A Stroll Through My Garden...

It's summer, my dear friends, and time to enjoy what nature has to offer!

What better way to do so than to take a stroll through my garden. You won't find organized rows or flower beds here, and many of my plants have had a way of springing up where I least expect them. But, oh the joy of seeing a frenzy of beautiful blossoms and fruit everywhere you look!

I've been working on adding old-timey plants to my garden, the most recent of which is Hollyhocks. I started with one, and now that it's in bloom, is it ever pretty! This one's on my list to add more of next spring.


Last year, I finally got the Hydrangea bush I'd wanted for so long. It was originally blue, but came out pink this year, so I need to add some aluminum sulfate to make it blue again.


Here are more flowers scattered about the place....

Echinacea (Purple Coneflower)

Geranium (almost done for this year)

Fairy Rose (these are actually very small roses)

Sunflower (with bee)

Daisies

Lilies

I've also got Bee Balm and Brown-Eyed Susans, which will bloom shortly.

Moving along to the edibles now... Three years ago, my dearest and I started a hedge using Dwarf Ground Cherry bushes. These produce a tart cherry that's quite tasty. Now, you just knew I would have cherries in my garden, didn't you?


Now here's an old-timey one added last year: Gooseberry. Its berry can be eaten either green or when it becomes a ripe burgundy color, and the flavor is a bit like a combination of grape and apple. I found recipes in my vintage cookbooks for Gooseberry Jam and Gooseberry Pie. If only I can pick enough berries before the wildlife eats them all, I might try the recipes!


A few more edibles....

Tomato (my first try at growing them!)

Black Raspberries (these are spreading like wildfire)

Blueberries

Last, but not least... The Pumpkin & Gourd Patch

Add the Thyme, Basil, and four types of Mint I'm growing in containers and I think I might need to do some canning and drying!

"A garden is a delight to the eye and a solace for the soul." -- Sadi

Spring Has Sprung...

and that means it's time to start thinking about the Garden!

So I gathered a few March vintage magazines and some of my gardening books (ranging from 1906 to 1959) to look for inspiration and practical advice.

Don't you just love the March 1935 Better Homes & Gardens cover art? Now that's what I call Spring!

Now, let's get down to business! A particular "old-fashioned" plant I'd like to add (hopefully this year) is a Rose or two or three. Luckily, there's a helpful article in the March 1958 Household magazine about How to Plant a Rose. Mind you, I don't think I'll be wearing my good shoes to "tamp" the earth around the plant.


One of my favorite gardening books is Garden Book published by Popular Mechanics Press, 1942. In addition to revealing the "secrets of backyard gardening", it's full of fantastic garden, landscaping, and outdoor furniture projects. I like so many of them that it's hard to choose which project to try! However, I'm very tempted by the suggestions for creating "Outdoor Living Rooms". Someday, we'd like to have a great big outdoor barbecue-pavilion-patio area... an outdoor living room, if you will.


And check out these options for a nice BBQ Fireplace! I'm partial to the fieldstone ones, but the brick fireplace on the right is pretty swell too.

Well, now, getting back to the actual garden... I was thrilled to find this in my local grocery store, of all places. It's a blue dahlia. I couldn't resist buying this one. I love dahlias and one of my favorite film noir movies is "The Blue Dahlia" (Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix). And it was the only package of the blue variety in the bunch. So you see, it was simply impossible to leave the store without acquiring an actual blue dahlia bulb!

And now, just because I like it, here's a fun garden-related ad I found in the March 1954 Woman's Day magazine... Kate Smith's Garden Special! Who knew you could get free seeds worth 95 cents with the purchase of floor wax?! It was lovely of Kate Smith to think of it ;)

So on this beautiful vernal equinox, I am, as the March 1935 Country Gentleman magazine put it, "Preparing for the Flower Parade". Adding the lovely dahlia, and a few other bulb flowers I recently purchased, to our present garden of daffodils, lilies, butterfly bushes, poppies, hydrangea, lilac, grape hyacinth, iris, and hibiscus will sure make for a colorful Spring and Summer!

Happy Gardening! Happy Spring!