Winners of the Monitor’s first photo contest
By Judy Lowe | 07.01.09
When we set up a Gardening With the Monitor group on Flickr, we weren’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t long before members appeared — and lots and lots of wonderful garden and nature photos. As we clicked from one group of impressive plant images to another, we were impressed.
Each one seemed more appealing than the one before. What about having a photo contest, we wondered, and ask a professional photographer to decide which were the best.
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The Transplanted Gardener in the Big Valley, distracted by little landscapes
By Craig Summers Black | 06.30.09
The discovery of a new (to me) plant causes so many emotions: an appreciation of the part nature plays in making this a more beautiful world, a better place. Also lust and greed.
I found Coleonema ‘California Sunset’ (Breath of Heaven) (second photo above) while on a weeklong return to my old haunts in the Golden State. And I would say, “Gotta have it,” if only it were winter-hardy in the harsh climes of the heart of the Heartland.
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The Rose Whisperer: Déjà vu all over again
By Lynn Hunt | 06.24.09
If baseball great Yogi Berra were a dedicated reader of The Rose Whisperer (and maybe he is!), he’d probably think he’d seen Photo No. 1 above before. And the quotable Mr. Berra would be exactly right.
I took the picture back on May 1 to accompany my first Whisperer posting. In that post, I wrote about the relationship between writing and gardening. I also offered some tips for rejuvenating tired soil and planting a new tree rose.
Soon, the tree rose was coming along very nicely. In fact, today it’s covered with blooms.
But along the way, this little patch of garden took an unexpected turn. The tree rose was supposed to be the focal point — the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae. Instead, the plants around the Baby Blanket rose (see Photo No. 2) have at long last stolen the show.
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The Transplanted Gardener: What’s black and white and mulch all over?
By Craig Summers Black | 06.16.09
After lo, these many years, I have sold off the menagerie. The llamas, the miniature fainting goats, even Lucy the miniature donkey – all gone.
And I am not a particularly popular guy in the household. “Dad, how could you?”
But last winter was one winter too many of having to go to the barn when it is 25 below outside and the 50 mph wind is scouring off my facial skin. Do you know how uncomfortable it feels when your nasal hairs freeze? Thus: No more.
So that I don’t have to mow the entire pasture, and so that I can plant more stuff, and so that I can escape the disapproving stares I am receiving in the house, I am planting stands of trees and putting in a loopy biking/jogging path.
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Some roses have it made in the shade, the Rose Whisperer says
By Lynn Hunt | 06.12.09
When we first start planning and planting our gardens, I wonder how many of us think about what may happen down the road.
I know I didn’t.
As someone who has moved around quite a bit, I never really had to consider what my yard might look like in 10 or 20 years. Now that I’ve been in the same location for a good while, I’ve made an amazing discovery: Trees actually grow! Which means some of my beds that once basked in the sun all day don’t catch as many rays anymore.
