In January 2022 I selected seeds for our garden. After years of trying to grow from seed and failing - I learned from Carol and Monty on Gardeners' World out of the UK how it is very important for the survival of your young seedlings to prick them out with their roots intact and pot them up into individual pots or plugs with rich garden compost. A true revelation for me as a gardener. Pictured here is one of my very special cupcake cosmos - thriving in my garden on July 12, 2022. If you dead head the spent blossoms cosmos continues on - blossoming constantly - adding color and flower as herbaceous perennials have their time to shine around them. Pictured underneath this white cupcake cosmos is a mysterious squash that seeded itself on the edge of my "kitchen garden" - named for its location...

Waiting while the buds slowly develop on my four year old Galtonia Candicans is like being a child anticipating the prize from a Cracker Jack. Galtonia Candicans or Summer Hyacinth is not hardy in zone 6a, our garden's hardiness zone. Hardy in zones 7 thru 10 I am able to dig the bulbs up in tact in their soil and transfer to a pot and put in a warmer sheltered place in my garage near a window in the winter months. I water it when the soil looks dry and it basically looks like a pot of dirt all winter long. I label it well to remind myself of the prize inside that pot when during June and July it develops into the gradual bell shaped white flower cascade - perfect for hummingbirds. Ornithogalum candicans or Galtonia candicans is native to moist grassland in South Africa and has...

Tidying up my plants that I keep indoors over the winter is one of my favorite things to do especially when it's cold outside. This scented geranium, pelargonium, has basically turned into a tiny tree over the years - it was climbing up one of our braided hibiscus plants and basically needed to be cut back. Geraniums are very easy to start rooting in a sunny window in your home. Here I have about eight separate cuttings, all of which will wait for roots to develop in water. Pot them up in some good soil and eight small scented geraniums become new plants to share or keep. This particular geranium is verbena scented. There are mint, chocolate mint, apple, rose, lemon, orange, coconut scented geraniums out there to add to your collection of plants. They are easy to grow indoors...

"Persimmon mood" is my latest watercolor...

Pumpkin seeds must be very resilient because this green pumpkin seeded itself from our compost and was inadvertently planted in our garden this spring. The growth pattern is fascinating with its curly growth from the stem, massive leaves, and progression to new flowers. I spent three days capturing it with my camera along with my Verde Cosi "Wavy Leaf" table linen, deep orange nasturtium, and my Mother's vintage dish which the light passes through. Please purchase Verde Cosi "Wavy Leaf" table linen for your table this fall. ...