I am Preparing to Make Edible Birdseed Ornaments to Hang Outside — For the Birds. There is nothing new about This Idea for me. I have planned to do this every year, but as I have begun my celebration of Advent, I decided that This Year, I’ll Actually Follow Through. An Outside Jesse Tree for Advent…
Category: #Lessons from My Garden
Vines in My Gardens
All morning, I have been out in my garden, trying to whittle away some of my Morning Glory vines that have thwarted the growth of my Carolina Jessamine. “Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is one of the most beautiful vines of the South. It covers fences and trees in open woodlands and along roadsides throughout the…
Mistakes — Everyone Makes Them — Let’s Move Into the Light!
“Gypsy Rose Lee of Kalamazee, In Kalmazong, Mazoo, Has Looked in Her Ball –Oh! Wonder of All– I See what she Saw was You.” Jacki Kellum Gypsy Rose Lee Jacki Kellum Illustration Reworked in Procreate Several years ago, I started a journey toward learning how to make art on my iPad in Procreate. I created…
A Look at Barbara Kingsolver’s Words about the 2024 Election — Quotes from The Poisonwood Bible
In The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver wrote: “Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened.” After the 2024 Presidential Election in the USA, she may have recalled those words, but from somewhere deep within herself she managed to say the following: “Truth and love have been smacked down so many more times in…
November 1 Is My New Year: Time to Set New Resolutions – New Goals
For the past several days, I have been talking about how some of the ancient civilizations celebrated the New Year on November 1: I have decided to start my new year today, too. As of today, November 1, I have officially left the skeletons of my old self behind me, and I have resolved to…
Another Shout-Out for Stream of Consciousness – I Also Create My Youtube Videos in a Stream of Consciousness
Some of you may not know this, but for a couple of months, I have gone out into my garden several times a week, and I have talked about what is or is not growing there. Quite often, my videos pivot into something that is rather philosophical, and I label those thoughts as “Learning from…
To Everything, There Is A Season – A Fable – The Moral: Look for the Beauty of Every Time of Year
Nothing sings the song of autumn more eloquently than a sunflower withering on its stem. Mid-July I was at a nursery, purchasing a perennial that had been marked as a clearance item. Like the sunflower in the above photo, that Black-Eyed Susan [Rudbeckia] had passed its season, and it had withered almost to nothingness. When…
The Importance of Planting Pollinators in Your Garden
I have written several posts about the pollinators I plant in my gardens. Generally speaking, I focus on planting perennial pollinators. But I also add several annual pollinators. For instance, I plant Heavenly Blue Morning Glory Vines EVERY year, and the morning glories I plant are annuals. What Is A Garden Annual? An annual is…
Growing Morning Glories – Remembering My Grandmother’s Garden – Memoir Monday – Joy Comes in the Morning & Thomas Wolfe: Some Things Will Never Change
For weeks, I have watched my morning glory vines as they have slowly and tediously twisted themselves into glorious blue tapestry that has woven itself around my garden. Morning Glory Vines at the Back of My Garden – July 15, 2024 During the early part of summer, I praised my morning glory vines as they…
Antirrhinum – Snapdragons
Image Credit: Park Seed Black Prince Snapdragon – Heirloom “This dragon looks like it might really snap. A wonderful heirloom reselected for modern vigor and bloom power, ‘Black Prince’ Snapdragon is a glorious snapdragon with blooms of darkest crimson and bronzy foliage that complements the fresh greens of the spring or fall garden beautifully. “The…