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
It’s been a month since I began working on the garden, and there is still a lot to do. After a cold winter, it warmed up much faster than expected, with 80-degree days early on. As a result, I’m fighting weeds much earlier than usual. VMLP photography projectsContinue Reading
I’ve had bee balm since 2014. Every year, it sends up 20-30 3.5-foot-tall scarlet flowers. After a few years, I discovered a raspberry variety that bloomed longer and looked better over the summer. I planted raspberry and removed the scarlet (to the extent it’s possible to remove bee balm). AfterContinue Reading
Taking only a 135mm lens out for a walk proved to be just as jarring as the 24mm. Taking the 24mm and 135mm out on separate walks has given me a new appreciation for quality zooms. As with the 24mm, I quickly discovered I’m a poor judge ofContinue Reading
The Society Garlic has never had a fair chance. I planted it in July 2022, too late for Atlanta, but it seemed to hold on over the summer, which had more frequent rains than usual. It faded in the fall, but I had expected as much. However, the polar vortexContinue Reading
These images were taken on October 24 as the gardening season draws to a close. Frost usually occurs within the first few weeks of November, so bloom time is ending. I’ve done no deadheading, pruning, or watering this season; still, there are late-season blossoms. Black-eyed Susans are usually gone byContinue Reading
Posh folks use “winter” as a verb, as in “We wintered in Palm Springs.” Although my unplanted sweet potato vines and geraniums do not count as posh items, I didn’t want to see them die, having never been properly seated in pots. I bought them along with 30 or moreContinue Reading
Since 2014, the garden’s first season, I cannot recall a winter when the local temperature fell below 18. Even then, the cold was limited to nighttime. Typically, nighttime temps in December are, at worst, in the mid-30s with occasional lower temps for a few hours at best. The polar vortexContinue Reading
By the time the first frost arrives each year, I am ready to welcome it. Managing a garden, even a small one, is more work than it seems, a fact I discovered within a few weeks of my first gardening season. First, there is digging, fertilizing, and planting. Then, onceContinue Reading
Gardening makes one pay attention to yearly cycles. Before I planted a yardful of flowers, rain was a random occurrence with pluses and minuses. It could be welcomed as a respite from the heat or dreaded as the bringer of humidity that makes it unbearable. It could be the reasonContinue Reading
