faulker042

Missing out on the July 2010  Garden Walk Buffalo , I had to tour vicariously through the reports of other garden bloggers . Gardeners, such as Gail at Clay and Limestone were all wowed by a combination of bee balm (monarda) with lilies ! I can do that—because I already grow the plants! All I need to do is a bit of garden tweaking to replicate the inspiration. Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' is a big player in my cottage garden as well as in my outer gardens (aka "the deer resistant gardens"). Also growing inside my cottage garden fence is the perennial 'Starfighter' lily. However, the lily is NOT deer resistant, so I will replicate the Buffalo inspiration inside the cottage garden. All I need to do is transplant the lily from behind my azaleas to pair it up with the monarda. Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' with echinacea 'Prairie Splendor' and annual castor bean in the cottage garden. My favorite color combination is a mix of blooms and foliage colors that...

Travelers, gardeners and bloggers have one thing in common—they take lots of photos. For a few years, I've been in pursuit of a camera that handles the majority of my issues. When I travel, I don't check bags anymore, but that's another story. I pack all of my clothes and belongings in one bag, but that's also another story. So, I require a small and lightweight camera to meet my limited baggage space. Given my past experience with a SLR camera and the flexibility of multiple lenses, I prefer having wide angle and zoom capabilities. For the last two years, I've been using a Canon SX10 IS camera with a 20x zoom lens. The body resembles a DSLR, but the zoom and wide angle lens are built-in to the camera, so there are no extra pieces to carry on a trip. The camera weighs 1.5 lbs, uses four AA batteries and does not fit in a pocket. To use the full capability of the zoom, it is best to use a tripod for stability. I don't want to haul a tripod to Europe. After carryi...