The Midwest Makes the Boldest Paint Color Choices

Le Creuset

I have no idea what has caused this ‘flame’ in the garden, but perhaps it really does symbolise the heart of it. I was not aware of the flame while I was working in the garden today, removing and cleaning the bricks from the low retaining wall at the back of one of the bold borders, and it only became evident when I looked at the photos later. Looking at the wider picture, when there was about a third of the wall left to remove and clean, you can see that there is a glass sculpture in the border but, at the time the picture was taken, the sun (and it was a sunny day) was behind me and to my right, so it wasn’t shining through the glass. Curiously, as I perched on my makeshift stool, chipping away at the bricks with my lump hammer and chisel, I found myself thinking of earlier civilisations, chipping away with bones and stones to make their artefacts – so could I perhaps have been joined by ghosts from the distant past, huddled round their fire for warmth…?

The Birds and The Bees (and Bunnies...) My backyard seems to be the perfect place to raise a brood of bunnies! Baby bunny takeover

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Max Kim-Bee

In terms of a review of the year as a whole, there is not a lot to say, with it being more a case of consolidation than of change, building on subtle changes made the year before, like moving snowdrops to the woodland, thinning the apple trees to introduce more light to the woodland edge border below, and extending the blue & white borders. Even the current project, despite the organised mayhem it has generated, will only bring about a subtle change to the garden. Within the garden as a whole, mixed weather patterns created uncertainty in flowering times but there were negligible losses from the previous cold winter and no problems with waterlogging during the last few rainy and unsettled months.

With very best wishes and thanks to all my blogging friends for your continued friendship, wishing you health, happiness, joy and good gardening in 2024.

Home Depot

Most gardeners would agree that the best pastime for cold winter days is looking through seed and plant catalogs imagining the growing season to come. With that in mind, consider these four strong summer blooming perennials for the midwest when you are ordering plants in the coming weeks.

A Better Homes & Gardens Christmas craft is going viral on TikTok, but there’s something special about this viral DIY—the original how-to was written in 1969.

As the thick of winter settles on our patios and yards, you might not be thinking about gardening yet. But if you look forward, you’ll see that 2024 is poised to be the year of the wellness garden.

A modern take on a traditional Christmas wreath, get the whole family involved in foraging and you can even add new dried elements to it every year. This one is created using ivy, eucalyptus and a mix of evergreens. You could even spray a few sprigs of eucalyptus to match the colour scheme of your home.