DIARY OF AN URBAN GARDENER

A Summer Day

2011-07-16T22:56:00.004-04:00

There is nothing like a new video program to get me motivated to gather up some recent photos of the garden and post on the blog.
It has been a lovely summer, in spite of some nasty storms, but compared to some parts of the county, we can't complain.
This video contains some favorite flowers that are in bloom this month. Every day I walk around just to see the day lilies, the flower that lasts just one day. I am always afraid I will miss the most beautiful one.
Day lilies always remind me of the fleeting beauty of the garden. It also reminds me to take the time to enjoy the beauty of it all.

Angel, the Garden Cat

2011-07-16T22:21:00.005-04:00

Angel decided to live with us after her owner got a new dog. She refused to cross the doorstep of her old home after such a betrayal. and set out to find a new home, A home without dogs. Despite all efforts to send her back, it was decided by all parties that she would live with us. For the past three years she has reigned as queen of our gardens and homes. A cat that knows what she wants and set out to get it, no matter what anyone else had to say.
In the above photo she is perched on top of the pergola, where she can see everything in her kingdom, and to make sure there are NO dogs anywhere in her world.

Painting the Garden

2010-06-02T21:12:00.003-04:00

If I have extra money to spend on the gardens I look at my plant dream list and head out to shop.
So, sometimes I have to come up with some thrifty ways to solve other problems.
A few small cans of paint is easy on the budget and can do wonders for color problems in the garden. My rule is when in doubt, paint it. There is now a paint for every surface, even plastic. Before you go out to buy paint, check your basement and garage first. If you are like me, you probably have enough paint and brushes to do any number of projects.

Hosta gardens

2010-03-28T19:49:00.000-04:00

I guess every gardener is a plant collector in a way. I do have a collection of fruit trees that I love, but I have never tried collecting all of one kind of plant before, until suddenly I started expanding my hosta collection. and here is the photo that got me started.
The photo came from The American Hosta Society a wonderful place to visit, it has everything you need, to learn about growing hosta. Stop by their web site but be careful, it will make a collector out of you.

Rocky New England

2010-03-24T19:51:00.002-04:00

The shade garden

2010-03-24T18:59:00.003-04:00

This is a video of the first garden I ever made, about twenty years ago. It has held up well over the years.
Even though it is a shade garden for the most part, it does get sun for about five hours a day. Even the plants under the tall trees get a few hours of morning sun.
This is truly a secrete garden, it can only be seen from our house, and people are often surprised when they come upon it. It is now planted with easy care plants and takes very little time to care for, maybe that is why it is the garden I relax in most often. No matter how many new gardens I make, I always come back to this one, it is the garden of my heart, hidden and filled with wonderful memories.

Garden Journals

2010-03-24T14:02:00.001-04:00

This is the first in a series of new videos for my You Tube Channel.
I made this short video on a program called Photo Story 3 for Windows. It is the best program out there for making slide shows with photos for P.C.s It is absolutely user friendly and fast. You can pan and zoom anyway you choose, add captions, voice overs, and music. You can also edit in the program, add transitions, and effects. It takes up only a small amount of space on your computer and best of all, it is FREE. The files are compatible with Windows Movie Maker so you can also add video.
If this program did not come with your P.C. you can download it in just a few minutes. I downloaded it to Windows 7 and it works just fine. I also have Windows XP, and it works great on that too.
Here is the link I use, Photo Story 3

My garden videos

2009-04-03T13:18:00.003-04:00

FRONT PORCHES

2008-02-01T10:57:00.001-05:00

We are a neighborhood of front porches. Most of the houses on our street are from 70 to 130 years old, an era when front porches were a necessity to enjoying the summer near the shore. It is one of the joys of summer to sit on the front porch, after dinner, amongst the potted plants and wind chimes, having a cup of coffee and watching the world go by. I have noticed that people buying houses in the neighborhood take great care and expense to restore the front porches, and have even said that is what first attracted them to the area.
I don't know how common this is, but on hot summer evenings when a thunderstorm brews up, everyone goes out on their porches to watch the storm come in. Children sitting on their father's lap, adults sitting on porch rails, yelling comments like we are at a spectator sport," Wow did you see that that lighting in the north!" or "Ron, you left your truck window open". It is apparent that word of how dangerous electrical storms can be, has not reached our neighborhood. As the rest of the neighbors hear all this yelling, they come out and join in. We all watch that last jogger or bike rider racing up the street, before the heavens open up and we all get rained out, and we always say the same thing as we head inside, "This will be good for the gardens".

I would garden all day every day if I could, but I have never had a great fondness for potted plants.They require a great deal of time that I would rather spend out in the garden. I usually do just enough to fill the obvious spots. Luckily, my daughter likes container planting and now does all the hanging plants and pots. The above photos are her porch, the house next door.

In the above photo you can look through four front porches ending in a tan house that has no porch. Even though we may not have the time to while away the hours on our front porches, everyone loves to decorate their porches for summer. Even neighbors who don't garden, do hanging plants and potted plants on their front porches. They may shame me into doing a better job with my own porch plantings.

Here is great web site called " the Evolution of the American Front Porch".
"Nobody thought much about the front porch when most Americans had them and used them. The great American front porch was just there, open and sociable, an unassigned part of the house that belonged to everyone and no one, a place for family and friends to pass the time."
--Rochlin, The Front Porch, in Home, Sweet Home