this year are gradually making an appearance and, with others on their way, I felt spoiled for choice when it came to cutting floral...
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Puget Sound Fling: Day 2 started at RSBG
Day Two of the Puget Sound Fling in mid-July started off with our arrival at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (RSBG). The site is twenty-two acres in size and contains the largest...
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Meet Meeko
This can't really be viewed as a garden-related post but as my feline companions have played a role in many of my posts since the inception of this blog, I decided to introduce you to my new cat. You...
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In a Vase on Monday: A change in direction
Saturday evening I had a clear idea what I was going to do to fill two vases. However, on Sunday morning I changed my direction on both. Maybe the arrangements I'd originally envisioned will...
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Another garden tour two-fer (Puget Sound Fling)
After visiting the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden and the adjacent Pacific Bonsai Museum, the Flingers landed in Milton, Washington to tour two private gardens, also adjacent. The first was the...
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Summertime focus on foliage
In my part of the world, heat combined with a prolonged dry period, results in a fair number of torched and shriveled plants by late summer. While some will come back, many will give up. In prior...
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In a Vase on Monday: Shades of pink
Last week I abruptly switched gears on the dahlias I intended to use in my floral arrangements. As it turns out, that was a good decision as my original selections were even bigger and more numerous...
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The Paulsen Garden, one of the Puget Sound Fling highlights
Camille Paulsen was a key player in pulling together the 2024 Puget Sound Garden Fling, which has a lot of moving parts, from locating sponsors to keep costs manageable for attendees and selecting...
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Neighborhood Standouts
I've resumed my regular neighborhood walks, at least when our temperatures don't soar into the stratosphere as they did yesterday and as we expect them to do again today. When that happens, we pull...
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In a Vase on Monday: Blazing hot!
The heatwave we feared was coming hit Southern California with a vengeance the middle of last week and still hasn't let go. On Thursday, temperatures along my part of the coast climbed above 102 (39C)...
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Fling visit to Heronswood Garden
We visited Heronswood Garden in Kingston, Washington at the start of the third day of the Puget Sound Garden Fling in July. We had the entire morning there, which you'd think would've been enough time...
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Making a start
I had all sorts of plans for work in my garden before I left to join the Puget Sound Garden Fling. However, shortly after I returned, I was downed by a bout of COVID. Once that was behind me, late...
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In a Vase on Monday: What heatwave?
No, I haven't forgotten our recent scorching six-day heatwave. However, dahlia flower production was unabated - it even appeared to step up in many cases. Their foliage may look awful and dozens of...
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Bloom Day - September 2024 (Late, late edition)
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, the long-standing meme created by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, didn't fall neatly into my schedule this month so this post is three days late. My garden is usually at its...
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Making the most of limited space: The Heckler Garden
The last day of the Puget Sound Garden Fling was notable for its inclusion of big, well-known gardens. It included stops at Heronswood and Windcliff, both famous gardens designed by Dan Hinkley. But...
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In a Vase on Monday: Kicking off the fall season
Although the calendar says we've entered the fall season, "Indian summers" are the norm rather than the exception here in coastal Southern California. For one thing, we don't get frosts. However, in...
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Adjustments
I met a good friend for lunch earlier this week. We'd worked together at a start-up company many years ago, she as legal counsel and me in human resource management. After that company was acquired...
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