A Writer’s Garden–An Arizona Garden by Gail Gaymer Martin

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A Writer's Garden, Arizonia garden, Gail Gaymer Martin, Garden blog, Secrets at Rose Arbor

 

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 gardener is Gail Gaymer Martin who will be showing us her Arizona garden. Welcome, Gail!

If you visit my Facebook pages, you will know that I love flowers. When I lived in Michigan, I spent days planting annual and perennial flowers in both the back and front yards. Because I have knee replacements, kneeling did not work for me, so my planting had to be to bend over at the waist. Yet, with my love of flowers, bending couldn’t stop me. I grew flowers along the border of our picket fence and had a large bed along our patio in the backyard. In the front, I had flower beds on both sides of our small porch but also had a large area where a huge tree had been removed, and circled the flower bed with large stones that covered the roots of the downed tree. In the beds, I planted lilies, cornflowers, zinnias, daisies, marigolds, impatiens, and numerous others. My favorite flowers are ones that I can pick and use in vases.

Three years ago we moved to Sedona, Arizona which meant a whole new world of flowers. I was grateful to learn that roses grow very well there, and I have both climbing roses and rose bushes in a variety of colors.

Cornflowers are another favorite since they come in different shades too and are great for picking, but the heat is not always cooperative, so another choice I’ve made since moving to Arizona is cacti. I have pots on my deck each with a cactus, and they surprise us with lovely and colorful blooms. One bonus for us is that our property has drippers which automatically water the flowers without any effort on our part. The only flowers I do water on occasion are the cacti which only need a little water once a week.

Because we have the joy of many hummingbirds living next to us in a small wooded area, we also choose Jessamine flowering shrubs that not only attract hummingbirds but also butterflies. It’s a pleasure to sit on our deck and enjoy the activity of these tiny birds. On occasion, we can hold a small plastic flower like feeder in our palm and the hummingbirds will sit on our hand and drink from the little flower. They love sweet juices in feeders which is made from boiled sugar and water. Watching these sweet birds and lovely butterflies is a joy we receive from having the flowers growing all around us

About the Writer/Gardener Gail Gaymer Martin:

Flowers are not only beautiful, but they are also a symbol of love. My husband, knowing how much I love fresh flowers, often arrives home with a bouquet. I have no doubt that I am loved. I am the author of over eighty published novels with sweet or faith-based romances and occasionally a romantic suspense, and so flowers work well in my fiction. My newest release is a prime example of that. Secrets at Rose Arbor is set in Louisiana where the hero has inherited a plantation home with a beautiful rose arbor in the yard. That arbor is not only on the cover but is also a significant part of the story, one with surprising twists and turns. The Secrets at Rose Arbor can be found on Amazon.com.

You can find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gail.g.martin.3

 

Secrets at Rose Arbor

by Gail Gaymer Martin

Discontent and penitent, Susan returns to her childhood home in Louisiana to make amends with her mother, to see her mentor, Libby and to re-evaluate her life, but instead of solace, her heart tangles with Justin Robard, facing his aunt Libby’s recent death which affects both their lives. But Susan finds purpose helping Justin keep the inherited plantation home tied to the conditions of his aunt’s will, and in the process, she learns a secret that will shock Justin and change his life, if she has the courage to tell him the secret that could set him free.

 

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A Writer’s Garden–Crabapples from Gail Sattler

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A Writer's Garden, crabapples, Gail Sattler, Garden blog, The Other Neighbor

 

 

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 gardener is Gail Sattler who will be talking about crabby things, mainly crabapples. Welcome, Gail!

 

Crabapples!

My garden is probably the best it’s ever been, but only after a few changes.

My pride and joy has always been my strawberry garden. Unfortunately the winters were too harsh for the last two years, and I lost 80% of my strawberry garden. Before you get too sad, my entire garden is only about 8 feet by 4 feet.

I did have some lovely strawberries, but for the most part, my empty garden was too sad. Therefore, I decided to plant a real garden. I have corn, carrots, and a couple of peppers. Outside of my garden, I planted a few tomato plants in sunny locations, as well as 3 pumpkin plants. So far they have flowers, but I’m thinking that they won’t be big and orange by Halloween. But they are growing and I’m happy about it.

But the biggest bonus was the crabapples. I don’t have just hundreds. There must be thousands on the tree. I have some good recipes for muffins and loaves, so when the weather cools down, I need to do a lot of baking. Mostly I’ve been giving them away.

As a writer, my trials in the garden are going to be some character’s backstory someday.  The disappointment, then determination to make a bad thing good, and then the joy when what they’ve worked for, really produced.

I wish I could share my crabapples. If anyone reading this lives in the Vancouver BC area, email me, and come pick!

 

 

About the Writer/Gardener:

Gail Sattler lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she and her husband are recent empty nesters and now expecting their second grandchild. Gail Sattler has over 40 published novels and novellas, plus a few works of non-fiction. When she’s not writing she plays bass for an Elton John tribute band as well as a community jazz band. Gail is a workshop leader, public speaker, and the OCW critique group moderator. When she’s not at her computer or making music (or at her day job) Gail likes to sit back and read a book written by someone else, accompanied by a good cup of hot coffee.

Visit Gail Sattler’s website at http://www.gailsattler.com

Gail Sattler’s blog – What Goes On In The Mind Of A Writer –http://www.gailsattler.com/category/new/

The Other Neighbor – Available on Amazon

Cheryl Richardson doesn’t know that her landlord who owns the other half of the duplex where she lives is plotting to build a bomb—but the FBI does. In order to discover what her landlord is planning to blow up, agent Steve Gableman moves next door to get closer to Cheryl to learn what she knows, namely the target and motive, so they can stop it. But when Steve involves himself in every area of her life, including her dog, will Cheryl be the one to explode?

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Wandering Through the Garden with Mom by Betty Thomason Owens

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A Writer's Garden, Annebelle's Joy Kinsman Redeemer book 3, Betty Thomason Owens, sweet clean romance

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

Todays guest is Betty Thomason Owens. Welcome, Betty!

 

I have always loved flowers. When I was six, I brought my mom a lovely bouquet. Unfortunately, I had gleaned those blooms from a neighbor’s prize-winning flowerbed. Yeah, I’m fairly certain she gave Mom an earful.

Years later, Mom and I pay annual visits to the University of Kentucky Arboretum. I never outgrew my love of flowers. Wandering through acres of every blossoming plant you can possibly grow in our area, I’m delighted. The rose garden alone takes a full hour to tour. Of course, I must stop and smell each one.

Back home, in my humble, very messy garden, I’m constantly surprised by blooms. Since we’ve lived here, I’ve planted perennials that keep popping up year after year. Many times, I don’t even notice them until they bloom. This year, that is especially true. We’ve had so much rain the entire yard looks like a jungle. Our hydrangea is nearly as tall as the house and hasn’t even bloomed yet. I’m finding plants beneath that towering bush bravely pushing out brilliant blooms.

The other day, I found a fuchsia-colored dahlia beside a bright yellow one. Fire-red Gerbera daisies are camping out next to calla lilies with barely a space between. The dampness has no doubt contributed to the lilies’ wealth of blossoms.

I need to make time to clean out the weeds popping up among all the diversity. Maybe I’ll catch a sunny moment here soon. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the hilarity. That’s what I call the unplanned mess. I look across the way to see the beautifully structured gardens planted by my neighbors and laugh. I doubt they admire my skill, but honestly, I prefer the cottage garden look to the straight, color-coordinated rows. I wonder if they’re ever surprised by a forgotten plant that pops up in the spring?

So, back to the UK Arboretum, where neat paths wend their way through a paradise of multi-colored daylilies. Butterflies dance unhindered and bees buzz about our heads. We stop and admire the aroma of the petunia beds, then move to the kitchen garden where Mom tries to guess the names of the herbs before she looks at their nameplates.

In case you’re wondering, the sun is out. I’m playing in someone else’s garden, rather than working in mine. But none of these moments are lost. This is Mom’s eighty-sixth year and I plan to enjoy as many of these precious moments as possible. My beloved, messy garden will wait.

 

About the Writer/Gardener

Betty Thomason Owens loves being outdoors. Her favorite season is spring, when she can work in the garden or take long walks. She writes historical fiction that always includes a sweet romance and often hints of suspense. She leads the Louisville Area ACFW group, serves on the board of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, and is a co-founder of the multi-author Inspired Prompt blog. Married forty-four years, she’s a mother of three, and a grandmother of eight. A part-time bookkeeper at her day-job, she writes for Write Integrity Press, and has eight novels in publication. You can connect with her here, on her Facebook author page.

 

 

 Annabelle’s Joy, Kinsman Redeemer #3

by Betty Thomason Owens

 

She’s waited too long. When Tom proposed last year, Annabelle wasn’t ready to open her heart to another man. Pain still held a thin crust around it. Time has healed her heart, but with a new woman in town, one who clearly has her sights set on Tom, does it matter if Annabelle’s heart is ready to love again? Folks in town are keeping a close eye on their pharmacist, hoping to be the first to hear the good news. He’s been courting the widow Cross for nigh on two years now. Annabelle Cross better wake up and put her dancing shoes on. Mr. Tom is prime real estate. Drift back into the simple, country life of Tennessee in 1957 with this sequel to award-winning ANNABELLE’S RUTH.

 

 

Annabelle’s Joy releases August 6, 2019,

but is available for preorder now at Amazon

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–A Moment in the Garden with Rachel Sharpe

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Garden blog, Jordan James PI series, Rachel Sharpe, Sweet romance

 

The Beauty of a Moment in the Garden

By Rachel Sharpe

 

My favorite moments in life have been those spent with my children. One day this past spring, my daughter and I were watering our bushes. With full disclosure, I’ll admit my gardening skills have never been that impressive. Still, I love our little garden and love even more the joy it brings my daughter to watch the flowers bloom.

That particular day, I was preoccupied and didn’t notice the small bee busily working on a petal nearby. But my daughter was taken by him. She spoke with the soft voice she uses when she coos over small babies and cuddly puppies.

“Aww…he loves it!”

I had in that moment an almost epiphany of the significance of such a seemingly insignificant event. One bee pollinating one petal on one bush is not monumental; however, life is made up of such small moments that together, create the big and beautiful tapestry of our existence. In today’s bright, busy, and sometimes harried world, small moments often go unnoticed; yet, these are the exact moments that are worth the time it takes to stop and appreciate them.

As my daughter quietly cherished the beauty of a moment I would have surely missed, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her cheek. She laughed.

“Silly, Mommy,” she giggled, taking the watering can. She started to pour the water around the plant and smiled, suddenly taken by a new moment.

I smiled, too. It was a moment worth noticing.

 

****

About the Writer/Gardener

Rachel Sharpe is the author of Cold Ambition, Lost Distinction, Bitter Retribution, and Simple Misconception, all part of the Jordan James, PI series, a mystery series with sweet romance. Although born and raised in the South, “Yankee” relatives first led Rachel to historic New England, which she has come to consider her second home and is the setting for the series.

Rachel currently resides with her husband and children in the Greater New Orleans area where she and her children work together to maintain a simple garden.

Check Out Rachel’s Sites to Keep Up with Jordan James!!!

Twitter: twitter.com/RachelCSharpe

Simple Misconception

by Rachel Sharpe

“A Trip to the Big Easy Turns into a Big Nightmare…”

When private investigator Jordan James returns home to New Orleans for Christmas, she never imagined her holiday could end with kidnapping and death. As she begins to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a childhood friend, she unwittingly stumbles upon a dangerous, international syndicate. With lives at risk and time running short, Jordan must find a connection between these seemingly unrelated events if she ever hopes to find her friend.

Also from Rachel Sharpe on Amazon:

COLD AMBITION,

LOST DISTINCTION,

BITTER RETRIBUTION,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden-A Garden Lesson from Tina Susedik

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Garden blog, garden lessons, Tina Susedik

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 Tina Susedik Welcome, Tina !

Gardening is a Never-ending Lesson

by Tina Susedik

 

After three years at our current abode, I’ve come to realize how little patience I have for gardening. Not that I’m giving up on my gardens because I love flowers, but the frustration of figuring out what does and doesn’t work, is testing my patience.

I had beautiful roses at our last place. Here – not so much. I’ve come to the realization that I don’t have enough sunlight, nor the right soil. I’ve planted my last rose bush. I also love to toss out daisy seeds. The last two places, I threw out so many, I had fields of daisies. Here I have ten – yes, ten daisy plants.

When we moved here the gardens were filled with mulch – layers and layers of mulch. I couldn’t figure out why the tulips I planted weren’t spreading, until I decided to pull up the mulch and landscaping material. Instead of coming up in the holes I’d dug, they were growing beneath the material. The same was true with some of my other perennials.

So last fall, with the help of my visiting son, we took up all the mulch and landscaping fabric. Since it went around three sides of the house, it was quite the chore. Thank heavens I had his help. My next thought was “now what?”

I bought a lot of spring bulbs to plant – but then had knee replacement surgery, which put a stop to any gardening I’d planned. So, I planted them this spring. I figured it couldn’t hurt. Here is another lesson I learned: “There’s a reason why spring bulbs are planted in the fall. And one of them is squirrels. In the fall, they have plenty to eat. In the spring, they are hungry. They thought my spring bulbs had to be the nuts they’d squirreled away in the fall. At least three quarters of the bulbs were dug up. Some they ate, some they left on the ground. Several I re-planted many times.

We had a lot of snow this past winter. In fact, we had 58” of snow in February alone!! It was a rough month. With the snow being shoveled from the roof, the amount of snow (total of 100”), and shoveling snow onto them, my bushes in the front of the house were pretty-much damaged. Flat. Kaput. But as plants can do, they surprise us. Even as squished as they were, they bloomed their gorgeous red flowers and are starting to send out upright shoots.

Last year it seemed many of the perennials I planted had bit the dust. I am happy (and surprised) to see some of them come back. Maybe they didn’t like the mulch, but maybe they feel sorry for me and decided to give me a gift of regrowth. Slowly my gardens are filling in. Now if I can only keep the rabbits from enjoying them!!!

 

About the Writer/Gardener

 

Tina Susedik has loved flowers and gardening for as long as she can remember. Wherever she has lived, and it’s been many, many places, she has tried to make her surroundings filled with flowers. She is a multi-published, award-winning author in both fiction and non-fiction, covering children, military, history, and romantic mysteries. She also hosts her own radio show with Authors on the Air Global Radio Network. Twice a month, on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 2:00 Central, she interviews authors in all genres. The title of her show – what else – “Your Book Garden.”

 

 

Love with a Side of Crazy

by Tina Susedik

To afford sending extra money to his parents to help with the care of his invalid brother, Brent Hopkins, an accountant by day, works as a male stripper at night. When a crazed fan pulls him from the stage, his injuries send him for an extended stay at a rehabilitation center. During his months at the center, mysterious angel statues and other gifts begin to appear in his room. A break-in at his apartment, leaves him feeling vulnerable. Is he going crazy or does he have a stalker? Marie Phister, a physical therapist, was at the club the night Brent is yanked to the ground and takes care of him until help arrives. Later, as his physical therapist, she doesn’t let on that she is aware of his identity. As their mutual attraction grows, a stalker threatens their relationship. Is her stalker and Brent’s, one and the same? Can they solve the mystery before it’s too late?

WARNING TO READERS OF SWEET, CLEAN ROMANCE. This book  contains open door love scenes.

A Writer’s Garden–Talking Onions with Author Janis Lane

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Garden blog, Janis Lane, Whispers of Danger and Love

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 and she’ll be talking about a smelly subject–Onions. Welcome, Janis!

 

 

Onion, i.e, Allium, is a large family which includes onion, scallion, garlic leek, shallot and chives (onion and garlic types). Blossoms are pretty in purple, yellow, white, and sometimes pink. I grew up not far from a small town known as Vidalia (locally pronounced Vy day lia, emphasis on the Vi. I won’t try to describe how to put a southern twang to the rest of the word.), Georgia. Sweet, sweet onions grow there with a patented name for the brand. The soil in the fields around the small town is very low in sulfur which puts the sting in your eyes when you peel a not-Vidalia type. Great for eating raw, but their keeper value is low.

It takes a specialized taste bud to enjoy raw onions, but professional chefs swear by the value of an onion flavoring a good stew. This writer considers an onion almost essential in the kitchen. Most are yellow, some white or purple with various degrees of the sulfur bite. Such a large family serves almost all individual preferences. Health benefits of consuming edible members of the onion family are numerous. High in nutrients and low in calories, they are also delicious.

Chives, useful herb, can be grown on your sunny window sill, but will excel outside, attracting bees with their fragrance blooms. Chives are delicious in soups, salads, and as a garnish. It’s a perennial plant hardy to zone 2-3, but the seed resents amateur saving. Tiny bulbs are easily pulled apart for transplant. Garlic chives bloom fragrant white in late summer and are delicious when a mild garlic flavor is desired. Purple blooms from chives make tasty and attractive herbed vinegar.

When I mow the lawn in summer, I plant peppermint several places in the lawn. I love the fragrance when the grass cutter nips their tops, but in one corner of the lawn, I recognize the volunteered wild onions. The smell is unmistakable; not a bit fragrant, but I think if I need to forage someday, I know where to find the edible alliums. It has a pink blossom and resembles nothing like an onion, but I know.

Decorative alliums are available in numerous varieties and most are fairly inexpensive. (Not good for eating.) Once I planted a garden in the back meadow before I finally gave over to the marauding deer population. They ate everything but these alliums, which over the years have multiplied. I use them for great cut flowers and enjoy the sweet fragrance of the blooms. Curiously they do not have the telltale onion odor when cut, but the deer seem to know and give them a wide berth anyway. After blooming, the foliage dies disappearing until the following spring. The plant spreads slowly by reseeding.

Whispers of Danger and Love is a contemporary novel which sports a lovely heroine named Cheryl, who loves her career as a landscape designer. This warm tale is a must for gardeners while waiting for the chance to get outside to commune with nature. A bonus is the handsome detective, a childhood friend, who moves next door.

Here’s a little more from my cozy mystery. I hope you enjoy it.

When Cheryl realizes her new next-door neighbor is someone she loved as a young girl, she immediately puts the brakes on her emotions. Never again would she allow the gorgeous hunk of a man to break her heart.

Ruggedly handsome Detective David Larkin isn’t used to pretty ladies giving him a firm no. He persists, even as Cheryl fights her own temptations. The two struggle to appreciate each other as adults, even as they admit to deep feelings from their childhood.

AMAZON BUY LINK

 

Read more of the cozy mysteries by Janis Lane on Amazon

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.

 

A Writer’s Garden–Amy Anguish Shares Her Garden

Tags

a garden blog, A Writer's Garden, Amy Anguish, Hope and Faith by Amy Anguish

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 Amy Anguish. Welcome, Amy!

Gardens are for Sharing

By Amy Anguish

You can always tell it’s peak squash or tomato season when you see fellow church-goers coming in with plastic grocery bags bulging with fresh fruits and vegetables from their gardens. It’s one of my favorite times of years, and finally, for the second year in a row, I get to be one of the ones who shares the produce from my backyard instead of relying on others to bring some of theirs my way. It’s one of the many ways I have found to “pay it forward.” After all, if that sweet, old man in Texas hadn’t brought me tomatoes for a few years, I would have had to get by with the ones from the grocery store, and we all know those don’t taste as good.

We expanded our vegetable garden this summer. It now has more room for squash and tomatoes, green beans and pumpkins. But it also has zinnias and sunflowers. Why? Because gardens are for sharing.

And I don’t just mean for sharing produce with friends and neighbors, even though my neighbors and I traded cucumbers for squash and bell peppers for tomatoes several times last year. We’re just starting to gather in a few cherry tomatoes and green beans, although flowers are adorning my squash plants and my pumpkins are starting to creep out of their bed.

I also share my gardens with the birds. My sunflowers were amazing giants, full of bright yellow heads bursting with seeds last year. And the birds made sure they devoured every single one, all the way down to destroying even the head of the sunflower. But that’s okay. Because we both got something out of it. I got my pretty flowers for a couple of weeks. And they got to feast.

My front garden bed has azaleas, roses, hydrangeas (if I don’t kill them), and several other little things, all meant to be pretty. The bed around my back porch has Lantana, Mint and Lavender, all meant to help keep mosquitoes away. There’s a huge butterfly bush in the corner that brings all sorts of gorgeous winged creatures to my line of sight. I have lilies blooming by my back fence. And daffodils and irises in various places in the springtime. Those might not share food for anyone beyond bees, but they share beauty and sometimes a nice fragrance.

I love driving through our neighborhood in the spring, soaking up the gorgeous colors popping in the dogwoods, tulip trees, flower bushes and shrubs, and various bulbs. In the summertime, the Hydrangeas and roses take over, keeping us all with something to admire. And in the fall, the leaves are stunning.

There is definitely more than one way to share. And I hope my garden can continue to flourish so I can keep passing on food and beauty to others around me.

Do you share anything from your garden with friends or family? Can you think of any other ways gardens can be shared?

 

About the Writer/Gardener

Amy R Anguish

Author of An Unexpected Legacy

Amy R Anguish grew up a preacher’s kid, and in spite of having lived in seven different states that are all south of the Mason Dixon line, she is not a football fan. Currently, she resides in Tennessee with her husband, daughter, and son, and usually a bossy cat or two. Amy has an English degree from Freed-Hardeman University that she intends to use to glorify God, and she wants her stories to show that while Christians face real struggles, it can still work out for good.

Follow her at http://abitofanguish.weebly.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/amyanguishauthor

 

Faith and Hope

By Amy Anguish

Hope needs more hope. Faith needs more faith. They both need a whole lot of love.

Two sisters. One summer. Multiple problems.

Younger sister Hope has lost her job, her car, and her boyfriend all in one day. Her well-laid plans for life have gone sideways, as has her hope in God.

Older sister Faith is finally getting her dream-come-true after years of struggles and prayers. But when her mom talks her into letting Hope move in for the summer, will the stress turn her dream into a nightmare? Is her faith in God strong enough to handle everything?

For two sisters who haven’t gotten along in years, this summer together could be a disaster, or it could lead them to a closer relationship with each other and God. Can they overcome all life is throwing at them? Or is this going to destroy their relationship for good?

Available on Amazon

 

A Writer’s Garden–In the Garden Retreat with Carole Ann Moleti

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Carole Ann Moleti, Garden blog, Garden Retreat, Unfinished Business paranormal romance series

Test

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 writer/gardener Carole Ann Moleti. She’ll be talking about her writing retreat. Welcome, Carole!

 

When sitting on the beach, with the water lapping over the sand, kites drifting in the breeze, my inspiration and creative energies surge. Thirteen years ago, when I first got serious about creative writing, I’d hoped to make enough money to quit my job and buy a beachside retreat. I dreamed of being able to write uninterrupted by daily life, and to be able to invite other authors to join me. Of course, I planned to pay for all this by writing a bestselling series or two.

It had never been easy to break into writing, but the seismic changes in the publishing industry took authors from a point where agents, editors, and publishing houses would only accept perfectly formatted, typed manuscripts by mail, to an environment where paper is obsolete and writers are at the mercy of electronic publishers and monopolies that have rendered authorship for most to a hobby that barely covers expenses.

So, I continued to work the day job, which often includes nights and weekends, juggling home, and family responsibilities while trying to write. And I continued my second favorite past time: gardening. Every summer for as long as I can recall, I’ve spent a week or two on Cape Cod. Words flow as I wander the beach at dawn, dictating a scene with the call of the gulls as accompaniment. I linger after morning yoga, staring at a blue horizon that meets the bay. Waves lap onto the shore, and inspiration strikes. I rush home to get it all down.

One of the best parts about gardening, and writing, is when seeds germinate and spring to life. Drab winter deadheads are trimmed, branches pruned, soiled tilled and suddenly, everything turns green, blossoms and grows. I completed the Unfinished Business Series: A paranormal ghost story romance set in Brewster, Massachusetts.

This year, thanks to the day job, a stroke of luck, and karmic timing, my beachside cottage became a reality. Like a tangled first draft manuscript, the neglected lot sported dead and dying trees, choking the life out of each other, threatening to bring the house down. The perennial garden was a tangle, the rose garden was over run with thorny privet and a thicket of weeds.

Garden trees before

Garden before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My husband and I flagged the trees that had a chance, and found a landscaper to remove the rest, along with privet that was strangling everything around it. And this spring, he, two of our friends and myself spent many days of raking, bagging, pruning, digging, weeding, tilling, ad infinitum. Like the pearls that emerge from an edited manuscript, there were many surprises: spring bulbs around the house and wildflowers poking through the grass thanks to newfound light and air. We unearthed a stone wall garden bed, birdhouses, and added a new garden bench.

We planted more roses, and a “blue garden” of hydrangeas, and day lilies that will bloom next spring and every year there after.

hydrangeas

 

 

 

 

 

 

roses

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best yet, the house emerged from behind a shroud of darkness and the perennials did not have to fight the weeds.

Cottage front yard after

It’s been fourteen years this May since I began creative writing, and my new “writer’s garden” has been planted, and my latest manuscript: a contemporary Western romance, is well on its way to completion.

 

About the Writer/Gardener:

Carole Ann Moleti has been gardening since she was old enough to remember. She loves being surrounded by the sounds of nature, any body of water, fountains, and waterfalls. You can learn more about her at http://caroleannmoleti.com/

Carole’s work has appeared in a variety of literary non fiction and speculative fiction venues. The Unfinished Business Series: A sensual Cape Cod Paranormal Romance is set near the beautiful beaches Brewster, Massachusetts.

http://www.caroleannmoleti.com/the-unfinished-business-series/  

Warning to readers of sweet romance: these book may contain sensual love scenes.

A Writer’s Garden–Experimenting in the Garden with author Kathy Bryson

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Kathy Bryson, raised garden beds

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 author Kathy Bryson. Like many of us gardeners, she’s experimenting with new things in the garden. Welcome, Kathy!

 

Gardening Lite

By Kathy Bryson

 

When Catherine emailed about this year’s Writer’s Garden, I just gotten seed packets in the mail, Part 2 of my Gardening Lite experiment, and couldn’t wait to share it with everyone!

The experiment started when I spent Summer 18 weeding a surplus of decorative grass out of overmulched flowerbeds, so I was really looking forward to building out new beds.

Kathy’s overgrown beds

The frames were light-weight sheet metal, but the bags of compost weighed 50 lbs each. I hauled a few bags and admitted defeat. A student volunteered to help, so I swallowed my pride and gratefully accepted.

Kathy’s new beds

 

Just to make life easier, I did go to Lowe’s the Friday before we arranged to meet and got them to help me load 8 bags or 400 pounds of Black Cow compost in my Kia. I figured I could drive around for one day with that weight. But then the student emailed late Saturday that he’d gotten pulled onto another project. I managed to get another 2 bags spread, then had to quit.

We set a time for the next weekend, but plans change, and after a week of driving around in a car full of compost, I couldn’t wait. It wasn’t that low odor! I went back to Lowe’s and got a collapsible wagon, and over two days, finally got the car emptied. Of course, I came up short. I did not want to haul another thing, but I still needed mulch, so back I went to Lowe’s, telling myself to just get it done!

Texas has distinct seasons, so by that time the compost was mostly sold, leaving smaller bags of potting soil. I gathered them up along with the mulch and that’s when it dawned on me. Buy the smaller bag! Gardening is so much easier when you buy the lighter bag! It’s an epiphany that works for everything from cat litter to milk cartons.

With one problem solved, another Gardening Lite question popped up. In Florida, I had all sun, all day. In Texas, I only have direct sun for a few hours in one spot, so I had to find low light plans. My first choice was wildflowers as they’re usually sturdy and attract bees and butterflies, but generally, wildflowers like sun. It took some hunting, but eventually I found discovered wildflowers specifically for forest from Vermont. Sadly, however, Texas must differ enough from Vermont because nothing sprouted come Spring except for more of that horrid decorative grass. So back again I went to Lowe’s, this time for all the hostas and caladiums I could find. Those I know like low light because we use them inside the library for a touch of greenery and oxygen! You might have to peer into the shadows to catch the nuances, but you can’t go wrong in the garden if you pay attention to the light.

 

About the Writer/Gardener

A recent transplant to Texas, Kathy Bryson dreams of gardens that look like Thomas Kinkade paintings. This completely unrealistic grasp of reality is also what propels her to write tongue-in-cheek fantasy that ranges from leprechauns who play the stock market to zombies who hang out with and harangue med students. Not at all like the regular students she works with during the school year. Read more at http://www.kathybrysonbooks.com/

 

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Gardening Down Under with Cindy Tomamichel

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A Writer's Garden, Australia gardener, Cindy Tomamichel, Five Minute Vacations, Gardening Down Under

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 Cindy Tomamichel from “Down Under” and will be sharing some insight on what gardening is like on the bottom of the globe.

Welcome, Cindy!

 

Catherine, thanks for having me! What a great idea to find out about a garden from a writer’s perspective. I do enjoy reading about other people’s gardens, so I hope that my garden from Australia has some interest for others as well.

Since my last post on Catherine’s blog, I have moved to a small town in rural Australia. From the suburbs to being surrounded by dairy farms has been a big shift!

The area is different soil (sandy and rocky) and drier, so it has been challenging. The previous owner has established a large garden, full of beds of mixed natives and exotics. While it has been good to have something established, it also means a lot of plants have reached old age. The last few dry years have been very tough on gardens.

One thing of great interest is the change in wildlife. I have a bird feeder, and several water pots. So far I’ve seen cockatoos, galahs, corellas, rosella parrots, lorikeets, wattlebirds, wrens, honeyeaters and winter visiting bower birds.

We have also had a bower bird nest in the year, which was wonderful – I spent ages searching for bits of blue things to leave out for them to decorate the nest (see photo below).

We also have blue tongue lizards that must also be laying eggs, as we got an influx of baby ones last summer. A nocturnal possum gallops across the roof most nights, sounding like a baby elephant and freaking out the dog and cats.

This Summer was a bad one for local bushfires. We had quite few that started from lightning strikes in inaccessible forest areas, and they quickly threatened towns. We were safe enough, but the area was covered in dense smoke haze for days (see photo) and burnt gum leaves floated down into the yard, which made the danger seem very real.

Australian trees have adapted to bushfires over a long period of time. Many have seeds that only open with fire, or seeds that need smoke to germinate. A lot of gums have what is called epicormic shoots after fire, so even if the tree is burnt, green shoots appear along the trunk. Others have a thickened area at the soil surface called a lignotuber, and can sprout from this.

This Summer saw days over 40C (104F) and one day of 45C (113F). I set up a small sprinkler, and filled up some more water pots for the birds. I had over a dozen different species visit during the afternoon, including several cockatoos who just sat in the water. The garden suffered, with the leaves of fuchsias simply shrivelling up, and quite a few trees got scorched leaves. I have been replacing dead plants with ones that survive, mostly natives, but other hardy exotics such as succulents, rosemary and Chinese lantern bushes also do well with little water.

I used several photos of local gardens and plants in my book “5 Minute Vacations”, and often post photos on my Instagram account.

About the Writer/Gardener:

Cindy Tomamichel is a multi-genre writer. Escape the everyday with time travel action adventure novels, scifi and fantasy stories or tranquil scenes for relaxation.

I have a time travel romance series Druid’s Portal, set in Roman Britain, with the second in the series due out May, 2019. My “5 Minute Vacations” makes a lovely gift, and is designed to help you relax with scenes of nature and peace.

Amazon Author page: https://amazon.com/author/cindytomamichel

 

Five Minute Vacations

by Cindy Tomamichel

 

Tired? Stressed?
Need a break?

You are not alone.

Instead of reaching for another coffee, take a short journey with me. We will visit places where you can replace some of your current stress with a moment to cherish.

No exercises to do. No program to follow. No guilt for not being a better person.

Just relax into these tranquil scenes, and give your mind a five-minute vacation. In these pages, you can escape from the everyday, and find your happy place.

You can find Five Minute Vacations at Amazon