Roses for Valentine's Day

For my 30th Birthday I was given roses by my loving and thoughtful husband. Who doesn't love getting roses? Although, I probably loved the sweet gift more than most women because I got to plant my roses. Unfortunately, there was an early killing frost and my roses were tragically lost. Still, they're the only gift I'm still talking about years later so...

As Valentine's Day inches ever closer I've begun thinking of roses once more. I've been aching to try some Canadian Explorer Series roses especially the Lambert Closse and the J.P. Connell varieties. The reasonably priced roses (around $15) are worth their weight in gold if they're as hardy as they claim. It's much more reasonable then the standard Valentine's Day Rose Special. And I'd rather get rose shrubs over long-stemmed roses in a box. Any day...Even Valentine's Day.

Gardening: My Wannabe Style

Everybody who gardens has a gardening style. I love the overgrown look of rustic country gardens. The haphazard way the garden seems to grow wild. Every garden bed I plan is intended to have that old fashioned look. I say "intended" because it never actually happens. As I plant I always end up leaving a bit of working room around each plant for weeding and what not. So I'm always left with the feeling of close but not quite what I was dreaming of. I have tons of gardening books and magazines to continually tell me how to get the look I'm desiring but still I just can't crowd my plants. My favorite example of a book that has me continually saying "I want that" is more of a photo archive then a how to book but it's still my favorite gardening book. It's a bit of history, a bit of nature, a bit of exploring, and a lot of gardening inspiration. I can drool over it's photos for hours and I've owned this book for two years! The gardens featured in this book are exactly what I want when I dream of a rustic garden to surrouding my log home. Now, to overcome my crowding phobia.

Winter Garden Interest

On the shores of the Great Lakes the wind always blows! In the hot summer garden the constant breeze is refreshing, welcomed. However, in the days of snow and cold that same breeze is bone chilling, despised. Yet an interesting phenomenon has occured in the snowy windswept areas surrounding my little corner of the world. Snow balls. No. not the kind made by rambunctious children or Peter Pan-like men who seem never to grow up. No, we've been blessed with naturally made snowballs. It's quite intersting to see these littering playgrounds, farmer's fields and my Aunt's lawn (as seen here). I'm not sure this is quite gardening but... with this much snow it's nice to see anything interesting in the garden.

Gardening: Time to Move the Garden Inside

Yet another Lake Effect Event has covered my gardens with another foot of snow. Yes, I said ANOTHER foot! I remember the good old days when we got just a couple inches a day. Now we can go for weeks without a trace and then overnight...feet! So spring seems an eternity away.

I've begun searching the web for new gardening ideas. My friends Apple and Country girl at http://appledoesntfallfar3.blogspot.com/ encouraged me to begin blogging. So if I'm terribly boring you can blame them...LOL. I'm using their blog as a launching spot into the blogging world. Which is how I came by a seed starting idea that has me itching to try seeds again. I haven't been very successful with seeds in the past. Hence the over abundance of perrenials in my garden. As I think about starting seeds I'm always concerned about the amount of space this requires inside my log cabin home. With the tribe of animals and people in my home it's only a matter of time before there is an accident resulting in a muddy seedy mess. So this idea (found here ) is not only space saving but also somewhat accident proof and budget friendly. As I wander through her site I am amazed by how creative her gardening ideas are. I think I'm going to like reading through more of these great gardening blogs!

Winter Crafting and Garden Dreaming

Growing up my mom had a homemade knitting loom that she would use to make scarves and such. During a recent cold snap I called my mom and asked her if I could borrow the contraption to make my son a scarf. Within a day I had knitted a camo style scarf for my rough and ready seven year old. It was quite fun so I hopped online to see if anyone else had one of these old fashioned looms...Apparently I am the only crafter in the world who didn't know that Knifty Knitter had updated the knitting loom. I rushed out to Wal-Mart and purchase the circle looms immediately. I have since made each of my daughters a scarf. I'll be trying some hats soon. After all, we got 3 feet of snow within 36 hours so...we could all use some nice warm hats. And of course, I've been scouring the internet for how to's and tips from other knifty knitters. My fave sites so far: http://www.decoraccentsinc.com/ and http://www.yarngear.com/

But despite keeping my hands busy I'm starting to get "Cabin Fever" and I'm fighting off the winter blues by planning this spring's garden projects. Last year I put in 5 new garden beds ~ all perrenial flowers! I'm hoping this year we'll be able to make raised beds for a veggie garden.