reticulated iris hybrid 'Katharine Hodgkin'

#56 Bulbs in July

Bulbs in July? Yep, now is the time to start thinking about what blooms you want to see after a long winter. Sounds crazy in July, but the catalogs have been here for a while. Pages are turned down; selections are circled, and lists are started. My problem is that everything looks so good, but…

bright June sun

#54 Questions from Friends

            We’ve been getting a lot of questions from friends and others. Seems the Victory Gardens are truly springing up all over the place. The madman has been surprised by the source of some of these questions – people he thought would never consider growing a plant. Yet, here they are with a problem. But…

#50 Still in Lockdown

#50 Still in Lockdown

We are still in lockdown. And, we are all getting antsy, but as a retired healthcare professional, the madman says we have to be careful and not jump the gun. Or take on a project too big to handle. We have heard a lot of chatter about people wanting to start gardens in response to…

#43 Planning Our Garden

#43 Planning Our Garden

                Time to put the holidays behind us because we have to start planning our garden. Actually, the holidays aren’t quite over. Due to sickness around Christmas, we had to push our family celebration into the new year. Mike and Harley are bringing Teddy down from Maine. They will be joined by Chris, Jenn, Liam…

#37 Samhain

#37 Samhain

                The madman finally came to terms with the frost. He simply said, “After all it is almost Samhain”. Sounds like another excuse for a bonfire to me. In another reference to our Wheel of the Year, Samhain is the ending of the harvest and the coming of the darkness. Celtic Celebration                 Midway between…

#29 The Garden at the Lake

#29 The Garden at the Lake

The Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) is blooming, much to the madman’s surprise – with the moving of the cactus garden he didn’t expect any blooms this year. But, its yellow blossom signals, “Summer is here!” Time to focus on the garden at the lake. Short Season Container Gardening The garden at the lake is a totally…