Learning to Write and Paint Is Dependent on a Person’s Ability to Dig Deep and to Be Specific. When I start new writing an painting students, I always tell them that having previous experience is not necessary. Sometimes, a person’s previous training is more detrimental than helpful because my approach to teaching is different. Regardless…
Category: #Garden
The Empty Lot of My Childhood – Mow It – Make A Path – Weed to Find the Way – Joy Comes in the Morning
On one scorching hot summer morning, I heard the ratcheting sound of lawn mowers firing up. I hoped the sound was coming from my yard. For days, feather-tufted spikes of Johnson Grass had been waving jubilantly in the wind. I rushed to the door to be sure that my ears were not deceiving me, and…
My Summer of Zinnias
Purple Zinnia – Jacki Kellum Watercolor Painting June 13, 2025 The summer of 2025 is my summer of painting zinnias. I love zinnias, and they are relatively easy to draw. I decided painting zinnias would be the least painful way for me to teach myself to paint again. Therefore, I am trying to paint zinnias…
Goldfinches in My Garden – They Love Eating the Sunflower Seeds from the Live Plants
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)gun I have begun my third year of gardening in my current Mississippi garden, and I am thrilled the American Goldfinches have finally found me. What a difference two years of gardening have made. The first year I was here, I saw very few birds. But for years before that time, my…
Eden Rose –
Eden Rose Climber Blossom Jacki Kellum Garden May 6, 2025 Eden Rose Climber Blossom Jacki Kellum Garden May 9, 2025 “TOP SELLER! Eden Climber® features large, old-fashioned, fully double, 4 1/2″, cupped blooms with 100+ petals. Her blooms are a delightful blend of pastel pinks, creams, and yellows. Eden Climber® is a vigorously growing, disease-resistant…
Amethyst Falls Wisteria – The Mannerly, American Wisteria that Blooms the First Year
Image Credit: Biltmore Estate biltmore.com At least 50 years ago, I sat in the shade of the majestically vining wisteria plants that had been trained to cover a pergola at the Biltmore Estate. I had never before experienced anything more enchanting than that, and I vowed that one day I would have my own wisteria-covered…
Raised Garden Beds for Earlier Planting
Another week remains in March, but it seems like summer outside in my North Mississippi Garden. Tradition tells me that regardless of the temperature, I should postpone planting my garden for at least 3 more weeks, but since I plant in raised beds, common sense tells me that this year I can forego the limitations…
Roses in My Garden 2025
Ballerina Image Credit: Heirloom Roses Date Introduced: 1937 Type: Hybrid Musk Color: Pink/white eye Fragrance: Lightly Fragrant Size: 4′ x 3′ Rebloom: Continual Blooming Disease Resistant Has Thorns “Introduced in 1937, Ballerina is a profusely blooming rose of restrained habit. Expect hundreds of small, 2â€, pink, single blooms with a white eye borne in huge clusters…
Plants that Survived 9° in My Zone 8a Winter Garden & Plants I Added in January
After having lived in New Jersey for several years, I am back in Mississippi, and I am in awe of all my garden plants that were not phased by January’s brutally cold weather. In spite of the fact that the temperature dropped down to 9° this past month, several of my plants are still growing…
What Is A Garden Zone? How to Find Your Garden Zone – Check Again – Garden Zones Have Changed
Yesterday, I discussed Frost Dates. Today, I’m discussing Garden Zones. While you can find both your frost dates and garden zone by submitting your email in a specified place, Garden Zones and Frost Dates are not the same. A conscientious gardener needs to know both his gardening zone and his frost dates. Because of Climate…