A Writer’s Garden–Discovering the Garden with Mom by Virginia Davidson

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Anchored and Secure Devotional, flowers, Garden blog, Virginia Davidson

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing. Today’s writer/gardener guest is Virginia Davidson, who be sharing about gardening with her mom and the love of gardening she passed on to her daughter.

Welcome, Virginia!

 

The rusty mailbox door creaks open as I reach my 5-year-old grubby hand in to grab the salt shaker. I run quickly to my mom who is bent over pulling weeds, and study her as she wipes a tomato on her pants before tasting. I follow suit by polishing my tomato on my favorite baseball shirt, take a bite, and shake some salt before diving back in for another. Memories of gardening with my mom are full of tattered strings, old beat-up jeans, dirty faces, giggles, and wheelbarrows full of produce.

I wish I could say I kept up gardening through the years. Somehow I stopped going out to join her. As a teenager, I would rather do dishes and watch her care for the plants than sit in the dirt weeding in the hot sun. I saw it as a miserable chore rather than special moments together reaping food and beauty through the season.

Thankfully she didn’t stop. My mother never gave up on passing the love of cultivating beauty every summer. Five years ago she began stopping by my home, pulling out weeds and turning forgotten sections of my yard to places of rest and loveliness/blooms.

I watched from the kitchen window with a kid on my hip and dinner on the stove until one day I joined her. She handed me a spade and began reintroducing me to the charm of gardening.

Today I tread lightly through the garden not only remembering the plant names, but the flowers that will come, and the moments they were planted, side by side with my mom.

Two creaky turquoise chairs sit in my perennial garden near the road where my mom and I rest our bodies.

 

 

 

 

The kids play dolls, ride bikes, and dribble the basketball next to us as we pull unwelcome visitors, and prune the returning blooms. Now it’s my turn to grow special memories with my children. And maybe this summer I’ll plant some tomatoes, find a rusty mailbox and salt shaker, and patiently pass on the beauty of planting to them.

 

About the Writer/Gardener:

Virginia Davidson is an author, speaker, and Wholly Loved Ministries’ team member who loves watching the green sprout forth in the spring through the dark and desolate ground. She enjoys the confident expectation of the blooms to come, and time spent with my family in the garden. Find her on Instagram at @ginnydavidsonspeaks – IG and online at http://virginiadavidson.com/.

 

Anchored and Secure: Thanks to Christ’s death and resurrection, we don’t have to stress, strive, or perform. We simply need to rest in what Christ has already done. That is when we begin to come; to live as He intended. That’s when we discover true and lasting freedom. This sixty-day devotional helps women reflect on God’s grace and the freedom of living deeply anchored in Him.

You can find Anchored and Secure: 60 Days of Resting in Grace devotional at Amazon

A Writer’s Garden–A Historic Peony Support from Catherine Castle

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A Writer's Garden, Catherine Castle, flowers, peony stakes, romantic uspense, The Nun and the Narc

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing. Today’s writer/gardener guest is Catherine Castle. She’ll be showing off the first peony blooms in her garden this year.

Hi, gardeners!

Earlier this year I showed you a picture of my peonies as they emerged from the ground. Knowing I had to stake them, I was on the search for staking methods. Most of the peony supports I found, that seemed strong enough to support the flowers, were very expensive. Then I came up the The Hildene Star method, using wooden stakes and twine. I was taken by the star that this method formed as a support. Since I had some four-foot high wooden stakes, and the hubby had some jute twine he was willing to contribute, we set out to stake my peonies. I guessed how long the stakes needed to be, and we cut them at two foot, since the plants are young and very short. Unfortunately, the stakes ended up much lower than I’d intended since they sank into the ground deeper than I’d anticipated. I should have cut them at three feet.

In the picture below you can see the star pattern woven in between the peony leaves and buds.

You can find out how to create this support at http://oldhousegardens.com/SupportingPeonies

The Hildene star is an historic method that is used at the Manchester, Vermont summer estate of President Lincoln’s son. I haven’t been to these gardens, but now that I’ve discovered them, I’d love to take trip some May or June to see 175-plus, herbaceous, mostly heirloom peonies.

I have three different kinds of peonies in this row of tiered beds. Two white Duchesse de Nemours, planted at the top and the bottom tiers, and two red peonies—Scarlet O’Hara and Karl Rosenfeld, which are planted in the two center beds.

The Scarlet O’Hara blooms in early spring. The Karl Rosenfeld blooms midspring and the white Duchesse de Nemours blooms late spring to summer. I planned the flowers to have blooms all season long.

The Scarlet O’Hara isn’t the typical peony you think about when you think peony. This bloom looks like a bright red poppy.

It rained 4 inches worth this past week and although the peony drooped during the rainstorms, it sprang back up, unlike the heavy-headed blooms of traditional peonies.

I can’t wait to see how the Hildene star works for my peonies. I ended up staking the last peony with a four foot stakes, after I saw how short the other stakes were. The four-footer stands up over the bush a bit, but it will be a good test of how high I really needed to make the stakes.

Do any of you grow peonies? How do you stake them?

 

About the Writer/Gardener:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

The heroine of Catherine’s inspirational romantic suspense, The Nun and the Narc, also loves gardening. It’s one of the jobs she does at the convent. Check out the book blurb below.

The Nun and the Narc

By Catherine Castle

 

Where novice Sister Margaret Mary goes, trouble follows. When she barges into a drug deal the local Mexican drug lord captures her. To escape she must depend on undercover DEA agent Jed Bond. Jed’s attitude toward her is exasperating, but when she finds herself inexplicable attracted to him he becomes more dangerous than the men who have captured them, because he is making her doubt her decision to take her final vows. Escape back to the nunnery is imperative, but life at the convent, if she can still take her final vows, will never be the same.

Nuns shouldn’t look, talk, act, or kiss like Sister Margaret Mary O’Connor—at least that’s what Jed Bond thinks. She hampers his escape plans with her compulsiveness and compassion and in the process makes Jed question his own beliefs. After years of walling up his emotions in an attempt to become the best agent possible, Sister Margaret is crumbling Jed’s defenses and opening his heart. To lure her away from the church would be unforgivable—to lose her unbearable.

 

Available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Off to the Races by Christa MacDonald

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Christa MacDonald, Christian romance, clean romance, contemporary romance, Garden blog, seedlings, The Redemption Road, tomatoes

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing. Today’s writer/gardener guest is Christa MacDonald who will be showing off this year’s seedlings.

Welcome, Christa!

 

Off to the Races

by Christa MacDonald

As much as the early part of the year seems to drag along garden-wise, it truly accelerates once spring gets here. All winter long I dream and plan for the next year’s garden. Whether seed catalogues, gardening vlogs, or actual TV shows, I absorb every bit of information that I can find. From perusing plant varieties and buying seeds to counting off square feet in back yard, I plot and plan in happy anticipation. This is the phase of gardening that makes the long winters here in New England bearable. When the seeds start arriving after January I line up the packets in rows by plant date and count down the days until it’s time to get my fingers in dirt.

This year I lost my mind and started six varieties of tomato from seed.

I have almost fifty tomato plants, and this is after I thinned them out twice while potting them from tray to pot to bigger pot. It’s insane, since I have room for just about twenty at a push. It’s nice to have the extras to give to family and friends. Along with the bevy of tomatoes, I’ve also got melons, chilies, and a few flowers growing. Everything else will be direct sow. The radishes and peas that I had planted outside have had a brush or two with the lingering cold. After our last frost date it will be everybody in the pool.

Once June hits and everything is up and running, it will be all go, go, go; weeding, harvesting, etc. The pace is steady in summer. You really can’t skip a day or you’ll be overrun. It actually reminds me of when I am working on a series in my writing life. I’ll be working on book two while still promoting book one and plotting book three. It’s hectic and demanding, but ultimately rewarding. I love that time in late summer where you can sit in the garden and appreciate the beauty. There’s less work at the end, more enjoyment. That’s true in the literary world as well. After my trilogy was completed in 2018 I began work on a new project, but there wasn’t a deadline looming, and so none of the pressure.

In gardening there are definitely deadlines. Ask anyone who missed the window on sowing peas or starting tomatoes. The deadlines are changeable as well. Have a mild winter and suddenly everything is two weeks ahead. A late spring holds everything back, freezing off buds and killing the seedlings of impatient early gardeners. In the garden you’re at the mercy of nature. In writing you’re at the mercy of your own nature. Without an editor prodding you along you have to find a way to keep yourself motivated and on task. For some it’s second nature; for me… I find a million reasons not to write and they’re all sensible. I’m so good at talking myself out of getting a thing done. I wish I could steal some of my garden-motivation, but it simply doesn’t translate.

The world is still on lockdown and existential angst is usually just a news story away, but my tomatoes are gorgeous. Joy fills my heart when I look at these beauties.

There’s just nothing like taking something from seed to harvest. It’s that ‘creator joy’. I wonder if God feels it when He looks at His creation. I was recently reading through my first book to look for quotes to use for a promo and I had one of those blissful moments where I read a line and asked myself, “I wrote this?” I don’t know which feeling is better, that or watching something that was grown from seed finally bloom. I’m hoping that after all my seedlings are in the ground I’ll have the motivation to write a few more of those. Happy gardening and writing, friends.

 

About the Writer/Gardener:

Christa MacDonald is a lifelong gardener and writer living in New England despite its terribly short growing season. She’s the author of the Sweet River Redemption contemporary Christian romance series. The final book in the series, The Redemption Road, is now available.

Social media link: Website

 

The Redemption Road

by Christa MacDonald

It’s redemption that he needs, and she’ll pay any price to help him find it.

As the new game warden in Sweet River, Alex Moretti is focused on enforcing Maine’s wildlife laws and little else. Moving from tragedy to a fresh start, all he wants is a way to fix his life in the tranquility of the north woods. Until he meets Annie Caldwell at Coffee by the Book. But his own bitter, dark life is a threat to Annie’s sweetness and light. It’s better for him to stay away.

Annie doesn’t know how to label her relationship with Alex, but she is determined to figure it out. After a few false starts and a kiss under the Christmas lights, their romance goes from fiction to fact. Annie has fallen hard. Then trouble shows up. Someone is stalking Alex, seeking to punish him for a mistake which ended in deadly consequences. When Annie becomes a target, he tries to push her away, but she won’t abandon him. Alex is desperate to keep Annie safe while he attempts to reconcile the past, but what he really needs is redemption. And she will risk her life to help him find it.

A Writer’s Garden–Gardening Starts in the Window by Pegg Thomas

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Christian fiction, Christian short stories, clean romance, hostorical romance, Pegg Thomas, planting, seedlings, Sweet romance, The Blacksmilth Brides

Gardening Starts in the Window

When you live in the far northern reaches of the U.S., you have to adapt your gardening techniques to accommodate the late spring. We generally have snow on the ground well into April. It’s a rare year that we can get into the garden before Mother’s Day, and usually we don’t transplant the seedlings out until after Memorial Day. I know! Half of you are almost done gardening by then! But we soldier on.

My planting schedule looks like this:

1^st Wed. in March – plant the sweet peppers and cayenne peppers

3^rd Wed. in March – plant tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel’s Sprouts, and celery

2^nd Wed. in April – plant the cucumbers, pickles, zucchini, and winter squash

1^st Wed. in May – plant the pole beans and dill

 I start the plants in my living room bow window which—thankfully—faces south. As soon as most of the snow clears and it’s staying above freezing during the days, I set up my portable greenhouse with a heat lamp inside and move the plants out. I run the heat lamp on a timer to come on at dusk and turn off a couple of hours past dawn.

 I will transplant my tomatoes and peppers at least twice in this time period, moving them into larger pots and strengthening their root bases. I’ll transplant the cabbages, other brassicas, and celery once. The rest I start in their individual pods because they don’t like their roots messed with.

Rattlesnake beans

 By the time I move my plants into the garden, the tomatoes are usually in blossom, the pole beans are sending out their shoots, the vine crops are ready to trellis, and the cabbages and other brassicas are well into their 4^th or 5^th sets of leaves.

Cauliflower

I come from a long line of farmers—not my parents, but my grandparents on both sides—and I think gardening is in my blood. I can’t imagine not spending those hours with my fingers in the dirt, coaxing little plants into rows of canning jars or layers of freezer bags come fall.

About the Writer/Gardener:

Pegg Thomas lives on a hobby farm in Northern Michigan with Michael, her husband of *mumble* years. They raise sheep and chickens, plus keep a few barn cats and Murphy the spoiled rotten dog. A life-long history geek, she writes “History with a Touch of Humor.” Pegg is published in five Barbour inspirational historical romance collections, won the 2019 FHL Reader’s Choice Award, was a double-finalist for the 2019 ACFW Carol Award for novellas, and a finalist for the 2019 ACFW Editor of the Year. Pegg also works as the managing editor of Smitten Historical Romance, an imprint LPC with Iron Stream Media. When not working or writing, Pegg can be found in her barn, her garden, her kitchen, or sitting at her spinning wheel creating yarn to turn into her signature wool shawls.

https://PeggThomas.com

https://www.facebook.com/pegg.thomas

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/pegg-thomas

 

The Blacksmith Brides: 4 Historical Stories

Hearts Are Forged by the Flames of Gentle Love in 4 Historical Stories

Worth Fighting For (1774—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) by Pegg Thomas
Talk of war has surrounded Meg McCracken, including her father and four brothers. Alexander Ogilvie doesn’t care about the coming war; his plans are to head west. When Meg comes to his smithy, sparks fly off more than the forge. But can they build anything during unstable times?

 

 

Buy Link  Amazon

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Gifts from the Garden by Wendy L. MacDonald

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Bird photos, flower gardens, Gardening blog, Girfts from the Garden, WEndy L. MacDonald

 

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing. Today’s writer/gardener guest is Wendy L. MacDonald, who will be sharing her garden experiences and exquisite  garden photos.

Welcome, Wendy!

Recently, something unexpected happened to me while I sat in my garden. Not all gifts from the garden are tangible—in fact—the best gifts are often ones you can’t put in your mouth or place on your table.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve rediscovered the garden magic that’s great for the soul. While many of us are staying home a lot more than we’ve ever done before, I’ve been spending extra time enjoying my garden. Yes, I’m doing some weeding and other spring chores (My oldest son is doing most of the work.). But more importantly, I’m allowing my garden to gift me with joy.

One day, I took my after-lunch coffee outside and sat on the cedar bench my husband made. I noticed some chickadees flitting from branch to branch in the rhododendrons next to my brick patio, and just as I was breathing thanks for the privacy these lovely bushes provide, a hummingbird darted towards me. I froze while the flying emerald jewel tugged at the sleeve of my brown wool sweater.

I was too mesmerized to move. And I couldn’t have cared less that my camera and phone were in the house. I just stayed still and soaked up the moment.

The hummingbird poked and pulled at four different spots on my sweater, and then she hovered eye-to-eye with me as if to say, “Whoops. I didn’t realize someone was wearing this.” Then she zipped off to the front garden.

I believe she may be the hummingbird pictured below. All I know for sure is, they normally collect nest building material from my lawns, dryer vent, and mossy trees. Perhaps I should hang an old sweater on the clothesline for them too?

I recently unwrapped another gift from the garden. One day in March, when I was feeling frightened about leaving the relative safety of our garden, I stayed home and hoped I would find enough to photograph. This has become more of a ritual and routine than ever before because of the need to social distance ourselves during the COVID-19 pandemic. Again, my garden gifted me by allowing me to notice how ordinary flowers can look extraordinary when showcased in the right lighting.

Yes, life is like that too, sometimes we need to look for the light in our dark places. Sometimes the sun shines more magically when it breaks through our storm clouds to reveal special gifts, ones we may have otherwise taken for granted. Gifts like sharing your garden with nature.

I’m nosy-to-know if you’ve been enjoying gifts from the garden too?

About the writer/gardener:

Wendy L. Macdonald is an inspirational writer, blogger, and podcaster who also loves to photograph nature on Vancouver Island. Besides writing and gardening, Wendy also enjoys hiking with her husband. She homeschooled their three children, and she believes years of reading classics aloud developed her love of storytelling. She hopes you’ll visit her “Daily Bread” style Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Her byline is: My faith is not shallow because I’ve been rescued from the deep. Her main website is https://wendylmacdonald.com/ where she enjoys interacting with readers. She’s currently editing a memoir and a romance/mystery.

You can find her on Twitter   Facebook and Instagram

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Country Spring poem by Gail Pallotta

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Cooking up a Mystery, country spring, flowers, Gail Pallotta, garden poetry, sweet clean romance

 

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing.

Today’s writer/gardener guest is Gail Pallotta, who is sharing a her garden, a neighbor’s garden, and a garden poem. Welcome, Gail!

 

Azalea in Gail’s Yard

Spring flowers bring our world to life after the dead of winter. Bright sunshine and colorful blossoms add their aromas and cheer to the community. My next door neighbor knows how much I like them. She planted several beautiful gladiolas on my side of the strip of dirt between our driveways. I always glance at them when I pull into the drive and think of how fortunate I am to have her as a friend.

Neighbor Linda’s Gift Bouquet

Not long after the flowers bloom nearly all of our neighbors emerge from their homes, take walks, and often stop by to chat. It’s as though the flora bursting forth tells us to emerge from our winter cocoons and begin a new season. When I consider the wonder of a delicate flower I can’t help but rejoice in God’s handiwork.

Mountain Laurel from Gail’s Yard

During this time of sheltering in, I find myself looking out the window constantly to see if some of my flora or someone else’s has bloomed.

Hydrangeas From Gail’s Yard

When I see it has, I recall God’s steadfastness and consistency. The sun still comes up every day and sets every night. The waves in the ocean still come ashore and return to the sea, and the flowers still bloom.

I’m sharing a poem, originally published in Best New Poets of 1988, The American Poetry Association. Santa Cruz, CA. (I was only two when I wrote it. LOL.) I placed it in Messages: Poems and Short Stories to Live By, which I published in 2015.

 

Country Spring

For a peek at Heaven,

God gave us a country spring,

where soft winds dance on open fields

and gently caress golden daffodils,

nodding, nodding, nodding…

they seem to say,

“Welcome, bright new day.”

Gentle drops of morning dew

kiss the roses and honeysuckle too.

Each sweet bloom

has its own perfume.

Yellow bells mark the way

for radiant colors bursting

into each new day.

The rhododendron pink, or

fair lilies white.

It’s all nature’s delight.

                                                             Gail Pallotta

About the gardener/writer:

As a lover of flowers I often include them in my stories, which are Christian. The genres include romance, romance with mystery and romantic comedy. I’m a wife, mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. I’m honored and humbled to be a Grace Awards Finalist, a Reader’s Favorite 2017 Book Award winner and a TopShelf 2020 Book Awards Nominee. I’ve published six books, poems, short stories and two-hundred articles. Some of my articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. I love to connect with readers. Sign up for my newsletter. Visit my website at https://www.gailpallotta.com and Amazon page

My latest book, Cooking up a Mystery, is on pre-order today, but will release tomorrow on

Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Pelican Book Group –

Cooking Up A Mystery

by Gail Pallotta

Laney Eskridge worked to put her husband through dental school. Then he left with another woman. She’s on edge from the emotional scars and her parents’ deaths. Then she hears unexplained noises in her new tea house, and her anxiety is tripled. Add a budding romance with Eric—a guy with a fear of commitment—and it’s all too much to handle. She cuts ties with Eric and plunges into making her business pay off.

When Eric discovers that Laney’s in danger, he vows to protect her. But can he make a lasting promise? Will she trust him? . . .and when they overhear a threat that could cause national turmoil, will anyone believe them? There’s more brewing than herbal tea in Cooking up a Mystery.

A Writer’s Garden–Perennial Shade Plants by Janis Lane

Tags

A Writer's Garden. Emma Lane, Janis Lane, perennial plants, shade plants, Snapshot Suspicions

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing.

today’s guest is Janis lane, who not only writes and gardens, but also co-owns a garden nursery with her son. Welcome, Janis!

 

Perennial SHADE PLANTS

Partial Shade:
Astilbe: colors range from white to red with many pastel shades in between. Since we are looking for a plant to brighten up a dark spot, red is perhaps the last choice. Something in the rose, light pink to white will add interest in a clump of hostas. Not a favorite of marauding deer. Height ranges from six to twenty inches depending on the variety. Zones are favorable to cold country. Recommend a clump of three to five of the same color for a healthy showing. The frilly ferny blossom is quite pretty in a cut flower collection, if you can bear to remove the bright blooms from your garden. Seed: fairly difficult.

Environmental issues:

Before we move on in the selections of plants, let’s talk a bit about the environment in which the plant will rest. First consideration is the cold/warm agricultural zone, which is the lowest temperature the plant may survive, but not necessarily thrive. Here in Western New York our coldness zone is from 4 to 6 depending upon location. Near the lake is the warmest, perhaps a 6. Other places, on a hill in damaging winds, consider yourself a 4/5. Always check the information on the identifying card that comes with the plant. It is possible to take a more tender plant and tuck it into a shelter adjacent to a warm wall or foundation to encourage it to thrive. Be wary. If the tag states 4-5, you have been warned. Astilbes are pretty zone hardy, but they enjoy a bit of partial sun now and then in the summer.

Novice Gardener

You have a new house with fantastic foundation plantings, but you really wanted to enjoy a patio right there. Novice gardener that you are, you timidly approach the tangle of greenery. Stop! A few truths to contemplate: first, there is no perfect garden. It’s always a work in progress. Second, if you are pleased with your efforts, it’s perfect. Only your opinion really matters. (Caveat here if you live in a neighborhood with particular rules.) Third, one of the best ways to make friends and get acquainted with the neighbors is to ask their advice regarding gardening. They may even give you the history of your mature garden, giving reasons why this corner or that corner is planted just so. Fourth, and this is important, perennial gardens change over the season. What you see in the spring may and certainly will be a very different scene by September.

Rushing into changing everything might be a mistake if you miss out on some of the more spectacular plantings that bloom throughout the summer.
Patience might be the word of the day for a new owner of a mature perennial garden. After a season passes, a more accurate assessment may be made or incorporated into new plans.

Brunnera, a foil for hosta.

Grows in the deepest shade, blooms lovely blue after early “Forget-me-nots” have vanished and the silvery leaves of some varieties sparkle without the bloom. Hardy to zone 3; deer and rabbits seem to prefer other plants, like for instance, hosta. With the current over-population of deer, this is an invaluable bit of information for shade gardeners. Let me reiterate. Deer Resistant. Not ever fail proof. In our perennial garden, a crop of very old peonies was decimated by a fawn just losing his spots. We stood watching helplessly thinking he hadn’t developed his taste buds yet. We lost a year of bloom, but perhaps it will revive this Spring.

Bloom time for perennial gardens.

Perennials bloom for two to four weeks, but return year after year. This is an important distinction from annuals. There is, of course, room to plant both, either separately or combined. We’ll return to a discussion regarding annuals, which bloom all summer, make, scatter seeds, and then die.

Plans for the placement of perennials is essential, but not critical. If you plant a short plant behind a taller one, you’ll soon realize your error. Pay attention to the information on the card as to height and everything will come about.

Bloom times should be staggered for perpetual color in a perennial garden. What do I mean by that astounding statement? Only that if the card tells you this plant blooms in the spring, its next door neighbor probably ought to bloom in the summer. As summer progresses, one fades, another takes its place. If you have followed the guideline to plant three to five of a certain variety, slowly, as one color replaces the next, the garden will not only change colors, but stay in constant bloom. You’ll reach a finale with fall blooms (pretty pink physostegia or anemone) or, late summer, replace a small bed of now scraggly annuals with outrageously brightly colored mums.

 Annuals

Just a short discussion re those lovely summer visitors. Erroneously some folks think planting perennials saves them work as the plant returns year after year. Which is easier? A bed where you pull up everything at the end of the year and start over in the Spring, or a bed where you must carefully weed around established plants (that have hopefully been carefully mulched.)? Gardening is never static and requires hands-on always. Suggest a novice gardener decide how much time he/she wants to spend working outside before chosing. My personal preface is both. I could not live without a splash of marigolds, profusion zinnias, or a stand of blazing sunflowers. But neither could I be satisfied if my friendly Brunnera was missing come Spring.

About the Gardener/Writer

Janis Lane is the pen-name for gifted author Emma Lane who writes cozy mysteries  as Janis, Regency as Emma, and spice as Sunny Lane.She lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous in color.

At long last she enjoys the perfect bow window for her desk where she is treated to a year-round panoramic view of nature. Her computer opens up a fourth fascinating window to the world. Her patient husband is always available to help with a plot twist and encourage Emma to never quit. Her day job is working with flowers at Herbtique and Plant Nursery, the nursery she and her son own.

Look for information about writing and plants on Emma’s new website. Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma’s face.

Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check out the things that make Emma smile on Pinterest.

 

Snapshot Suspicions

by Janis Lane

Snapshot Suspicions is another adventure with Abby, beautiful, vagabond wildlife photographer, and Adam, ruggedly handsome, millionaire protector of the environment. A dangerous wildlife mystery requires the close attention of Adam and the local sheriff as Abby deals with two hired goons stalking her with a grudge. Basking in the rosy contentment of their love, Abby and Adam must trust each other as they encounter the first rift in their relationship. An engaging puppy presents a conundrum and a terrifying incident.

Abby discovers she can enjoy photographing subjects (AKC) other than wildlife and delights in setting up her own office, while Adam breathes a sign of relief when Abby makes a permanent commitment. Could she finally be thinking of a life time pledge to him?

Buy Link

A Writer’s Garden–A Spring Tour of Catherine Castle’s Garden

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Catherine Castle, Garden blog, spring flowers, The Nun and the Narc

It’s that time of year again! Spring has sprung and A Writer’s Garden is beginning for the 2020 season.

Each Thursday until fall, I’ll be bringing you a post from a Writer/Gardener about gardening. Post content will vary, but it will always focus on gardens. In addition, each writer will post a book blurb to entice you to find something new to read underneath your favorite shade tree.

More than ever, in this COVID-19 crisis, we all need to enjoy the splendor of our gardens and the gardens of others. For me, nothing lifts my spirits like seeing the new plant shoots push out of the ground, heralding the beginning of spring. In our state getting out in our yards, or taking a walk, are about the only enjoyable things we can do because of the closure of entertainment venues and social distancing.

I’m not able to do as much as I once could in my garden, after suffering two major falls last year that impacted my dominate arm, but I can still take pictures. So I’d like to share the new beginnings of my garden with you.

First off, I was thrilled to see my new peonies come back this spring. They didn’t fair well last summer after being planted and I feared they’d died. But, nope.

They burst through the ground, their maroon shoots promising me a flowery show in May. Granted it will be a small show, as they are just babies.

One plant is a bit behind the others. If you look closely at the center of the picture below you can just see the maroon shoots coming out of the bark mulch. I’m confident it will catch up.

My mother’s triple petal day lilies are back in full force, too. The green swords waving in the breeze. You can see my ferns at the back of the lilies in the picture below. This is only one stand of daylilies that I have in my garden.

I’ve left the dead leaves on my perennial mums still. You can just see the greening at the base of the plants.

We could still have a frost and the dead foliage helps protect the basal leaves. I’ll pull my garden stool up to the bed after our last frost date and clip the brown foliage off. This chore is one of the few I can still do without too much back bending and twisting.

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see the white tips of my hostas coming up.

This was the first year I had the tall flower stalks removed after they bloomed. It made clean up so much easier. No getting up in the bed and clipping all the dead stems. All that had to be done was rake the dead hosta leaves off the ground. I always leave them for spring cleanup to protect the plant.

My mother’s irises are up, too. They really need separating, but that’s a long hot job done after they have bloomed in May. I keep putting it off.

 

And my astilbe is greening up as well.

And the Stella De’Ora day lilies have made beautiful green clumps in the front flower beds.

While there isn’t much color in my garden yet, all the green shoots give me promise of a riot of color in the next few months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I look forward to the coming spring color: The pinkish lavender of the redbud tree on the back hill followed by the lavender lilacs and the white bridal wreath and snowball bush on the hillside garden.

 

 

 

On the north side of the house I’ll enjoy the pink astible blooms

And on the south side and the pink columbines scattered throughout my mother’s day lilies provide another shot of color in the spring followed by bright orange and yellow day lilies in July, which I’ll share in a later post.

Well, that’s my spring garden tour.

I hope you come back every Thursday this year to see what other garden treats I and my author friends have for you. Stay well and Happy Gardening!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

 

The Nun and the Narc

By Catherine Castle

Where novice Sister Margaret Mary goes, trouble follows. When she barges into a drug deal the local Mexican drug lord captures her. To escape she must depend on undercover DEA agent Jed Bond. Jed’s attitude toward her is exasperating, but when she finds herself inexplicable attracted to him he becomes more dangerous than the men who have captured them, because he is making her doubt her decision to take her final vows. Escape back to the nunnery is imperative, but life at the convent, if she can still take her final vows, will never be the same.

Nuns shouldn’t look, talk, act, or kiss like Sister Margaret Mary O’Connor—at least that’s what Jed Bond thinks. She hampers his escape plans with her compulsiveness and compassion and in the process makes Jed question his own beliefs. After years of walling up his emotions in an attempt to become the best agent possible, Sister Margaret is crumbling Jed’s defenses and opening his heart. To lure her away from the church would be unforgivable—to lose her unbearable.

buy links:

Eboook Amazon

Print version Amazon: Barnes and Noble

 

A Writer’s Garden–Looking to the Future by Catherine Castle

Tags

a garden blog, A Groom for Mama, A Writer's Garden, author Catherine Castle

 

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another garden season has come to an end and, unfortunately for me, I’m ending it the same way I began—with my right arm in a sling.

Just as I was gaining all my mobility back from my Spring shoulder surgery, I fell and broke my right upper arm in a lovely spiral break that starts midway up the rod that holds my bionic shoulder in and ends just below the prosthesis. In fact, the doctor said the arm probably broke because when I fell and twisted my body, my right arm, which was holding the bannister, twisted too. The rod in my arm was rigid and didn’t allow the bone surrounding it to give. So the arm broke because of the implant. Ain’t that grand?

Ah, well. Life goes on.

In the picture at the top of the blog you can see the north end of my garden as it looked this spring with the splayed mugos. The winter snows pulled them out of the ground and we had to dig them up. Beside that picture are the burning bushes, now in fall color, our replacement for the mugos.

As in the garden, and life, nothing stays the same. We plant, we weed, we reap, and we replant. And if we’re lucky everything comes back better the next season. At least that’s my plan for the future. I figure after the accident prone and health issue year I’ve had in 2019 I’m due for a good season next year. At least that’s my prayer.

I want to thank everyone who has been a part of this year’s A Writer’s Garden blog. Even though my gardening has been severely curtailed this year, I’ve so enjoyed reading about your gardens. I hope you’ll all come back again next spring, readers and guest bloggers alike, for another season.

To finish out the Thursdays this year, I’m hosting some Christmas Reads. So, please drop by on Thursdays and Wednesdays to see what’s new, and old, in Christmas romances.

Happy Gardening! May your weeds be few, your flowers plentiful, your sunshine bright and your rain refreshing. And may God bless your harvests.

Catherine

 

About the Writer/Gardener

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

 

 

A Groom for Mama

by Catherine Castle

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Garden Superstitions: Are You a Believer? by Catherine Castle

Tags

a garden blog, A Groom for Mama, A Writer's Garden. Catherine Castle, garden lore

 

 

 

Gardening is in my blood. My grandparents on my mother’s side were country people with a farm and a garden that Grandma frequently enlisted me to help pick the vegetables for dinner. I can’t say how much I picked, but I have fond memories of running up and down the rows of vegetables she so neatly planted in the large, fenced-in garden that ran beside the outhouse. Much of what we ate at Grandma’s came from her garden, including the shucky beans we strung and hung in the rafters of the summer kitchen to dry.

My mother continued gardening when she moved away from her country home to the big city. Every one of our yards had a garden, usually a BIG garden. If the garden it didn’t produce well, we would go to the local farm markets and come home with bushels of beans, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and every kind of fruit she could find. Then she canned them all for winter. She could have just gone to the store and bought frozen or pre-canned vegetables, but she didn’t. Gardening (and canning) was in her blood.

Being from the hills of Kentucky, my parents were a superstitious couple. Daddy wouldn’t give a knife as a gift, because it would cut the ties of the friendship. He wouldn’t dry his hand on a towel when anyone else was holding it, because the youngest person touching the towel would die first. He would drop that towel like a hot potato if I reached for it. And he hated Friday the thirteenth. He’d turn around and go the other way if he saw a black cat in his path. Spilt salt was always followed by throwing some over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.

Mom had a few superstitions she followed, too. No opening umbrellas in the house (it was bad luck), and she always made sure we never brought an old broom into the new-to-us houses we moved into. I don’t remember as many of her superstitions as I do Daddy’s, but I do remember one garden superstition she followed religiously: “Don’t thank someone for a plant they’ve given you, or it will die.” To this day, I heed that advice, skirting around the gifts with platitudes like “How nice of you to offer,” or “That would be lovely,” or I just explained that I wouldn’t be thanking them and why. You’ll never hear the words, “Thank you,” pass my lips when I’m gifted with a plant. After all, who wants to kill a free plant?

But my mother’s garden superstitions are just the tip of garden lore. Here are a few of the odder garden superstitions or garden folk sayings I found that you might find interesting. I know I did.

• The number of seeds in an apple will be your lucky number.
• Plant potatoes at night so the eyes don’t see light.
• Planting peppers when you are mad makes the peppers grow hotter.
• For a good crop of watermelons, crawl to the patch backwards on the first day of May.
• A five-leaf clover brings bad luck.
• If you point your finger at a cucumber bloom, the bloom will fall off.
• For a better cabbage crop, sow the seeds in your bedclothes on March 17th.
• If onion bulbs are planted upside down, they will come out in China.
• Plant watermelons before breakfast for best results.
• If two people’s hoes hit together, they will work in the same field next year.
• Always plant your potatoes and green beans on Good Friday. Why? Because it was believed to be the only day of the year when the devil was thought to be powerless.

• Today, thanks to modern gardening knowledge of soil temperatures and seed germination, we know what is the best time to plant seeds. But old-time gardeners didn’t have our modern advantages. So how did they know when it was safe to plant? They followed this old saying: “If you can sit on the ground with your trousers down, it’s safe to sow your seed”.

What about you? Do you have a favorite bit of gardening lore that you follow?

 

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing and flowers. You’ll find plants in many of her books. Her romantic comedy with a touch of drama A Groom for Mama features flowers in several scenes.

Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

 

Flowers and gardens play a part in Catherine’s award-winning romantic comedy with a touch of drama A Groom for Mama. Take a peek at the blurb, then hop on over to Amazon for a sample read or just buy the book.

 

A Groom for Mama

By Catherine Castle

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.