What would you do if garden royalty (she's going to kill me) said she'd like to meet you and see your garden? Would you worry? Would you scurry? I know you'd put out the welcome mat.  I was so excited I forgot everything including my weekly Dear Friends and Gardeners letter while I got the house as ready as possible yesterday.  I wanted the garden in perfect shape, but then I decided she wouldn't mind the beds not completely mulched, and that there were some weeds. She would understand. She's a gardener too. Once upon a time, when I was a mother to two toddlers and a bonus mom to a teen, I began making a garden at our log home. I often felt all alone as I puttered outdoors because my children were small, and I didn't know any other gardeners. Because I didn't have anyone with whom to...

One of the Araucana Americana hens with a Barred Rock hen behind her Chicken love.  It's in magazines everywhere lately. I made a run to Barnes & Noble bookstore and picked up a few favorite titles, and this is what I found during that one trip. A gorgeous Appenzeller Spitzhauben pullet named Heidi sports the cover of the June/July issue of Organic Gardening. Inside, an article models especially fancy schmancy breeds.  Most of my chickens aren't quite so stylish, but they still sport a certain undeniable chicken splendor. Black Australops are among my favorite breeds. They are gentle and excellent layers of brown eggs. In the current issue of Urban Farm (a sister publication of Hobby Farm Home), chickens abound, and there's a great article on backyard coops in the city. Locally, Oklahoma City still doesn't allow city chickens (ridiculous), but there are still plenty of people with them ensconced...

Please welcome Jennifer Benner, co-author with Stephanie Cohen of The Nonstop Garden, published by Timber Press.  Jennifer has a horticulture degree from The Ohio State University and is a former associate editor at Fine Gardening magazine. She and her husband, Brent, live in northwest Connecticut. As part of our celebration of RDR's first guest post, Timber Press is giving away a copy of the The Nonstop Garden.  To enter the contest, please leave a comment below. The winner will be selected at random. The Contest ends on Wednesday, May 26th at Midnight CST. Is it just me, or is it human nature to wait until the last minute to finally begin tackling a project? I like to think I’m not alone. It seems as though I’m constantly attempting to juggle lots of projects at once, letting a few hit the ground while keeping the most urgent ones going. Unfortunately, one...

Home keeping I like, but housekeeping is a chore.  That's why my house isn't spotless, but my kids get good dinners most nights. A couple of years ago, I realized why I don't see deadheading as a chore any longer. For those of you who don't garden incessantly, deadheading is not only following The Grateful Dead around the country. It is pruning away those parts of the plant which have finished blooming to give the garden a neater appearance and to encourage the plant to rebloom (if it has that ability). I find when I take a few moments every morning or evening to deadhead blooming shrubs like spirea, roses, irises and later daylilies, I begin to slow down and allot myself the space to think, and an interval opens up for me to truly "see." Sometimes, I plan my next blog post, and the garden tells me what to...