GardenBook

 When I posted for Bloomday in March I'm pretty sure I had no expectation that in July, 5 months later in high summer, our lives would still be upended by COVID-19. The garden doesn't  care about what we humans are experiencing and it benefits from a gardener that is working from home. This in fact has been my silver lining. Files and piles that used to be in my office at work are spread out on my dining room table along with my computer equipment. Instead of fluorescent light fixtures above my head I have natural light from windows on two sides. When I look out those windows I see my garden. When I take a break I take it in the garden. I can pull a ton of weeds in five minutes.  This month features the Lilies. I have already ordered more for fall planting. The benefit with lilies is that you can dig a hole about the size of a potholder and install 3 bulbs and get big drama . Silk Road    Carte Blanche   Black Beauty  ...

  When you haven't gone anywhere in months a scenic 3 hour drive and a few days in a cottage with a view of the ocean can seem like a trip of a lifetime. I've done this journey many times but it is more precious when you can't . All of my spring road trips and any other trips, business or otherwise, have been cancelled. The business trips I can do without after 30 years of them, but the lack of garden tourism does leave a void. On the positive side, said void has been filled with time spent in my own garden and with extra attention it has improved .  The highlight of this brief sojourn to the coast was my morning at Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden; you can peruse Part One of these two posts here. Public gardens are open in California and so far have not been victims of the new rollbacks .Outdoor spaces in general dodge the bullet.   The Heather collection garden is one of the few areas where I usually spend some time sitting. I find the undulating mounded f...