Impressionist colors fill the yard. During June, when the garden is at its peak, waves of purple, magenta, yellow, lavender, mauve, and indigo greet me every time I venture out into the heat. My favorite colors are yellow and lavender. In years past, the catmint began the lavender waveContinue Reading
Sulphur Yellow cosmos are intensely yellow-orange annuals that produce blooms for weeks. The flowers are so bright and cheery that they demand attention. I had never heard of them until a few grew from the mixed wildflower seeds I planted in the strips last year. Three plants grewContinue Reading
Last year, I planted wildflower seeds in the strips along the sidewalk. Many of those seeds turned out to be annuals, so this year the strips were bare well into March. Thinking I would use inexpensive, colorful annuals to fill in the gaps between the coneflowers and tickseed, IContinue Reading
“Hot and dry” is the best way to describe this spring. From mid-March until last week, rain has been scarce. I had to start my watering routine far earlier than normal. Despite the lack of water from above, there has been an unexpected explosion of wildflowers. LastContinue Reading
Description: An orchid in full bloom Background: Last Father’s Day, my daughter gifted me this orchid. At the time, it was in full bloom, and, after a few months, the blooms fell off. Having heard that orchids were notoriously difficult to grow and maintain, I assumed those were theContinue Reading
Azaleas are the first flowers to appear each spring. We have a few varieties, and the bright coral blooms are always the first to appear. Most bushes face north and are in constant shade for most of the day year-round. However, there is one bush facing west that receives sunlightContinue Reading
Usually, by late November, all the flowers are gone. This autumn has been different. After a one-day freeze, the temps returned to the 70s, and flowers are still blooming. The coneflowers have new blooms, and the red sage is still vibrant. Even the sweet alyssum, which usually dies with theContinue Reading
It hasn’t rained in almost seven weeks. Despite the lack of rain, many flowers are happily blooming. I cut back the black and blue saliva, which had become yellowed and ungainly, to the point where only one-foot stalks remained. Six weeks later, it’s lush and loaded withContinue Reading
For years, I have been battling the elements in two small patches of land between the front sidewalk and the street. At one point, variegated liriope lived there, but it allowed too many weeds to grow. Since 2020, various combinations of angelonia, verbena, ice plant, and other plants haveContinue Reading
Typically, rainy season in Atlanta lasts from September through April. During those months, it rains at least once per week, and those are good, drenching rains that last for hours. Many, if not most, of these rains originate in the Gulf and move north and east. From MayContinue Reading
