Plant Card, Helleborus Foetidus

First in a series of plant cards, feel free to download and collect. Click on photo to enlarge and right click to choose save.

A early spring favorite  in the semi-shade garden, I usually start looking for the first signs of buds in the middle of  February. This year the whole garden is covered in three feet of snow, with more snow on the way.  I am not planning on a early spring. This common hellebore is very hardy and needs little care once it is established, so I am hopeful that by April I may see some blooms. 

Angel, the Garden Cat

                                                                                                   

 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

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

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.

The shade garden

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

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