Snake plants
The term Mid-century Modern has become a buzzword in popular design. But did you know that term wasn’t even around until the 1980s? Long after the period in question was over?
I don’t know about you but winter has come to my yard. My trees are all bare, the plants are dead and all the other natural foliage is dry and brown.
The long slumber has started until the new green shoots arrive in the spring.
The holiday season is almost upon us. According to most stores, it’s been upon us for some time. If you are ahead of schedule, or you just enjoy the holidays, you might already have your house decorated.
However, many of us are wondering how to pull together a cozy, inviting, and festive look that won’t break the budget and goes beyond garland, lights or blow-up figures on your front lawn.
Have you been putting off winterizing your garden?
Fall is a busy time. Many of us have kids who go back to school – and all that comes with preparing for that. Many of us have clubs and organizations that begin again in the fall and we resume things we may have taken a break from during the summer.
This summer marked a huge change for organic food lovers. Amazon bought Whole Foods and immediately marked down prices.
Hardy agave plant covered in snow
Did you know that some desert plants can survive in cold climates?
Months ago, in my cold and rainy Michigan town, I was shocked to discover a neighbor had a cactus bed apparently thriving on the street side of their house.
Could this possibly be cactus, I wondered? It certainly looked like cactus: spiny lobes, low-growing. I couldn’t imagine how this desert plant would survive here, much less thrive and look very healthy. After all, in the not-so-distant past in this state, we’ve had winter temperatures of 10-30 degrees Fahrenheit below zero.
I love learning about new plants, don’t you? It seems like, no matter what plant you choose to learn about, someone, somewhere has tried it in a new location or made it do something new. The beautiful thing about plants in human hands is that there will never be an end to the combinations that are possible. Plants do new things all the time and people continue to surprise me with their creativity.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about new things to do with container plants on my front porch. It would be nice to have something that can transition to cold weather so I don’t have to be digging in cold soil once the frost sets in. Here in Michigan, you never know when that will be. We could have snowy weather from October through May. Or we could have fairly warm weather straight through December.
Rice fields terrace gardening at Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai, Vietnam.
My family and I drove through Iowa one summer on our way to Colorado. I have to say that Iowa might be our nation’s best-kept secret. Of course, it’s not a secret to everyone. It was just a secret to me.
I should have remembered the movie, Field of Dreams. The beauty of the rolling hills and farms was inspiring. I felt like I was in the shire depicted by J.R.R. Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings series.
The new film, Blade Runner 2049, depicts an earth in barely-restrained crisis. Its population has ruined all ecosystems and filled the world with trash – among other things.
Actually, these crises are just the backdrop for the main plot of the story. It has very little to do with trash production or with the synthetic food humans are driven to consuming.
If you’ve caught the gardening bug, you may know instinctively that this activity is especially good for your health. It seems that gardeners have known this for centuries – maybe even longer.
Maybe it’s in our DNA. Human beings were made to live outdoors and commune with nature as much as any wild animal. Scientific studies are showing that we can find evidence for what gardeners have always known was true. If you want to be healthy, take care of the earth!
The opposite of this is showing its ugly face in our national health crisis. Numerous documentaries have shown how our current practices are making us ill: