fall equinox… talk dirty to me.

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Today is the Fall Equinox (9/23/2011), an Equinox occurs twice a year when the Earth’s axis is tilted neither away nor towards the Sun. In garden terms (given there are no natural disasters where you live), your garden looks good. Probably a bit tired from the Summer’s bloom, but still full and spotted with color from the remaining mild weather. Rain and cold haven’t put it to sleep quite yet, and you still have enough time to get those last Winter veggies in the ground before turkey day.

*I l o v e this time of year.

If this time of year was a man, I’d marry it. I find myself writing “Fall” over and over on my notebooks. My papers are doodled with, “Mrs. Jennifer Fall. Mrs. Jenn Fall. Mr. & Mrs. Fall.” Let’s just say if Fall was porn, I’d be subscribing to “Deciduous Studs xxx” and having a grand old time. Yep, me and Fall are getting pretty serious.

Botanically speaking, my garden is rather schizophrenic this month. On the Coast, we had a heat wave and frost in Feb, a cold summer, and the sun is just now warming up our sea-salt-soaked bones. My lavender plants have just been sheared back from their summer blooms, the annuals are filling out and flowering, but my roses, salvias and poppies are spent. Generally gazing over the whole garden, it doesn’t look bad, but not as full and flowering as was last year.

Ah well.

In my recent nursery trips, I was able to procure some fabulous black bearded iris, black calla lilies, black poppies and black pansies. As you may or may not have guessed, I’m really into planting black flowers right now. Maybe it’s my mood from the shorter days and the darkness descending, maybe it’s Halloween inspired, or maybe I just like black. Either way, it’s Fall and I’m primed for the season!

What are the Fall plans for your garden?

CoCo Madness

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

The day started out as any other day, in any other garden, in any other town.

I put my shit kickers on (see below) before work, since I knew I’d be working at a house that has a lawn that looks like shit in desperate need of aerating. The boots are the perfect blend of cuteness/function, as they inevitably sink into the grass. When I walked through my garden, to get to my truck, to get to said shitty lawn – I stopped short, noticing the fabulous Chocolate Cosmos in full bloom. I love Chocolate Cosmos, not just because they grow easily and make for interesting color in the garden – but because they truly smell like chocolate! Any thing that has no calories but gives you the same satisfaction as eating a pint of chocolate gelado – is huge in my book.

Above – previously noted shit kickers.

After work, the day ended on a bit of a somber note. I couldn’t get the thought of chocolate chip cookies out of my head, since smelling those cosmos earlier in the morning – so I thought it prudent to make a batch of cookies. As you can see, I was impatient and didn’t let the butter do it’s buttery-thing properly, so they were ruined. I walked away disillusioned, crest-fallen and a little resentful of the cosmos.

Chocolate cosmos planter BEWARE!

Garden Noir

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

A collection of fabulous garden lovelies….