The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
Sorted by date Results 126 - 141 of 141
By the time February rolls around each year, there seems to be a reawakening. Bulbs shoot forth and flowering trees come out of what I term hibernation. Montgomery and the surrounding counties will soon have the appearance of a fairyland of flowers shrubs, trees and bulbs. Pansies planted last fall will perk up and bloom along with snap dragons, and dianthus. We should be seeing evidence of poppies forming tiny gray-green clusters close to the ground. Nurseries should be stocked soon with...
January has always been to me the month which can be a let down after the hurry and flurry of Christmas and New Year's social whirl. It is a time for rest and reflection which usually brings a myriad of New Year's resolutions. Do you write these down and reflect on these promises you made to yourself throughout the year? Can you even remember the resolutions made last January? And if you do remember some of them, were these promises met? I always make a garden promise that I will create the...
Christmas is just around the corner and it is a busy, busy time of the year. It is also good to remind ourselves that we should busy ourselves getting closer to family and friends. Plan activities and outings to include children such as viewing the lights at the zoo, or going to a Holiday Pops concert, or having a Christmas cookie bake-a-thon at home. Then make enough to share some of the cookies with residents at a local nursing home. So do not let the time slip away, just start planning the...
Everyone loves a holiday, and in the south, we do love holidays that have a close association with food. And Thanksgiving is a prime example. People plan their menus weeks in advance and have family and friends over for a meal which is really a feast. The sideboard groans with casseroles, turkey either roasted or fried, dressings with who know what all has been added, and the desserts which would win first place in many county fairs. But the real meaning of Thanksgiving is just that-we as a...
I can remember as a little girl with 2 other sisters growing up in Dothan, that it was always the fall and spring of the year we scurried around doing "fall cleaning". Windows, porches, closets, rugs, baseboards, in and out and up and down the house got the steely eye of all involved. White gloves were worn to touch surfaces to insure that no crack or cranny was left untouched. Those were the days when everyone pitched in and got it done. Unfortunately, I am not as meticulous in the house as I...
The month of September begins the season of county fairs, local festivals, football games and rodeos, where people are no longer at the lake or at the beach for long swathes of time. I have friends with homes in Highlands who have been gone since May and will be returning in September. Normal routines and schedules return for us all, and that should include the care and maintenance of the garden. Fall also means lots of leaves drifting to the ground and extra work raking, blowing, mulching or...
I heard some neighborhood children talking about school books and school uniforms and thought, "where has the summer gone"? Really. When the school bells ring, the summer is technically over and so early. And what do our flower beds tell us about their state of affairs? Most are mature with tall zinnias, cleome, phlox, cosmos and salvias in large drifts, just begging to be cut for flower arrangements. If there have been any deaths, all we need to do is re-sow the zinnia, cosmos and cleome; fill...
First of all, HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY to all of our readers. We do have so much to be thankful for in this wonderful country of ours. So, be proud to be an American. July can be a brutal month for the garden with intense heat and in many years, drought. For those of us who have sprinkler systems, we are basically in control of our flower beds and can make the needed adjustments of the time and amount of watering. This means that we are aware if some areas get too much water or some areas of the bed...
As I was busy hoeing out the pink and white buttercups or Oenothera, which proliferates like mice, someone tapped me on the back and wanted to dig out the rest to replant in their garden. the first question I asked, was why? They responded that it is so delicate and beautiful appearing so easy to grow. They wanted to relocate it before it turned to seed so they would have more next year. And I said," it is ok with me, just know that they can get away from you, quickly". Which brought up the...
We have often heard that April showers bring May flowers and this proverb should hold true for us since there has been plenty of rain. I also hope that each of you have experienced a wonderful Easter time with much joy now and in the future. It is amazing how this cool, cool weather lengthened the life of pansies, snaps, geraniums, petunias, and spring blooming shrubs. In past years, I would be pulling out these flowers and would be planting for summer. Now, I will not replant until sometime in...
As life should have it, mistakes can be made when composing on the computer. Please note that in rereading last month's article, I saw a typo that I thought I had corrected prior to sending. The ground cover featured and also referred to in the article should be Vinca Major and not Vinca Minor. Mea culpa. The weather has been so volatile, warm some days followed by freezes. Hopefully, by the time of the release of this article, spring will have arrived in all of its glory. Cheers for the...
March is the month I describe as the front door to spring.With the winter blues and the unusually cold season, I am definitely ready for the crisp, cool and clear days just ahead. Have you heard someone tell you, in a somewhat dismissive manner, to go fly a kite? Well, we should all heed the suggestion as I have read that this sport can relieve anxiety and stress. The art of flying kites harkens back to early civilizations, China being one. If we really think of the aerodynamics of thrust and li...
Weather. Weather. Weather. It is as important to the garden world, as location, location, location is to the real estate world. With the coldest winter so far this season as I can remember, there are two bright spots--one is that is has killed a myriad of insects, and two, the peach growers and other fruit growers are happy with the number of cold days necessary to produce the fruit. But as the saying goes, this too shall pass. Now lets get on with late winter plantings and tasks. February is a...
The period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas can make one believe one is in a time warp, for literally time flies at the speed of light. Everywhere there abounds crisper air, and the bustle of children and adults gearing up for one of America's greatest holidays on December 25th. From now on, all eyes are on the countdown of days until Christmas. It is a time of year that many think beyond their own family's needs, and reach out in unbelievable ways to make those less fortunate to be a...
Pumpkins abound, colorful leaves sail to the ground, county fairs come to town with Farris wheels that turn round and round. There is a definite deep fresh coolness that pervades the early mornings and a marked clarity in the sky in November. The humidity and heat have lifted and I am energized to finish gardening tasks that I have been remiss in completing. My first priority will be to set up a daily schedule to plan, shop for new plants for late fall and winter, and to execute. Sometimes I...
When I travel country roads in early September, I see what I term the hargingers of fall. Last weekend in mid September I did just that, and viewed a magnificent array of wild flowers in fields, ditches, and peaking out of woodlands. I saw Goldenrod swaying above and below the elegant and stately iron weed with its flat panicles of brilliant purple; rusty red leaves of sumac; the light blue chicory plant; black-eyed susan; other types of helianthus or yellow daisy flowered plants; blue...
