One of the two Pink Knockout roses at the end of the lane before pruning. See all of those dead canes? If I keep it, it will be half this size for summer. Not necessarily a bad thing. As I go about my spring chores in the garden, I've looked at my roses with much dismay. They aren't well. The damage is so bad I pondered whether they have Rose Rosette Disease although I haven't seen the characteristic foliage on any roses that remain in my garden. Remember, I shovel pruned those that were sick. So, let's assume that all of my roses don't have it. I don't know if I could take that. Dead and withered rose cane closeup. I have seen this all over the garden. Only a few roses escaped the carnage. What has caused this damage then? I know my soil is fine because all of...

The back garden after I did a bunch of work this morning. We just finished winter--I hope--and now spring has decided to come on like a fast-moving train. At 1:00 p.m., it's 72F with a forecasted high of 81F. Sounds lovely, but it's also ten degrees too hot for this early in the year. At this rate, my lettuce won't have a productive end in my salad bowl before it turns bitter. The tulips will grow up too fast like leggy teenagers, open themselves up flat as though in supplication to the sun and then, promptly wither. These temps remind me of 2011, but I'm trying to stay calm. Let's hope we don't have another year of hellish temperatures like that one. My soul can't take it. Daffodils count for pure enjoyment. Rodents and deer don't like them, and they return year after year. Instead, let's enjoy our current daffodils...

Last week, my family celebrated spring's arrival with a St. Patrick's Day party. We do this every year, and it's one of my favorite get togethers. I decided I wanted to showcase my glassybaby collection (small that it is) with flow blue china. Bill gives me a piece of flow blue for nearly every holiday, but especially at Christmas. I don't collect a particular pattern, but I like older pieces, especially Devon, Dahlia and Touraine. As for glassybaby, show me one I don't like. I think their appeal is the blown glass, and the fact that the company gives ten percent of every purchase to charity. I'm into the greens now probably because it's spring. I bought hidden moss yesterday. I can only afford them in ones and twos. The ones shown below are hide & seek with cherish on the far right. I planted violas in a flow blue china...

Gardens don't have to be expensive. Here are several flowers to grow from seed. All can be sown directly outdoors too. Many of them come from cottage gardens or your grandmother's garden, and there's a good reason. They are almost all self-sowing and easy to grow. If you have decent soil and can scratch a little of it away to plant your seeds, they're that easy. If you want to know more about starting seeds indoors, please visit my other blog, The 20-30 Something Garden Guide because I've posted a lot about indoor seed sowing there. These seeds are in no particular order as to favorites. I like them all and plant them every year. These flowers are also high in nectar and pollen if you plant older varieties. That means your garden will be full of butterflies and other pollinators too. Is there any more complicated flower structure than...