a gardening mothers day

The last few weekends here in northern Delaware have been spectacular! I've never felt compelled to do so much gardening. Today I had intended to be in my basement studio making a pattern for this bubble romper I've been thinking of, but then I went for a walk. There was no going back inside.

Since I only have gardening on the brain right now, I bought this perfect little card for my mother-in-law for Mothers Day on Etsy from redcruiser. If I could buy it for myself, I would. Actually I did buy myself my own gift- kelly green pants that fit like a dream- thanks, honey. But I refuse to buy my own card- kids, get busy!

Also got her these Bahco pruners that are so nice, they are not available at Home Depot. The have different sizes depending on your hand size. Get them here.

Took a detour the other day to Terrain and it looks like full-on summer there. The cafe there would be a lovely spot to bring Mom on Mothers Day, but don't try it without a reservation. Even on a regular weekend you need one now.

As soon as it rains I'll get back in the studio...

in the christmas spirit at terrain

It was a good day to get out of the studio. It was the first sunny day in a while, and a call from a friend to go meet for coffee at the Cafe at Terrain in Glen Mills, PA was all the enticing I needed.

 

I always liked the old Styers, the nursery that Anthropologie bought to transform into their flagship lifestyle garden store, but it was more of a nuts & bolts kind of place. It didn't have a cafe, much of a gift shop, or quite the panache that Terrain has. I miss the plant selection though.

The seasonal displays here are always so irresistible. (Go here to see fall's displays) This winter's theme: rustic & cozy.

A little tartan.

A little woodland.

Time to start some paperwhites and amaryllis.

Winterberries. Yes it's finally December. All we need now is a picturesque dusting of snow!

savoring the change of seasons at terrain

mums

We had gorgeous Indian summer weather this past weekend after the tropical storm passed! Perfect, because we had family visiting, an outdoor wedding to attend, and time to go exploring as well. The day after the wedding festivities, we took in the Brandywine Festival of the Arts, then decided to see what the Terrain at Styers garden store had on display.

Terrain is owned by the same group that owns Anthropologie. Need I say more? You know the displays are gonna be good! A few years back, they purchased the venerable Styers Nursey in Glen Mills, PA as an experiment, then transformed it into the stylish purveyor of plants, furniture, accessories & gifts that it is today. There is even a cafe featuring local organic fare. There are supposed to be more stores in the works based on this flagship.

one of the outbuildings

Some people miss the old Styers which was more of a hard core gardener's nursery with a huge selection from the common to the exotic.

sedum, etc.

The plant selection is definitely pared down now, but what I like about the place is how they make even the most common plants look good through thoughtful pairings and compelling displays.

asters and anemone

Mums, pansies, asters, and sedum never looked so good!

coleus & potato vine

A feast for the eyes!

rustic shovels

white pumpkins

 Inside the main building is where most of the accessories & gifts are found.

dried flower & herb wreaths

velvet pumpkins

a coffee table book

one-of-a-kind stool

cast iron acorn

It's all notoriously pricey, but we always manage to walk out of there with something ;)

for the love of crape myrtles

Here we are heading south on highway 168, the access road to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. From southern Delaware and south, the coastal areas have such lovely crape myrtles in bloom this time of year.

I have fond memories of spotting the trees on the way to the beach as a child. It seems every house along the road whether abandoned or lived in, grand or dilapidated, has at least one crape myrtle out front.

Just about every gas station has one too.

Some consider them a shrub because of their multi-trunk, vase-shaped habit. They get as big as trees, though, especially if they've been there 50 years. They are popular because they are tough, thrive in the heat, and come in a pretty array of colors from bright scarlet to soft lavender.

When I see a big one in front of a tumble-down shack, I can imagine the home in a time when someone had hope enough to put something pretty in the yard. I think I'm partial to the lavender...

Excuse the glare- these photos were all taken out the car window as we sped along trying to make good time getting to the resort area. Shame on the hubs for refusing to stop at the roadside nursery!

pennsylvania lavender festival 2011

Today was a perfect day for a trip to Provence. Well not Provence exactly, but a reasonable facsimile a few hours away in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. Willow Pond Farm was hosting it's annual Pennsylvania Lavender Festival this weekend.

My festival-loving mother & sister-in-law had it on their calendars way back in January.

Dana swears she did not wear the purple shirt on purpose.

We were looking forward to the pick-your-own lavender event. They handed out clippers and let us have the run of the two acre lavender field.

I went a little crazy with the picking. I plan to hang it up to dry. Maybe make some sachets...

Over 100 varieties of lavender are cultivated on the farm as well as other culinary and medicinal herbs. This is the first year I am trying some in my garden. I have a hot dry slope where I think it will do well.

 

The owners, Tom & Madeline Wajda, also maintain an extensive demonstration garden.

Madeline's culinary training in Paris really came through in the lunch fare. No pizza, hotdogs, or sodas like at most festivals. Everything on the menu had a touch of lavender in it: the focaccia bread and jelly in the goat cheese & turkey sandwiches, the iced tea, the lemonade,

the cookies,

and the ice cream made by Bruster's. I had the black raspberry with lavender- oh baby! You wouldn't think it would go together, but it does. I was worried it might taste like soap, but the flavor is subtle and tasted like it belonged in everything we tried. I picked up some culinary grade dried lavender to try out in a recipe or two at home. I'll be sure to post the results...

humble flowers

It's not fall yet. But that's ok.

  

I was out in the garden today after ignoring it for a few weeks. Despite not watering, fertilizing, or weeding, the old standbys are in full bloom. I love the humble, sturdy varieties as much as the fragile short-lived ones because even with the sun beating down mercilessly, they don't let me down.

We have to have sunflowers outside the kitchen window every year. Makes me feel like I am in the south of France.

Echinacea. Getting a little bleached out, but still doing fine.

Coreopsis Moonbeam. I like the buttery shade of the Moonbeam hybrid.

Black-eyed susans are so carefree and bloom forever. Happy end of summer!

butterfly project

A few years ago, we received a ButterflyGarden kit from Insect Lore as a gift. Those folks at Insect Lore are on to something, because that present brought us years of fascination. For $20 or $30, the kits make a great battery-free gift for kids between age 4 and 12 (my daughter says she'll still like it when she's 12 anyway). All it is is a mesh zippered cage and a plastic cup filled with Painted Lady caterpillars and their food (weird grey stuff). You can reorder the caterpillars over and over, which we did. We used it so much, we wore it out and decided to upgrade to the Butterfly Pavilion.

You just leave them in their cup and watch the caterpillars form their chrysalises. When they start to hang from the top in a "J" shape, you know they will make a chrysalis soon.

The caterpillars attach their chrysalises to the paper under the lid.

Then you transfer them to the cage by removing the paper and safety-pinning the discs to the inside of the mesh.

If your timing is right, you can watch the butterflies emerge from the chrysalises (freaky cool!) after about a week. This time around, they decided to come out in the middle of the night. No worries- we'll just order another batch of caterpillars.

The promise of more caterpillars makes it bearable for the kids to part with the butterflies.

We even made a special butterfly garden in a corner of the yard to release them in and hopefully attract some wild ones as well. It's not fit to be photographed at the moment. We'll weed it and post it when more stuff is in bloom...

our year for strawberries

Oh what a difference a week makes!

This is going to be our year for strawberries! We got nothing last year. The plants were new and what little they produced, the squirrels got first. They would nibble at them and leave the remains out on the grass as if to taunt us. (Same thing with the tomatoes).

This was a week ago. The raised bed was overflowing with healthy plants laden with tiny green fruits and one ripe one! I guess they liked the generous helping of compost they got. We never implemented the elaborate squirrel barrier we were scheming over in early spring, though. Looks like there will be plenty for all of us.

My great grandmother in Idaho was quite the strawberry farmer. She had a little business selling strawberries and eggs to the local grocery store. That was how they did it back then. None of this shipping fruit in from California. All the produce was local because it made sense. They canned the excess to eat during the winter and didn't try to make strawberry shortcake in December.  

Mom and her sisters remember going to grandma's twice a week in the summer at the crack of dawn to pick berries before it got hot. That's the secret- pick them in the afternoon and they smoosh when you handle them. In the morning they are firm, but sever them at the stem so the top doesn't come off, just to be safe. They worked until 11:00 am or so, then called it a day for $1, a hot dog, and some pop.

I've got plans upon plans for these berries. I'm going to make strawberry shortcake (Martha's recipe) and a strawberry-rhubarb pie with local rhubarb from Highland Orchards (I'll share my own recipe when I do). But right now, I just have to have them, rinsed, hulled, cut in half, sprinkled with a teensy bit of sugar, and swimming in cream...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!