Has watering changed your day?
Marie Tulin
7 years ago
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prairiemoon2 z6b MA
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agobarrett001
7 years agoRelated Discussions
You know your gardening attitude has changed when .........
Comments (15)I read your post with interest. I think I share some of those sentiments. If you really were just joking, then ignore me. I sometimes misinterpret the subtle humour expressed. I was surprised you didn't get more responses. I've been thinking about your points. Anyway, here's my take: 1. Downsizing is definitely on my mind, in the garden and indoors. I've been looking around the house at all my houseplants and realizing I have far too many. They are starting to annoy me. 2. The thought has occurred to me that I do pass up opportunities to travel, because no one would be here to care for my garden. Spring travel would be difficult because I have seedlings started. Fall travel is difficult because there's so much to do to prepare the garden for winter. I hate the idea of winter travel. So what's left? 3. There have been times in the spring, when I work from morning till night in the yard and realize that no one else in their right mind would want to work like that. Yes I have created a monster. 4. Yes, painkillers are required. 5. I am not a collector of any one species of plant. I'm more of a general collector. I have a hard time being selective. So I have too many types of plant to work with. 6. Yes, I agree, all daylilies look alike. 7. Don't have bamboo, so can't comment on that. 8. I am certainly happy to dig up and share almost anything in my yard. 9. I love visiting garden centres, but seldom buy anything. I know the amount of time I spend on garden.web is excessive. There are times when I honestly feel I could just walk away from my garden and not care. I'm starting to think more along the lines of low maintenance shrubs, but haven't taken the plunge yet. So am I just suffering from a case of the blahs, or is it time for a serious change in gardening attitude?...See MoreHas your decorating taste changed?
Comments (29)Ingrid VC, it's funny that you should mention English country house style, because it's the ultimate when it comes to being inclusive, rather than excusive in nature. The style was only christened with the name in the mid-20th century, but it's a look that's been around for few hundred years, and for ease & livability, it can't be beat, because rather than being about things--certain pieces or motifs (wire-fronted wooden cubboards="French Country"; pastel-painted coyote silhouettes="Southwestern")--it's about an approach, one based on comfort & practicality & hanging onto things, rather than tossing them just because their moment happens to be past. If the damask sofa's upholstery gets a little shabby, a chintz slipcover will take care of that. If the elegant curtains form the old family place are too long for the windows, we'll just call them 'puddled' and let it go at that. There are bigger things to think about. If there are rings on the mahogany finish where somebody put down a wet drink, oh well. That's patina. And threadbare rugs are welcome too, because they not only take less upkeep than pale carpeting, they're also cheaper. The ceaseless quest after perfection is a killer, and nobody does take-it-as-it-comes decorating like the English. But English Country Style it's not only inherited antiques & old stuff. The Victorian bamboo what-not over in the corner next to the Sheraton style desk was itself a brand new piece at one time, as were 192Os floor lamps, and if there was room for them in the overall scheme then, then there's also room for the 196Os brass drum table & the scratchy-looking 197Os wall hanging somebody made in the ashram, & those 198Os engravings of temples & that wire-fronted cupboard, too. It doesn't matter that it's supposedly "French Country" in inspiration. So, in the 18th Century, were Thomas Chippendale's ribbon-back carved mahogany chairs, and they fit into the mix just fine. And in the Victorian era, people began with the same room, with the same inherited family pieces both good & bad, then filled up the bare spots with Chinese vases & Japanese fans & Persian rugs & tooled leather stools from Egypt & native American baskets from Arizona & brass lanterns from Morocco & plaster casts of famous sculptures & tooled silver vases from India filled with peacock feathers or pampas grass. The eclectic look that's featured in Pier One ads or in vignettes at Cost Plus World Market is nothing more--or less--than a look that was common in millions of homes in say, 1880. So much for progress. But besides all that imported souvenir stuff in the typical English country house, there was the homey stuff, too. On one side of the elegant carved marble chimneypiece was Great-grandmother's rush-seated baby chair & on the other side was the dog's chewewd-up wicker bed & a pile of slimy doggy toys. Dogs were just as important to the overall style as were the family heirlooms. And of course there, in a prominent place, were the twin entertainment centers of the day, the upright piano & the stereopticon. As for the TV that's replaced those items today, Victorians were the ultimate believers in technology, so the last thing they would have done with an amazing gizmo like a 54" screen is hide it away in an old-timey cabinet, or othewrwise try to make it disappear. No, that's the great thing about the relaxed English Country house style, and more specifically, the ultra-forgiving, unpretentious Victorian version of it: there was room in it for everything, old & new, plain & fancy. That's why the style is still a good, practical model on which to base a room for the 21st century. Magnaverde Rule No. 16: Decorate for the life you really have, not the life you wish you had....See MoreCurious. Has your feelings changed about your stepkids?
Comments (1)I havent been posting on here but for a few days. I can honestly say I do Love My SD very much. They are a part of my husband and to love him I have to love his kids somewhat b/c they are a part of him. Just because I love them dose not mean I always like them. They do dumb inmature things and say things that are better left unsaid. I do try and look at that as children if not mine but my husbands. And kids say and do dumb things to their parents. Dont know that it makes a difference if I am MOM or not I am married to DAD. And sometimes as adults we still treat our parents bad, and think they still dont know all we do. I love the grandkids I have from this marriage and wouldnt take any of that back(even if Im to young to be a grandmother) I really hope and pray my sd's grow up and do the right things for themselves and their children. I try to keep faith that things can only get better, that grown adults dont always act like children. Kasey...See MoreHas your approach to garden bed design changed?
Comments (40)I came across a really good article online (fine gardening magazine, I think) and it was about creating cohesiveness throughout your gardens by using color as a repetition as well as plants. For example, if you divided up a long bed into 3rds, you might have gold hostas, tall purple astilbes, and pink daylilies in the first third, then the middle third may be variegated blue and gold hostas, taller goatsbeard, shorter pink astilbes, and purple daylilies. The third section may have large blue or green hostas, gold heucheras in front, different pink daylilies, purple bellflowers or purple astilbes, etc. The point being that you can mix different types of plants and different varieties of the same plant when united by repetition of color. So for example, your eye lands on golds throughout the bed with the gold hostas, gold heuchera, perhaps a gold hakone grass, etc. The form of the daylilies and astilbes are repeated throughout, but the colors of the flowers and height can differ. At any rate, I am trying to use this technique this year to fill in some spots in the garden. Last night I divided some of my existing daylilies and placed the extras among some established hostas, I also divided a Liberty into 2 additional pieces and planted those in areas that needed the pop of gold. As everything leafs out, I will re-evaluate and continue to add more companion plants at the end of May....See Moremayalena
7 years agospedigrees z4VT
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agomoliep
7 years agoMarie Tulin
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agomayalena
7 years agoishareflowers {Lisa}
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMarie Tulin
7 years agoishareflowers {Lisa}
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMarie Tulin
7 years agobarrett001
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoprairiemoon2 z6b MA
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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