Blogging, the new direction

I don't know when I began blogging, I guess it's not hard to look up. For years my passion was gardening, the first place I learned to share my passion was with my different garden clubs. As the internet began to explode I joined an e-mail daylily robin. Although I had never met most of the other robin members, they soon became my dear friends in gardening. 

The e-mail robin I belonged to did not allow photos at the time so once I heard about blogging it became the natural progression. I found an outlet for my love of writing, photographing and sharing my passion for gardening. 

This blog, Melanie's Old Country Gardens was my first blog. It has over 400 posts and probably thousands of photos. When I began here I barely knew how to choose my background, add widgets, post hyperlinks and other technical things. In it's heyday I became quite adept at changing and updating the blog. There were so many things I wanted to share and I loved blogging so much that I began a new blog at melaniesperennials.blogspot.com.   My reason was I wanted to have a blog where I could write more and share my thoughts (this blog) and a second where I could highlight a specific plant or concept.

Having spent the last 7 or 8 years redirecting my life I suddenly find myself back to the beginning, a baby in the knowledge of how to blog. The desire never went away, blog topics pop up in my head all the time, it's just that life gets in the way. I went from being a full time mom, garden writer and lecturer to a middle age woman needing a career. Somehow I fell in to banking, first as a teller, then out on to the bank floor as an officer. My hard work has paid off, I've made it to Vice President and Manager of my own branch in Bayville NY. As fulfilling as my career has become, my lottery dream is to return to full time gardening with it's writing, lecturing, garden travels and to be with the people who share my passion.

I have visited so many incredible gardens over the past years and have so many photos and thoughts to share. Today I posted a plan on melanie's perennials blog to go back over the past years and do some arm chair tours, after all, it is February! Some of the posts will be here in Melanie's Old Country Gardens, these will have longer stories to accompany the photos. By the way one of my favorite gardens visited last year was Anna Carlson's in Jordan NY and I promise a full photo tour in the very near future. 

There are topics to cover like window box gardening (I could have taken hundreds of photos in Nantucket last August)

Sometimes I'll just blog about the beautiful places I've seen. At least once a year I visit my mother in Delray Beach Florida. The nature that abounds there calls me back over and over.

Of course there will be posts showcasing new plants I've bought and can't live without in my new garden adventures. Half the fun of finding new treasures is to share them with you!

Another post that is busting out of me is the discovery of my roots, a visit to the place my love of gardening first began. 

Last but not least this blog, my Old Country Garden is the place I can still share stories about Calie the wonder doodle and maybe my daughters will even make a some guest appearances. The garden itself, Old Country Garden may no longer be mine in property but it's here in my heart.

So glad to be back

Maintenance

Getting back in to "writers mode" takes quite a bit of self reflection. Everybody has their own style or way to do things. For me, writing was something I used to do on a regular basis and it worked best if I sat down at the same time every day.

I'm a morning person, evenings are quiet time, usually spent with a book and rarely spent writing. Now that I work full time in a bank, finding time to write has been difficult. Thanks to my new MacBook though I have discovered the perfect solution. Simply bring my Mac to work and get used to writing on my lunch hour.

Yesterday was a tough day at work and I must say that posting to my other blog Melanie's Perennials was the best tonic ever!

One task I've been working hard at is going through all 396 previous posts (wow, not too shabby!) and making sure they have been labeled. Without a label on the post, they won't show up on the side bar here for you to be able to read. So I urge you to scroll and click away, more than 300 of those posts are already labeled and by the middle of next week all should be up and ready to go.

I've been thinking that once a week I might simply post a direct link to an old post that I find timely or amusing, what do you think about that idea?

Side note: How cool are these Saxifraga stolonifera (Strawberry Begonias)? They were growing in a small corner in my old garden. As many times as I tried to move them to another spot, they would not take anywhere else. Hopefully they continue to thrive without any added maintenance.

Of course the word "maintenance" also applies to physical work in the garden. The little town of Centerport that I live in is along the water on the north shore of Long Island. The land is hilly, most property lots are quite small with many homes being built into hillsides. Having a lawn is not a possibility in many places, instead we have huge Oak trees.

This photo was taken after Hurricane Irene hit last September. Most of our streets were totally impassible, we were without power 5 days (not too bad in comparison with some others). The gardeners in my neighborhood will find quite different growing conditions this season. The scars are still visible and some areas that were totally shaded will now get several hours of direct sunlight. It will be interesting to see what the season brings us.

melanie

Final Days

Just a short post for today. We are winding down the sales season here at Old Country Gardens. Today we'll be open for business or even just for walking around. The colors in the garden are to-die-for, eye candy where ever you turn.

Next Sunday July 26th, will be our last sales day, it will be combined with a huge garage sale out by the curb. Our 15 year old Emily will be running the sale, all proceeds will go towards buying her a new laptop which she will need for her junior year at high school.

Thanks to so many of you I've learned so much this first year of garden sales and I'm filled with so many new ideas for the future!

With love,
Melanie

Dear Friends...

Dear Friends,

What can I say? It seems I've hit the writer's block wall, I just didn't have any desire to sit here and blog.

Blogging has been a wonderful way for me to share the passion and joy in my garden. Maybe, that's why my lack of blogging reflected my lack of gardening. Getting ready for my trip to Germany I began to ignore the garden and once I returned, it only got worse.

My husband Don did a monumental job of keeping the garden beds watered while I was gone. It figures that the hottest, driest spell of the summer was during those two weeks. Since I've been home I've rarely had to turn on the sprinklers although today would be a good day to do so.

Tuesday a strange feeling came over me. I was so sick and tired of the mass of weeds along my driveway that I decided to pull a few of them out. Two hours later I had filled many bucket loads but the garden didn't look any different. Yesterday I went on the attack and spent 6 hours weeding and hauling bucket after bucket load to the woods. Note, I use large tree planting pots when I weed as they are very light and if I stop working and it rains the water runs out of the holes in the bottom.

This morning I woke up with the urge to take some photos and share them with you but Don took my camera to work so that will have to wait. I've discovered some new delights in the garden, the secret of Lunaria and most amazingly, gourds!

I can hear you now, "she must be out of her gourd" but I just find this so cool. Last year when it was time to decorate for Christmas, I threw the decorative autumn gourds on my compost heap.
In June I noticed some strange foliage in my garden in three different locations. I couldn't figure out what it was but decided not to weed them out. This week I've discovered that I've got gourds growing in my garden. They look like little white pumpkins, I think they're called 'Baby Boo' and I'm so excited about them! To top it all off, my birdhouse gourds are growing like crazy and I've got three big gourds plus tons of babies coming along.

Hopefully I'll get some photos posted here tomorrow. Thanks for sticking with me through this spell and thanks for all the comments. My mom is back in Florida and doing well (although getting soaked with Fran right now). Last night was my first Board of Education meeting (Hi Gail!) today my youngest daughter returns from band camp, and this weekend my older daughter heads back to college in Pennsylvania.

Time to get my fingernails dirty again,
Melanie

Vacation Time!

We are just about packed up and ready to go on our wonderful vacation to Germany. As a final blog, I thought I'd show you a few images shot in the past few days.

Up top is Calie the wonder-doodle who has once again captured a hapless chipmunk in the see-saw. As you can see she is quite determined to give it the ride of it's life as she makes first one side and then the other go up and down.

The Hydrangeas are just beginning to bloom and I expect when we return in just over two weeks that we'll find an abundance of these amazing flowers waiting for us.

One of my all time favorite flowers is blooming now. This Stachys monieri has been in my garden for so many years I don't remember when it first arrived. It's very similar to the named variety 'Humelo' that has become popular around here but this one is a wonderful pale pink.

The daylily show has just begun and hopefully I'll still catch the last act when we come home. 'Radiation Biohazard' here is indistructable even with lots of rain storms coming through.

Hemerocallis 'Flight of Angels' is another show stopper, so cool and serene that I just had to stop and drool for a few minutes.

'Smoke Scream' on the other hand has a loud brassy call but you still have to stop and admire it's beauty!

One final look at Calie. While she's sipping water from the pool I'll be sipping some of the world's best beer and wine. A dog's life might be grand but I'd rather be me right now.

Expect me back some time the third week of July and I promise, I'll have lots and lots of photos! Many of my relatives that we are visiting are gardening fanatics like me and I just can't wait to see what they are growing and share it with all of you.

Bye,
Melanie

Sunday peace

Today I wish you a peaceful Sunday.

Seeing as it is Super-bowl Sunday and my husband Don has been a die-hard Giants fan since his teens, there will be no peace here today :-)

I've selected four photos, each hopefully shares with you the sense of peace I've felt in these locations.

First is the most magnificent view ever and one would hardly believe that this pocket of peace is in New York City. This breath taking location is at Wave Hill, overlooking the Hudson river.

Secondly, this park-like expression of spring was taken at my friend Mary Kay's home, right here in Huntington New York. Mary Kay has a garden that is just chock-full of unusual collector plants.

Third comes a place that was one of my favorites since I was a child myself. Way in the back of the photo you might be able to see my daughters when they were young girls too. I bet they'll feel the same way about this magical place, the Primrose Path at Old Westbury gardens.

Last but not least, a place that I have spent many an hour in peaceful solitude, dreaming of gardens to be is one of the sales beds at Fox Hollow Farms. Just four doors away from me here, it's the only one of these locations that is no longer as the photo shows. I still miss being able to walk a few minutes to be in the middle of a top notch perennial sales garden. Walking was always my preferred method of transportation as it kept me in line by only being able to purchase what I could carry home.

Today is predicted to be seasonally warm, I think I'll bundle up and head outside for some peace of my own.

Happy New Year!

(A garden year is never complete without some "to die for" tours. In 07 we were treated to a perfect spring day at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay NY)

The beginning of a New Year is a wonderful time. It's a time to reflect upon the last year, and at the same time you can dream of all the incredible things you can do in the new year.

Resolutions? I haven't officially made any...yet. One thing I know is that I missed out on my garden big time in 2007. Was it burn out, or just to many pots on the stove at once?

All I know is that the feeling when I'm in my garden or sharing it with others is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. My hopes for 2008 will be based around finding my way back to the soil and to this site too.(Will 08 be the year the Schizophragma hydrangeoides finally covers the ladder?)

As a beginning, I've offered my plant knowledge to our local high school, Walt Whitman HS in South Huntington New York. In a short time I'll be beginning our first ever Adult Education program on gardening. I can't wait!

For now, here's a look at a few of last years highlights.

Read some of my posts of 2007 and you'll quickly learn how much I love Sedum 'Matrona'

Hardy Geraniums like this Geranium cantabrigense Karmina are star performers in my perennial borders.

My wish? 2008 I'll finally get a photo of the Polygonatum odorum 'Striatum' (Solomon's Seal) that does it justice. There's a reason it's the first plant that sells out every year at our plant sale. Can you say AWESOME?

Oops! This photo is sideways but you can just imagine my delight when I found that my Ipomoea (Morning Glory) not only seeded itself but grew true to the variety that was there in 2006. With fingers crossed I hope to find a seedling or two again this year and promise to treat it better!

One thing I'm thankful for is the few photos that I did take, hopefully so I'd remember things that need to be done. This lovely plant (I'm guessing a Lysamachia) is in the most horrendous location and needs to come out to shine. It can even be a vigorous grower, that just means I'll have more to share.

As for me? Just like Arnold...I'll be back!

Melanie

April Showers

April showers bring May flowers...

Well, it's been pouring all morning. Thunder-storming torrential rains!

This first photo was taken two days ago at my friend Gianna's house. She is so incredibly talented and I just love her muscari pond with her faux swan swimming along.

The garden sure needs this rain so I'm not complaining.

Luckily I took a photo the other day of my double blood root in bloom. They are so fleeting but oh so lovely too. The foliage is also divine so they are well worth growing for that alone.

I wish this shot was a bit clearer but my rinky-dink camera just isn't up to it. These bloodroots have been in the garden for a number of years thanks to George Rasmussen. They've been horribly slow to increase but are not in a good spot at all. Last year I took a single division and put it in the back shade bed where the soil is much better and the sprinklers deliver lots of water. Walking Calie in the rain just an hour ago I noticed that the single division is now 4 or 5 and will be blooming on our next sunny day.

Hooray! Hopefully I've found the right spot for these beauties and I'll have some to share in the near future.

Thinking Green,
Melanie

unfinished draft

Spring of 2005 photo of one of my gardens.

Quite a nostalgic shot for me. This past January the Wisteria totaled the telephone pole. Unfortunately when the old pole collapsed they had to cut down the Wisteria.

Wrens moved into the birdhouse the same afternoon it was placed on the old bicycle. I couldn't weed there for weeks because I didn't want to disturb the babies. Did I learn my lesson? Of course not, there's a family in there again this year. So what's a few weeds anyway.

Back in the Saddle again...

Yes, yes, I know, it's a corny title but hey, it's true.

How embarrassing to look back at my blog and find out that it's been over a year since I've posted to it. Oh how sad for me.

Well, hopefully things will be looking up here and I'll be posting a bit more often (not hard when you consider my record here).

This is the big year in the garden. Hundreds and hundreds are expected to pass through and view my idea of a heavenly garden.

Thankfully the weather has been cooperating so far. We've had a fairly mild winter and a gentle if dry spring. The plants are growing by leaps and bounds now and I can't seem to find enough time to get it all done.

Am I the only gardener who can write their name in the dust on the hall table? How about sorting laundry into various baskets labeled "clean" and "not so clean"? People tell me I need a helper in the garden but I really think a house-keeper would be more useful.

Ok, no meat and potatoes here. Right now I'm digging out Lychnis coronaria (rose campion) buy the bushel full. Somebody called and asked to come by tomorrow to "buy a whole lot of rose campion".

How much is a "whole lot"? If I pot up 10 and she tells me 20 is a whole lot...well...I've lost money. If I pot up 20 and she thinks 5 is a whole lot I'm going to end up with a lot of pots of rose campion. Gardeners are gamblers by nature though so I'm going to think big.

Would dearly love to figure out how to post a photo to this blog. Will play with that this evening.

Happy digging!