Enlightened Gardens

Guided GardensTour
I usually visit the Christchurch Botanic Gardens not quite knowing what I'm looking for, and come home with nothing but duck photographs. To improve my random garden reporting, this spring I decide to take a guided tour.

Posted by blogposter at 07:50 PM | Permalink

Is there a Hallmark card for this?
If you saw my brother, Alby seated at a restaurant or walking in the park, your first thought might be, "Wow, nice looking guy. Beautiful hair." But Alby is dying. He is addicted to heroin.

I guess most every family deals with stuff like this. Maybe not heroin, but alcohol, mental illness, whatever. (Our family just happens to deal with all three.)

And so, after returning from recent travels, I hit the the ground running AND hit the wall at the same time. For starters, our Galley Gourmet dinner cruise season started up, the garden needed attention, there were bills to pay and yadda yadda. Yet one thing kept nagging my brain: Alby will be celebrating his 52nd birthday on June 5. But at the rate he's going, I don't think he's going to make it to 53.

Posted by blogposter at 11:04 AM | Permalink

Lovely Louisianas
Just a reminder that time is running out to order Louisiana irises from many of the online vendors. Two very reputable sellers, Zydeco Irises and Iris City Gardens, both have order deadlines of September 1. Although several varieties have sold out, there are many beauties left over at Iris City Gardens...at least, there will be until they pull my order. I went a little overboard. Click on the

Fairy Fishing Rods

Green Beans etc

Posted by blogposter at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Adrian
Adrian Originally uploaded by croatoan_found. I garden because it allows me to do something positive, creative and life-affirming. Some things work and some don't. And it allows me time to simply think about things.I've had too much to think about lately.A week ago, a 22 year old friend of my son passed away. For no apparent reason. He was playing on an indoor soccer team with his

Garden weirdness, Part I
Fungus Originally uploaded by croatoan_found. I've been noticing some very odd looking maple leaves in my yard. I was going to stop by a local nursery to ask what's up when an article in the Boston Globe provided an answer: Fungus.Arborists say the biggest problem they are seeing is anthracnose, a fungus that causes the veins of a leaf to turn brown before overtaking its edges and then

The garden in August
Goldfinch among the Black-eyed Susans Originally uploaded by croatoan_found. I spent the weekend weeding. I had neglected the dreary aspect of gardening during the sweltering days in July and early August and now the weeds have run amock. I tore through about six barrels of weeds and still have plenty more.The goldfinches have fallen in love with the black eyed Susans. They perch and

Good news and bad news
Butterfly Originally uploaded by croatoan_found. The weather has been very hot (low 90's) and humid. Several plants like the ferns in the deep shade seemed to have exploded in growth during this period. I thought these ferns were killed off by the heavy rains earlier this year but they look very good right now.However...The peonies have developed what appears to be powdery mildew. Almost

Posted by blogposter at 11:01 AM | Permalink