door to my heart 🌻

We don't plant sunflowers.

The birds do.

Weekly our goats get sunflowers to keep their coats healthy.

Each winter the birds get sunflowers.

And our sweet bird friends plant them here & there.

Like at the entry to our potting shed.

💚🌻💚

so it begins...

May has arrived & I have gardening on my mind! 

sunflowers

When the wind & rain knock over all the sunflowers 🌻--

then vintage watering cans are put to work. 

Hydrangeas

Our Peegee Hydrangeas always look fabulous with the old Chicago 

brick of our 1857 farmhouse as a backdrop.  Next they will be blushed 

in pink.  I cut these bushes back significantly in early spring.  They 

have responded so well!  ❤️

my potting shed

There is this awesome chicken coop on our property...and since I
am too chicken to raise chickens (not up for the prey that follows),
it has become my potting shed.  This Sunday was my day to get it
cleaned & organized.

In the process we untarped this beauty that has waited too 

long in our barn.  This is an antique Mail Sorter from a 

post office in Wisconsin Dells.  It is big...a good 4 feet across 

and 6 feet tall -- and is one piece AND heavy!  Somehow 

Dave & I got it from the barn to the potting shed and then in

the door (with maybe an inch to spare).  And I now wonder 

why it took so long!

The potting shed has the luxury of size....holding another 

awesome potting bench, two additional tables and a whicker

couch & chair.  And, this is a hard working area of the farm...

I am actually sitting there typing right now from the whicker couch,

having just potted about 10 containers.  

Here is my sweet potting shed...with sunflowers coming up near 

the blue chair.  And, the door faces the pasture, so goats call to me 

while I work and barn cats often pop in for a nap. 💚

go big or go home

We have beat the annual rainfall record by 7 inches in Wisconsin.

And it shows!  Our Peegee Hydrangeas are flourishing!

                     Heaven for hundreds of bees!

    And our miniature pumpkins!  Will be a bounty...🎃

spring gardening in Wisconsin

Chilly nights have brought all my potted plants in!  More 

vulnerable outdoor plants are covered with sheets.  New 

garden shoots get a canning jar inverted like little campers 

right over them.

Orphaned milk can lids make great planters!  Blue 

insulators are great to tuck in with plants.

Plants tucked in on our porch during several cold nights...like

a little reunion of violas & pansies.  They are all hardy stock for

cool spring planting....but why not be kind when nights dip to 27.

sweet spring

dirt under my nails = vacation!

I am on vacation...Yea!

First week off since last July,

unless you count medical leave, which I don't.

My goal is to take each day & let it just unfold.

Definitely some antiquing.

Definitely some rest & relaxation...picture me on my deck.

Definitely some gardening.

Watering cans & benches are a must have!

Rakes on barnboard with a trailing vine, 

day lilies....perfect.

Little concrete frog I found at a recent thrift sale for fifty cents,

forget-me-nots and other herbs return.

Hens & chicks in a chicken feeding trough & hosta.

Bird houses, milk cans, pansies are most welcome.

Today I head to a local nursery on a nearby Amish farm.

Will add some tomato plants, and a few annuals.

Sunflower & pumpkin seeds to plant.

The morning rain has moistened my gardens....

Here I come!

dirt under my nails

Summer almost here...can tell when the day ends with tired bare feet, signs of sun on my face & dirt under my nails. Nothing fancy for me ~ garden gloves exist only for the tough jobs. For all the rest, it is just a "dig in & get it done" mode. Such has been this week, time spent in gardens, in the hayloft, at auction. A new litter of kittens has arrived, tucked away in the top of the barn ~~~ haven't yet met them......will leave Hope to tend her babies in this private time that is all hers. I relish that kind of time to ~ which is why these days feel so special, dirt under my nails & all.

this makes me so happy!

First visit to the greenhouse of the year!
I am beyond giddy!
Pansies & herbs....only hardy stock for the still chilly nights.
But it was open and they greeted me with a "good to see you again".
And it will be again & again & again!

My favorite greenhouses:
Chippewa Valley Growers in Altoona, WI (outside of Eau Claire)
Winter Greenhouse in Winter, WI (near our woods)

My new little flower friends wait on my porch, soon they will meet the sun!



Happy May Day!

vintage garden

My gardens are farm gardens....nothing fancy: day lilies, hydrangea, and a sunflower or two. First rule is, if you grow here- you must be hardy. Second rule, the plants must learn to coexist with metal chairs, a milk can or two, and any other chippy, rusty item that may just decide to call a garden a home.

And pansies absolutely call this farm home. Anyone that attended the spring barn sale might just attest to that little fact.

So, how does your garden grow?

little flowers

I am in process of garden cut back & clean up.  Cutting back those plants that have become just far too leggy - sometimes giving them their second chance at growth, sometimes removing them all together.  It is necessary -- but never ever easy for me.  So often it is my beloved pansies that by July are overhanging their pots that take the massive cut.  And, putting those sweet little faces in my garden discard bag just hurts.  However, trying to tease out each little flower to save takes such patience & time, then they only last a moment.  Sometimes I take the time, sometimes I just close my eyes and throw.  Little flowers, little plant haircuts, my oh my -- does anyone else suffer through these things like me?

hollyhocks, day lilies, snowballs and farm gardens

I am not a gardener...

however, I do like the play of foliage & perrenials & annuals -

and know just enough.

In our last home in Sun Prairie - we were fortunate to

earn "Garden of the Month" distinction

and be featured in the city's annual

Garden Walk.

But still -- I make no aspirations at Master Gardener.

When someone asks about a plant -- my answer will likely be,

"I like how it looks".

So - with a vintage farm

- my quest was to keep the gardens

pure & simple & true to the farm's age.

That meant hollyhocks, day lilies, hydrangeas (snowballs) 

& any other planting that
could stand hardy farm living.

And, with a barn red & Old Chicago brick backdrop-
colors must be subdued, thoughtful, quiet.
The pinks above were picked by the hollyhocks, not me...
but I do like their play against the brick.

Plants were rescued from the old gardens, found as
we "civilized" the farm yard edges. 
Rusty "art" was added,
just enough wild was left unaltered,
with a restful, peaceful farmyard as the goal.

What is your favorite garden secret?

An Ode to Peter Rabbit

"Stay out of Dave's garden" - I think to our rabbit -- but I know she nibbles on my strawberries, and I figure there are enough to share.  So, today, instead I think of the story she & her distant relative, Peter, inspired.  I think of him hidden away in the watering can -- keeping a distance from Mr. McGregor & his rake. 

Perhaps that is what draws me to German rabbits -- from the candy container that now sits on my kitchen table above to all the others that now live in my home....this sense of sweet adventure.  And the story, told to children of all ages - a story likely in our own childhood.  Perhaps it is the distant nursery school teacher in me that draws me back -- or perhaps it is still that little girl playing in the yard at Healy Lane, making "salad" for the bunnies from the sweet clover. 

I must also share a fond "Happy Birthday" today to my friend, Pam --- I met her in Kindergarten, and for all these years since, we have remained just a smile away...  We have shared many an adventure--- and I am certain Mr. McGregor has shoo-ed us out of a garden or two.  Pamerella - this one is for you!

Love, Kari