valleygardener

It is a wonderful garden and happy memories are always with you. You can take divisions to your new home but maybe your new home needs its own personality reflected in the garden. I say embrace new garden opportunities. Create a new space that shows who you are now. Your retirement home garden can be the amazing sequel in your gardening history. I realize it is hard to leave but the pluses outweigh the minuses. Happy New Home and Garden!

For those of us that are allergic to Christmas trees, just being in a room with a real tree can cause health issues. My brother and I have had this issue since our teens. As much as I would like real evergreen trees or wreaths in our home, I just have to dream about it. We pull out the artificial tree each year.

It matters not to me about the resolution because the essence of this grand garden was inspirational to me. I am reworking a mixed bed and the top photo was just the vibe I want to create in the border. Thank you for a great photo design inspiration.

Great article about spacing roses. I appreciated all your thoughts on this particular subject. As a cottage gardener I have roses spaced every which way and you are absolutely right about using roses that are not disease prone.
Your photos were terrific. Keep the articles coming.

I agree with soilgoil: after six years of dealing with trying to establish a wooly thyme path,I gave up this year and covered the whole thing with shredded redwood. I hated to let go of my dream path but the maintenance was too much. I am choosing my battles and weeding the path was not worth the look of it. I now punctuate the path with bulbs and other small plantingss so there is interest amongst the redwood.
But I still love the look of the thyme in this photo so I will keep dreaming!

My relative uses an old decorative metal bar security window covering to be the trellis for her climbing rose in New Mexico. It looks great amongst the waterwise shrubbery.
Wonderful idea, thanks for putting it out into mist of ideas.

I love these colors! I read where the Blood Grass is invasive, so I put a 4 inch pot offering in a pot and had it my garden for several years. Contained and when I had to cut it back seasonally in my So Cal garden, it was easier to manage. And I could move the pot if I wanted the color elsewhere. It worked very well in my cottage garden.

This vintage hydrangea is worth trying to transplant in an area of the garden the owners can agree upon. Then the front area could have its makeover. Keep it and try a new life elsewhere, worth a try!

I like the eclectic style of the whole garden with the chair being the star. What a fun idea and I like the color of the chair with the plants on the "seat". I am inspired. thanks

I have enjoyed your blog articles on roses. Even though I have grown roses for almost 30 years, I always appreciate new information plus reminders to keep me on top of making my roses look their best. Thanks.

Very clever use of gnomes and their green home! I would be interested in Fine Gardening doing an article about gnomes, fairies and the miniature gardens one can style into their garden design.

First of all, this idea of sending a garden photo each day is wonderful. It is brightening my day. Nature gives us the signal to keep on going. Keep them coming!

As for the clematis photo, what a great combination and an idea I may plan into my garden. I am still learning about the growing cycle of clematis in my Southern CA garden but am successful with the Etoile de Violette being company to a Joseph's Coat rose.

To DanielleGardenGirl, Regarding allergies, any holiday evergreen is a problem for me and I pulled out junipers in my garden because I get a rash. I sit far from the tree when I visit homes this time of year. However I have poinsettias in different colors/styles in my home, cyclamen by the front door and I just got some new Christmas cactuses for my backyard patio. I can keep that out there all year in CA and it blooms nicely without too much effort on my part. So I can get in the spirit, I just will enjoy real trees from afar.

I care about the planet but this gardener is allergic to evergreen. I haven't had a live Christmas tree since my teens and I miss the wonderful scent besides the natural elegance of a real tree. Some people do not have a choice about the artificial tree choice.

I have enjoyed all these articles. So much good information in all Fine Gardening articles but the most special to me are any articles written by Sydney Eddison. She has a marvelous style of capturing her garden experiences and experience in her articles. Keep them coming Sydney.

I enjoyed this " happy garden accident" thought,thank you. I planted Grandpa Ott's morning glory too many years ago to remember. I had pulled it out in my changeable country cottage garden but I still find it on occasion. Well, this year I had a "happy garden accident with the lovely dark purple colored blooms entwining my pillar structure and mingling with the Joseph's Coat rose. I would like to think it a garden gift and not an accident at this point. But it got me smiling. One of my neighbors said if you plant morning glories you will have them forever so maybe I will find more "happy accident/gifts".

Thank you for your "death to nutsedge" advice. I am thinking the cost would be too great to do the Geotextile/mulch for my space. I might consider Milwaukee if the nutsedge still came through the fabric after all that! Luckily I only have it in the front yard and not in the backyard but being located on a corner lot, there is alot of territory. I have replaced one side of my corner with rhaphiolepis, salvia, teuchrium, and bearded iris and have kept some of the nutsedge at bay but it is always there. My neighbor used a chemical and I just hate to go that route.

I will keep reading the blogs and hoping for the best.

It is a good list of choices for alternatives to lawns. But my question is; how does one get rid of nutsedge organically without using a toxic chemical? If I could figure out how to rid my yard of nutsedge I might consider removing the lawn. The lawn is CAMOUFLAGING the nutgrass right now. I do not wish to be a slave to handweeding nutgrass as I already busy with that task in the flowerbeds. If one has a large area, it is too daunting to think of days of weeding. I don't need the grounds pristine but would like a manageable prospect.

I love geraniums and pelargoniums as well. In the summer heat of the valley here in SoCal, their color is a always welcome and consistently happening. That is why it is a classic. Also I agree with GardenWiseGuy, I have an "Ace of Spades" sweet potato vine amidst many vibrant colors of geraniums-wonderful combo.
Another attribute is high impact color with big blossoms from afar.