A Writer’s Garden with Author Janis Lane

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Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Cut flowers, cutting garden, Janis Lane. Whispers of Danger and Love, romance

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Today Janis Lane is visiting talking about cutting gardens and cut flowers for all season. Welcome, Janis.

Thanks, Catherine.

It is possible to gather flowers for your vases without deliberately planting a cutting garden. Possible, but much more fun to set up a section of the garden for bringing the blossoms inside. Harvesting these blooms will not denude your carefully planned perennial landscape.

In Spring, Tulips, Daffodils, and Peonies are perennial friends who return year after year. One of the best cut flowers is Gladiola. Staggered planting of the bulbs (which are fairly inexpensive.) will prolong the harvest. In temperate climates, gladiola bulbs will renew, but pulling them up and storing will guarantee next year’s bloom. Other bulbs are simple and, again, fairly inexpensive.

Asiatic and Oriental Lilies and other in the same family are excellent mid-summer flowers. Day lilies may be used if you understand the stem must contain more than one bud as they open and close in one day. Sunflowers, Dahlias and members of the Rudbecia family are primo for late summer.

In the greenhouse we grow an exquisite plant, Lisianthus, for our commercial bouquets. Super valued for their longevity once harvested, they are not an easy plant to germinate. Grab a few if you find them at your florist or farmers market. They come in several colors: pink, rose, pastel yellow, and deep blue. I love the two-colored ones that are white trimmed with blue.

Last but certainly not least, Zinnias are an all-time favorite. Careful to choose the tall variety for your vases. Enjoy your flowers out and inside!

In Whispers of Danger and Love, the heroine, a landscaper, meets a challenge to create an instant cutting garden for a lady whose knowledge of gardening is next to nil. Cheryl chooses gladiolas and stakes them upright. The ruse works and her client is happily able to harvest her own bouquets. I admit I enjoyed working on this novel as it allowed the gardener in me to “play in the dirt” while I wrote the story.

About the Gardener/Writer:

Emma Janis Lane 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 color. She writes Regency Romance as Emma Lane, but also delights in dipping into a Cozy Romantic Mystery, pen name Janis Lane. Part owner of a plant nursery, she will answer gardening questions at her website. emmajlane.com   Connect with Emma on Twitter

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.

 

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A Writer’s Garden with author Sandra Ardoin

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A Reluctant Melody, A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, blackberry lily, hellebores, Sandra Ardoin, volunteers in the garden

Today’s A Writer’s Garden guest is Sandra Ardoin talking about volunteers in the garden, and she doesn’t mean people who help you weed. I’d like to have some of those. LOL.  Welcome, Sandra!

 

Enough is enough. Maybe.

by Sandra Ardoin

They’re called volunteers because they “volunteer” to pop up in places and in numbers you never even considered.

No. Don’t thank them. They’re glad to do it.

Sometimes, these sprouts are a welcome addition to my garden and perfect for filling in little holes here and there. Often, all it takes is a slight shift in location. It certainly beats having to buy more plants, although for me, that is a fun hobby in itself. I love to rescue those poor babies left to wither on a sales rack.

Other times … volunteers are not so welcome. Take my hellebores. PLEASE! Also known as Lenten Rose for their bloom time, these are prime plants for shade. They set off a winter garden in various muted colors, flowering when most everything else is brown, leafless, or hibernating underground.

A few years ago, I started with six rescued plants. Because I’m lax in deadheading, today I have what seems like millions but is probably only hundreds. They pop up all around the parent plant, but I also find them several yards away. In the next twenty years, I expect to see the fifty acres of woods behind us covered with hellebores. 😊

Since I have all of that particular plant I’ll need for my lifetime, my only choice has been to get down on my hands and knees—something not as easily done as in previous years—and beg pull the invaders out by the roots. It’s a hard thing for me to do. I don’t like killing plants.

It’s hard to tell, but all those little green spots are seedlings.

Hellebores aren’t my only invaders, though. Blackberry Lily is another plant with seeds that love to spread their wings and fly far and wide. Then there are native Columbines, and don’t get me started on the Bee Balm!

Even though I have more volunteers than I can use, my gardens wouldn’t be the same without them!

About the Gardener/Writer

Sandra Ardoin writes inspirational historical romance. She’s the author of The Yuletide Angel and A Reluctant Melody. A wife and mom, she’s also a reader, football fan, NASCAR watcher, garden planter, country music listener, and antique store prowler. Visit her at http://www.sandraardoin.com/ and on the Seriously Write blog. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and Pinterest. Join her email community to receive occasional updates and a free short story.

A Reluctant Melody – 2016 Grace Award Finalist

Kit Barnes’ drinking ruined more lives than his own. Now sober, he wants to make amends by opening a mission for drunkards. The most suitable location belongs to Joanna Cranston Stewart, a love from his sordid past and the one person he hurt the most. A pariah among her peers, Joanna is all too eager to sell her property and flee the rumors that she sent her late husband to an early grave. But she will let the gossips talk and the walls of her rundown property crumble around her before she’ll allow Kit back into her life.  When a blackmailer threatens to reveal her long-held secret, she must choose between trusting Kit or seeing her best friend trapped in an abusive marriage.  Will Joanna risk another betrayal? Or will she find a way through the pain of the past to love and trust again?

 

A Writer’s Garden with Zoe M. McCarthy–Straw Bale Gardening

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A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, contemporary inspirational romance, Garden blog, Gift of the Magpie, Straw Bale gardening, Sweet romance, Zoe M. McCarthy

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Zoe M. McCarthy is guesting on today’s A Writer’s Garden. I just love the post she’s got, too. I saw this gardening method at Disney World last summer at their Flower and Garden Expo and was intrigued by it. It’s great to get the low down from someone’s who’s actually used it.

Straw Bale Gardens are Just Right for Us City Folks

 John and I are retired city folks transplanted to the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains. In this rural area, people have tractors to get their gardens ready for planting. We don’t have farm equipment, so we were attracted to the idea of straw bale gardening—no dirt, no plowing, and no squatting to harvest vegetables. This is the third year we’ve planted a straw bale garden following advice from Joel Karsten’s book, Straw Bale Gardens.

In straw bale gardens, the bales become ovens to germinate and grow fruits and vegetables. It’s important to use straw bales, not hay bales.

We knew our daily visitors would be problems, so we built an eight-foot fence that deer can’t jump and reinforced the lower fencing with smaller-holed chicken wire that bunnies can’t wiggle through. We laid landscaping fabric to discourage voles and moles.

Before we could complete the fencing, seven deer stopped by to sniff our bales and discuss among themselves what in the world we were doing. They seemed indignant at the chicken wire going up.

We performed a 10-day process to turn the bales into growing ovens. Fertilizing and watering. Again and again. Warm water only. On day five, we poked our fingers into the straw and felt the heat inside.

We ran soaker hoses on top of the bales. Timers attached to the hoses water the plants daily from our well. We can’t over water bales. It was nice to be able to travel and know that our plants would have plenty of water.

Then we planted seeds for cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, carrots, beans, edible sugar pumpkins, strawberries, and watermelons in a thin cover of potting mix (not soil—no dirt touches the roots) into thirty straw bales. We wrenched apart the straw a bit and inserted seedlings for some vegetables, such as peppers and tomatoes. We planted impatiens in the sides of the bales. All done.

Cabbages attracted worms, so we didn’t plant them again. Not a favorite anyway. This year slugs feasted on tender shoots, but they now drown in baby food jars filled with beer. Potatoes go in the sides of bales, but as yummy as they were, we only reaped a few. We harvested a few strawberries the first year so we didn’t plant them again, but they returned in washed down bale humps, and this year they came up again in those old humps and flourished!

We novices have been proud of our bountiful harvests. We make pumpkin soup, bread, and pies. The carrot cakes are to die for. I have fresh lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, and carrots for my salads every day. We’ve learned how to freeze and can. The most popular for us is the jars of hot salsa.

Straw bale gardens are great for city dwellers. A few bales installed on a patio and they have a garden.

Is planting in straw bales something you’d consider? Why or why not?

 About the Gardener/Writer:

A full-time writer and speaker, Zoe M. McCarthy, author of Gift of the Magpie and Calculated Risk, writes contemporary Christian romances involving tenderness and humor. Believing that opposites distract, Zoe creates heroes and heroines who learn to embrace their differences. When she’s not writing, Zoe enjoys her five grandchildren, teaching Bible studies, leading workshops on writing, knitting and crocheting shawls for a prayer shawl ministry, gardening, and canoeing. She lives with her husband in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Zoe blogs regularly at http://www.zoemmccarthy.com/ .

 Gift of the Magpie

Amanda Larrowe’s lack of trust sabotages her relationships. The English teacher and award-winning author of middle-grade adventure books for boys has shut off communication with friends and family to meet her January 2 book deadline. Now, in the deepest snow accumulation Richmond, Virginia has experienced in years, Camden Lancaster moves in across the street. After ten years, her heart still smarts from the humiliating aftermath of their perfect high school Valentine’s Day date. He may have transformed into a handsome, amiable man, but his likeability doesn’t instill trust in Amanda’s heart. When Cam doesn’t recognize her on their first two encounters, she thinks it’s safe to be his fair-weather neighbor. Boy is she wrong.

Gift of the Magpie is a contemporary inspirational romance; it’s romantic with kisses.

Gift of the Magpie Buy Link

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Adventures in Gardening with Sandy Nadeau

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A Writer's Garden, Adventures in Gardening, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Gardening blog, gardening in Minnesota Colorado and Texas, Sandy Nadeau, Texas Bluebonnets

Sandy Nadeau is the featured gardener on today’s A Writer’s Garden blog. She’ll be talking about her garden adventures in several of the USA’s great states. Welcome, Sandy! And I have to say I love the field of Texas bluebonnets pictured below. Beautiful!

Adventures in gardening

By Sandy Nadeau

Being a native Minnesotan, I used to be able to grow anything. I spent the fall canning, freezing and admiring my bounty.

Then we moved to Colorado with all its magnificent beauty. We lived in the foothills and I foolishly thought I could still grow anything. I tried. Lord knows I tried. We tilled up an area behind the house that seemed to get most sun and planted everything from radishes to squash. Not even one little red wonder made it. And there was no way anything would grow from seed unless started in the house. Best to buy established plants, but even then at 7,000 feet in elevation, the growing season was short-lived.

I did have some luck with flowers. One just had to be picky about the variety. I had a beautiful forsythia bush, a gorgeous spread of Snow on the Mountain, irises, mint and daisies loved to make their home in my garden. Chives and table onions were successful every year as well.

Now I find myself living in Texas to be closer to our grandkids. I knew I was back in a place that could grow anything when the former owner of our new home showed up to see if I wanted “his guy” to till the garden plot. Dumbfounded, I reminded the elderly gentleman that it was February. February! That’s like winter.

He chuckled and said, “Yep. Gettin’ kind of late. You best hurry and get that garden in.”

Having only been here one month and hearing that bit of news, we thanked him and said clearly we had a lot to learn before taking on a huge garden like he used to have.

Now this February came along, and I needed to garden. I added some western charm to a garden ring around a tree with an old wagon wheel and driftwood and the pop of color of pansies. It turned out great. We’ll see how it holds up to the Texas heat.

We do enjoy a field full of bluebonnets that I don’t have to do a thing with.

I wasn’t quite ready for a full garden, but we dug some large pots out of the wooded area to the back of our property, filled them with dirt and planted some zucchini that I started from seed outdoors!

In February! I added some peas knowing how much my grandkids love peas. A basil plant and a red bell pepper. And then I planted some lettuce in some planter boxes. It’s pretty small-scale gardening, but still gets my hands dirty. Not finding good sweet pickles yet in the stores, I also planted cucumber in a back garden by the house. It’s all experimental so far.

Our purpose for moving here was to be a part of our grands lives and watch them grow. To be able to share with them the growth of veggies they’ll get to eat someday soon, is a real treat for this gardeners heart. I look forward to next February when maybe I’ll have a better plan to grow a bounty.

About the Gardener/Author

Sandy Nadeau has been writing for as long as she can remember. She’s also tried gardening in three different areas of the country. Minnesota, Colorado and Texas. All three providing interesting challenges. Sandy loves to write about adventurous things whether mystery or romance from a Christian perspective; good, clean stories with a Spiritual message. Enjoying life in Texas near her three grandchildren, she hopes to share her love of digging in the dirt with them. She has two published books out and can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Pelican Book Group.

Visit Sandy at her website http://www.sandynadeau.com/ 

See her books at:

http://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_47&products_id=742

 

A Writer’s Garden–Elle E. Kay Talks Gardens and Goats

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A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Christian fiction, Elle E. Kay, Endless Mountain series, gardening and goats, Rose of Sharon

Elle E. Kay is the gardener author on today’s A Writer’s Garden, and she’ll be talking about her four-footed visitors who also love her garden. Welcome, Elle.

Gardening and Goats

by Elle E. Kay

 

The Rose of Sharon is in bloom. It is beyond beautiful. The blooms capture my attention every time I walk by on my way. Unfortunately, they attract the attention of our nine goats and three sheep too. As do most other attempts I’ve made to garden. I’ve tried hanging baskets, which they try their best to eat from. I’ve tried fenced area, which they’ve maneuvered their way into.

 This year, we’ve spent most of the summer house hunting. Looking for a house with large pastures where we can keep the animals closed in. As much as I like them visiting the porch and coming to the backdoor, I look forward to a new home where my gardens can once again flourish. I love watching the hummingbirds take a drink from the flowers in the hanging baskets on the porch. I love seeing the bees steal the nectar from the perennials out front. And I love the birds that make homes in the trees and come down to eat at the feeders. I loved my water garden with the blooming water lilies.

 My gardens are a comfort to me. I look forward to bringing them back to their former glory, without having to give up the simple companionable pleasure the goats bring. So, hopefully, we will find the property we’re searching for where we can strike the proper balance. I will dig up some of my favorite perennials to take with me, but the Rose of Sharon will probably have to stay.

 

About the Gardener Author:

 Elle E. Kay lives on a farmette in the Back Mountain region of Pennsylvania. She is a born-again Bible believing Christian.

She loves keeping perennial gardens. She enjoys the wildflowers strewn about her property as well.

Stella was her debut novel. Claudia, the next book in the Endless Mountain Series, is expected to be released later this year, with Sofie following shortly after. Elle writes children’s books under the pen name, Ellie Mae Kay.

 Her website is updated with the latest information about her upcoming books. http://www.elleekay.com/. She also has a blog, where she writes mostly devotional posts based on traditional hymns http://www.elleekay.com/blog/. Elle is on most social media platforms.

 

Stella

After an encounter that leaves her petrified, Stella faces her stark reality. Can she find the faith she needs to persevere? Jason is a complication she’d rather not deal with. Can she trust him? Something is awry in Stella’s world. When she is abducted will anyone hear her cries?

 A Christian romantic suspense about a young woman battling to find her faith in the midst of struggle. It deals with the heavy subjects of rape, pregnancy, and kidnapping through a lens of faith and hope.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15016833.Elle_E_Kay

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden with Author Kathy Bryson

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A Writer's, A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Eastern Texas, Giovanni Joins the Werewolves, Kathy Bryson, Piney Woods, the Big Thicket, YA/Na fantasy

Today’s Gardener/Writer guest on A Writer’s Garden is Kathy Bryson. Kathy’s been with us before, but she has a new garden experience to share from one hot spot to another. Welcome, Kathy.

Thanks, Catherine.

Last Christmas, I packed up and moved from Florida to Texas for a new job. It was a great opportunity even though it meant I had to leave my garden behind. I had really mixed feelings about that. I loved my flowerbeds in Florida, but they had started to get away from me. I had to get help for weeding and mulching – a lot of weeding and mulching!

I wasn’t sure that I could manage better in Texas. Where houses are sold by the lot in Florida, they’re sold by the acreage in Texas – way too much change to take on immediately! So I moved into a townhouse and resigned myself to no garden, at least for a while. But then I started learning about just where I’d moved to.

Piney Woods–all photos by permission of Katy Pleake

The eastern spur of Texas isn’t open plains and cattle. It’s the Piney Woods region, pine forests that stretch from inside Oklahoma and Arkansas nearly to the Gulf in Louisiana. Historically known as the ‘Big Thicket,’ it’s considered one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. I live right between the Angelina National Forest and the Davy Crockett National Forest.

two paths

So I’m getting my garden fix after all. My college, Stephen F. Austin State University, sits on 400 acres and had 3 other sites where students practice forestry. Right behind the library is the SFA Mast Arboretum, 10 acres devoted to native plants. It rains almost daily, but that’s no excuse for not taking a walk!

natural gazebo

I had psyched myself up for all the stress of the move, knowing I’d have moments of anxiety and stress and not letting myself take on too much until I got settled. But I’m finding this new environment very inspiring, all sorts of ideas popping up and ticking over.

The pictures above were taken by one my student tutors, Katy Pleake, for a social media project and used by permission.

 

About the Author – 

Kathy Bryson is the award-winning author of a series of leprechaun romances as well as the adventures of a hapless med student. She has degrees in both advertising and literature as well 20+ years in business that came in handy for exposing leprechauns. The zombie stuff she’s making up out of research – mostly! A recent transplant to Texas, she also runs a college writing center and caters to the whims of spoiled cats.

I just released YA/NA fantasy novella Giovanni Joins The Werewolves. Giovanni Goes To Med School became an EPIC 2017 eBook Awards Finalist, and I’m thinking vampires need to take over the campus coffee shops for the sequel. It’s going to be a busy summer!

Author Links –Blog – http://kathybryson.wordpress.com/

About Giovanni Joins The Werewolves –

Poor Giovanni! Just as he enters his 2^nd year of med school, a voodoo curse catches up with him. He’s determined to get through medical school, even if he now howls under the full moon and has to take himself for walkies! But just as he’s getting used to fur and fangs, Giovanni’s zombie returns, leading him to wonder – exactly how many other monsters are out there?

Book Links –

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Giovanni-Joins-Werewolves-School-Book-ebook/dp/B06Y1HV2KF

iBooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1222356808

Nook – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/giovanni-joins-the-werewolves-kathy-bryson/1126090475

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/giovanni-joins-the-werewolves

All available outlets! – https://www.books2read.com/u/bMGMM7

 

 

A Writer’s Garden—Casting Your Cares in the Garden with Christina Lorenzen

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Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, CAsting your cares in the garden, Christina Lorenzen, dealing with change, garden devotional, Healing Seas, turtles, turtles in the garden

When your troubles weigh you down, what better place to be than in the garden. Today’s guest Christina Lorenzen shares the soothing aspect of her garden with us. Welcome, Christina.

 

Thanks, Catherine.

Last spring was a particularly tumultuous time in my life. As a matter of fact, it was around this time one year ago when it seemed like everything around me was unraveling. I will be the first to admit I don’t do well with change, and especially when there are several changes at the same time.

My husband had been dealing with health issues since late winter and here it was late April and he was still on medical leave from his job. As a person with health anxiety, the dozens of doctor appointments and medical tests were unnerving for me. I wanted to be calm for him. My daughter, a junior in college, was also dealing with health issues in the form of anxiety. She was struggling, unable to walk to class alone or stay home without one of us there. Though I knew I should have been grateful for my own health and good fortune in life (my second and third books had been published), the weight of their troubles pressed down on me.

If you’ve suffered from anxiety at some point in your life, you know that there are times when the weight of it can feel as if you can’t take a deep breath. I felt like that often, except for the times I went outside.

I had been reading articles about natural ways to cope with anxiety and most agreed getting outside in the sun and fresh air was a great way to be in the moment. While people who struggle with depression tend to live in the past, people battling anxiety tend to live in the future. Without a doubt, this is where I was. What if my husband couldn’t go back to work? What if something happened to him? What if my daughter couldn’t stay in school? What if her dreams were the future ended before they even began? What if I had to take care of two people when I finally had gotten to a point where I had time to pursue my writing? As I ran these scary projections of the future in my mind, it occurred to me that the ‘what ifs’ I was creating were weighing me down like the rocks in the garden outside.

It was that thought that prompted me to step outside that day. I hadn’t noticed before that how green the grass was, how the crab apple tree had blossomed or the way the petals had scattered to the ground below it. But what caught my eye was the cluster of rocks surrounding a small plant.

I couldn’t remember what kind of plant it was or when it had been planted. It was then that I realized I had been so frazzled and so consumed with the future, I had been missing the little things happening every day. I was deep in thought, marveling at how I had compared the things weighing on me to rocks and there I stood in front of a small border of rocks, Then I noticed a faint movement out of the corner of my eye. At first I panicked, thinking it might be the mouse we had seen last fall. I geared up to make a break for it when I saw a small grayish head pop out – of a turtle shell!

In the twenty plus years we have lived in our house we have seen an assortment of ‘wild life’ pass through our yard. Our children thrilled at the sight of rabbits, ducks, frogs, possum, raccoon and even a yucky mouse or two, but never had we seen a turtle. Since we don’t live anywhere near water, I thought this sighting was especially unusual. I inched closer and bent down to get a good look. Sure enough, the little head drew back in so quick it looked as if a vacuum had sucked it away. I stared at the shell, sitting there in full view in the green grass, and wished I knew how to tell how old he or she was. And being a worrier, I immediately wondered how this turtle, which upon seeing him my daughter named Vern, would find his way back home. Without even thinking, I whispered this verse.

Matthew 6:25 -26

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns — and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

For the next week or so, no matter how busy I was, I stopped whatever I was doing and took a few minutes to spend time in the garden – and check on Vern. By the end of the week, he was gone. I searched the plants and flower beds around where he had been just to be sure. I could have stood there and thought the worst. I could have added another ‘rock’ to the load I was carrying. But I could still hear those words from Matthew. And somehow I just knew that wherever Vern was, he was okay. And with that reassurance, I let myself drop each of those rocks, doing as the Bible instructs us to do by ‘casting’ my cares, knowing that all would be well.

 

About the Author:

When I’m not writing or reading, I love spending time with family, my cats, taking walks with my Cocker Spaniel Yogi or getting lost in jewelry design, a venture that feeds my creativity as a writer. I am a member of Faith, Hope & Love, the inspirational chapter of RWA (Romance Writers of America) and ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers).

My most recent release is:

Healing Seas

by Christina Lorenzen

In just a matter of days, Addie Mayfield’s life is upended. Through an arrangement her father makes, she sets sail on the RMS Titanic as governess to the two young Fairchild children. When tragedy strikes, she finds herself rescued alongside strangers on the RMS Carpathia, headed for New York City. Far from home, she is taken in by the O’Reilly family to wait for her family to send for her. With no money for her passage home, she’s brought to the small hamlet of Montauk to become a caretaker for a great aunt she has never met.

Captain Frank Shea is a man without a ship. Removed from duty as captain of the RMS Morrow, he’s come to Montauk to recover from a leg injury. More painful than the injury is his fall from grace after spending his entire life at sea. The ocean was his home and he has never needed anyone. Now faced with an uncertain future, he’s desperate for a way back to the sea. Until he meets Addie Mayfield, a woman who is just as lost as he is. Can these two people find hope for the future after all they’ve lost? Can an unexpected love heal two broken souls?

Available on Amazon:

I hope you’ll visit my home on the web www.christinalorenzen.com often and keep in touch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden-Janis Lane talks about Willows

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A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Janis Lane, Whispers of Danger and Love, willow crafts, willow folklore, willows, willows in your garden

Today’s Writing Gardener guest is Emma Janis Lane–two authors for the price of one. Emma Lane writes Regency romance. Her pen name counterpart, Janis Lane, writes romantic cozy mysteries. Today, she will be talking about–

WILLOWS IN YOUR GARDEN

willow catkins

Recently I overheard a patron mention his willow tree had budded, a sure sign of Spring. I felt a rush of panic. No! I couldn’t be late to harvest the silver buds before the catkins appeared. Whereas the little kitties are sweet, they do not stay on the branches very long. Harvested early, the decorative silver buds will be around as long as you like. Spring finds my vases full.

Once pretty willow shrubs lined our service road and supplied me with an abundance harvest, but borers found and riddled the trunks. I am pinching myself to remember to plant twigs to start them all over. In Spring, when the soil is saturated, a willow branch may be rooted by simply sticking it in the ground where you’d like a nice shrub. Careful. Some consider it invasive. Often willows are planted on the banks of streams and ponds to prevent erosion because the roots are abundant and healthy. (‘ware the borers!)

Folk Lore “Wearing the willow” is a term used to describe the lonely heart of a lover who has lost her mate either to another person or death. Willow branches on a hat may also mean that person is hopeful for romance. (Waggles eyebrows.) A well-known television celebrity couldn’t control his laughter while describing Dyngus Day in Buffalo, NY. Always the day after Easter, this Polish American holiday is celebrated with the boys switching (gently) the girls with willow branches and splashing them with water. (A Polka dance or two might be expected.) The next day is turn about fair play for the girls. As you may imagine, these antics have their origins in ancient traditions. Long branches of willow buds are a celebration of Spring in cold country.

ROMANCE: Who can resist the dreamy, swaying branches of a weeping willow? When plotting a Regency Romance, I occasionally allow courting couples strolling the grounds in the warm breezes of early summer the privacy they long for. The swaying green curtain on the stream bank offers privacy to steal a quick kiss. This proved handy in Belinda, My Love when the heroine received her very first kiss by the besotted rogue who had waited patiently for her to grow up.

Medicinal: The willow has a long history of usefulness to mankind. Hippocrates mentioned the willow for medicinal properties. Willow leaves and bark yield salicin, a principal component of aspirin, which was used as both an anti-inflammatory and pain relief. Research reports pure salicin is tough on the digestive system, but it’s interesting to read about the early Native American’s frequent use of the willow bark as medicine.

Crafts: Basket makers made use of the strong but pliable branches. I’ve used them for crafting wreaths instead of grapevines on occasion. I’ve admired a trellis made from willow branches as well. Last but not least, the twisty willow, which grows into a mid- sized tree, produces unique branches for walking sticks. The gnarled branches also add winter interest. Willow, in any of its many varieties, can be both beautiful and useful in your garden.

 

About the Author:

Emma Janis Lane 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 color. She writes Regency Romance as Emma Lane, but also delights in dipping into a Cozy Romantic Mystery, pen name Janis Lane.

Part owner of a plant nursery,she will answer gardening questions at her website emmajlane.com

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through A Writer’s Garden with Carole Ann Moleti

Tags

Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Carole Ann Moleti, fishpond, garden memories, Pond Memories, romance author Carole Ann Moleti

Pond Memories

Daddy’s Pond

My earliest memories are of gardening with my father. Our home was on the Bronx waterfront, with the beach as a backyard, so there wasn’t much space.

Daddy in the backyard

Daddy carved out a corner for a pear tree and another for a fishpond, complete with lilies, a turtle, and croaking frogs that found it on their own. We had a small vegetable garden and he planted roses for my mother. I once watched him dig trenches around the rose bushes and bury fish he’d caught off our dock as “fertilizer.” Thinking about it now grosses me out, but at the time I was transfixed.

Our Pond with some of Daddy’s statuary

I grew up helping him tend the outdoor spaces, as well as the indoor garden, with a miniature railway he created in a greenhouse that looked out over Long Island Sound. Storms took a heavy toll and there was always a lot of clean up and repair needed every spring.

When he fell ill, my husband and children teamed up to help my mother take care of the garden for him. He’d watch from his wheelchair, not saying much–as was always his way. I wondered what he was thinking–and worried it was too painful for him.

But the last day he and I spent outside together was an Easter Sunday, sitting by the fishpond at the Long Island Veterans Home, watching the birds and bees in the flower garden. I cherish that memory–and remember the look of contentment on his face just days before he lapsed into a coma.

These days, Daddy guides my hands as I tend my roses, plant flowers and vegetables, and cultivate the water garden my husband lovingly built along with fairy houses, gnomes, frogs, and fairies to make it our own.

My childhood home is now in another’s hands. Daddy’s fishpond was filled in to make a nice, flat lawn–on Earth Day no less. I wonder what happened to the turtles and the frogs. It is a melancholy synchrony that this post comes just days before the fifth anniversary of his death–on Father’s Day 2011. I hear Daddy telling me it’s all right–that life goes on.

I let the sweet smell of honeysuckle and the weedy tinge of clover bring me back. I savor the sound of my feet crunching on the few well-trodden footpaths carved into grassy sidewalks that have escaped the mason’s trowel. The sound of a tinkling waterfall transports me to a time and place when the little piece of heaven we called home was untainted by the ravages of weather, time, illness, loss, and sad goodbyes.

 

About the Author:

Gardener/writer Carole Ann Moleti has been gardening since she was old enough to remember. Her favorite things about gardening is the sense of peace and oneness with nature, bees buzzing, butterflies alighting, the fragrance of flowers, the field mice, frogs, and toads. When she’s not gardening Carole is writing in a variety of genres including spicy paranormal romance, gritty urban fantasy, memoir, and nonfiction that range from the sweet and sentimental to the snarky and irreverent. You can see her portfolio at http://amzn.to/23KBru8 and find out more about her at http://caroleannmoleti.com

 

 

Through A Writer’s Garden with Emma Janis Lane

Tags

A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, cozy mystery, Emma Janis Lane, Murder on Blake Hill, Rabbit resistance plants

Your Neighborhood Matters

My work in the nursery brings me in contact with different gardeners. One anecdote I have will prove to you that your neighborhood matters.

A pleasant lady requested perennials which were ‘rabbit resistant.’ No problem, we said. The very next week she was back. We tried again. This went on for three weeks, each time she observed the wild bunny munching on the new perennial. (I’ll list some examples later.) Finally we gave up and refunded her money. We researched and yes, those plants were listed, but, of course, resistant does not mean fail safe.

Time marched on. Later, as we drove down her street, a light bulb sparked over my head. Did you guess it? The poor wild bunnies had no other food than to eat what they could find, even if they didn’t prefer the taste. No wild plants in the gardens; no clover or other wild plants mingled in the lawns.

 

Every single lawn in the entire neighborhood had been chemically treated. It must have been a source of community pride to have grass so green and pure.

It’s a personal preference. I’ve never been a fan of chemical solutions. Our lawn is a mixture of grass, clover, broad weeds and dandelions. In the spring, it blooms yellow. We love it. The bunnies love it. Weeds are kept under control by mowing. A mixture like this will survive drought much better. Neighbors needn’t be informed you are spraying something noxious on your property, and you don’t have chemicals where you and your children walk and play. For me, that’s the biggest advantage of all, plus we love watching the wild life hopping around on the lawn. They love the clover and dandelions. Rabbit Resistant Perennials: Veronica, Siberian iris, Salvia, Peony, Allium, Astilbe, Baptisia, Bee Balm, Lavender, Yarrow, Foxglove, Daffodil, Catmint. (and many more!)

 

About the Author:

Emma Janis Lane 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 color. She writes Regency Romance as Emma Lane, but also delights in dipping into a Cozy Romantic Mystery, pen name Janis Lane.

 

Her most recent foray into Cozy Mystery is Murder on Blake Hill, where disconcerting events disturb the peaceful town of Hubbard, New York, but Detective Kevin Fowler and his staff are on the job, even as shocking secrets are revealed.

Part owner of a plant nursery, she will answer gardening questions at her website emmajlane.com

You can also connect with her on Twitter