faulker042

Frost on the pumpkin? So it was...though I have no pumpkins. We've already had several frosts here and I'm way behind on my fall gardening. Life happens—wonderful things as well as the not so good. I'm now on day twelve of a cold. It's behaved more like the flu, though I received my annual flu shot on October third. At any rate, I missed one glorious week of weather before the frost arrived. Cabo San Lucas View from our room. Prior to my plague, we were in Cabo San Lucas for the wedding of son, Chris and his stunning bride, Nicole. I need to request permission to post their photos, but I have to share with you that the private beach ceremony, followed by a champagne brunch was marvelous! Richard and I spent a few extra days in Cabo and will definitely be going back. More about all of this in a future post. Prior to the wedding, I was writing furiously. One day, I just began writing a fiction novel and couldn't stop! I wrote 60,000+ words in 30 days. Then, I decided ...

Château Val Joanis winery and gardens. The white rock radiates warmth to the grape vines. Pertuis, France (Provence). April 2011. Fanciful and French—here are a few FRANCiful things I've seen. Part Two. Provence. We found Château Val Joanis with a little help from our friends on the SlowTravel France Forum , a car and a GPS. The winery is located between Pertuis and Villelaure, twenty-five kilometers north of Aix-en-Provence— our home base village during our April 2011 visit to Provence. The château gardens are open from April through October and if you are on a driving tour, I recommend that you go a bit off the beaten path to stop by for an hour. The famous Mistral winds were kicking up during our visit on April 12, but as stated on the website, "...the terraced gardens are carved out of the slope and constructed in an area protected from the Mistral winds using stones salvaged from a Roman pool."  Table vignettes are strategically placed around the garden courtyard. (...

Fanciful and French—here are a few FRANCiful things I've seen. Part One. Paris. I discovered a true fairytale garden shed in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. "Shed" seems a rather shabby description of this round turret. The red French door with a lever handle is perfect. Jardin des Plantes; April 2011 in Paris, France. Parfait, qui? Intricate gazebo in the Jardin des Plantes. An iron gazebo topping a hill in Le Jardin des Plantes reminded me of a wedding cake decoration. What cannot easily be captured in a photo is the spiral of hedges winding around that layered hill to reach the destination. Picnickers had already filled the gazebo to capacity on our sunny April day. Of course, what gardener doesn't dream of a fabulous greenhouse? A pair of matching glass houses are literally filled with jungles of tropicals and other indoor plants. We can dream, can't we? To visit Le Jardin des Plantes in Paris, I highly recommend jumping on a Batobus (boat) on the river Sein...

A Bright Morning: Encore® Azaleas, Persian Shield and Mums Simple mums ( chrysanthemum morifolium ) with repeat blooming azaleas and annual Persian shield ( strobilanthes diyeranus ). It all started with one hardy garden mum that I divided and divided and divided... This is the east wall inside the cottage garden that receives afternoon shade so most plants want to lean away from the wall toward the sunshine. The mums were transplanted in the spring. I rounded up all the offspring and planted them together for this mass. I was surprised that all the little plants matured in unison for the fall bloom. During the summer, the mum foliage stayed green and pretty with minimal water in this rich soil location. I shaped the mounds until July 4th and will be a bit more severe with the trim next year to prevent the falling over from so many heavy blooms. Here in zone7b, the mum foliage will be evergreen through the winter. In case you're wondering, I've not had a problem with deer or ra...

Helianthus angustifolius 'First Light' The tall, glowing masses of swamp sunflower, helianthus angustifolius 'First Light' must go. It is high maintenance for one reason. Deer. This perennial is listed as deer resistant in many nursery catalogs. After five years, I'm tired of trying to keep the deer away from it all summer long. It is the only perennial in my deer resistant garden that has failed miserably. This is so unfortunate as the sunflower quickly forms a big mass of glowing, fabulous and perfect blooms! Although, it does require support when it towers over five feet high. Gorgeous. But, the glow has to go. This is one of those difficult decisions that gardeners are forced to make. How much effort do we put into saving one type of plant? There are so many other plants that I can use in the space consumed by the sunflower. This has been a five year love-hate relationship. When the enjoyment is out of proportion to the maintenance and space required, one must...