Okay, so we've been slack with blogging...

But we've been anything BUT slack when it comes to our work this fall.

Here's what we've been up to.

Told you we've been busy!

A Virginia Favorite...Geraniums

Geraniums have been gracing the steps of Virginia homes for ages, and it's not a surprise considering their impact.  Geraniums are one of the most reliable plants for adding color and will produce new flowers from spring until frost. For best flowering production, be sure and place your geraniums in a sunny spot.  Be sure and fertilize your geraniums with a liquid fertilizer during the growing season, and pinch back those spent blooms.

We thought we'd share a few of our favorites.

Ivy Leaf Geranium.

Apple Scented Geranium.

Regal Elegance Geranium.

Summer Showers Ivy Geranium.

Welcome!

When someone walks or drives past your home, does the exterior of your home make them pause and want to visit or does it make them gasp and want to keep on going?  Stand in the street in front of your house.  If it wasn't your home, how would you feel about walking up to the front door?  Perhaps it's time to make changes to your landscape. 

There are numerous ways to make your home more inviting.  How can you improve your front yard?  Does it involve your door?  Your porch?  The overall landscape?  With a little thought, your home can invite people to stop on in, with or without the welcome sign. 

The first part of your yard to address is the area closest to the street.  It's what people see first, and will give the greatest initial impact. Creating an area that includes color is a sure way to say, "hello, look at me" and beckon visitors to continue forward.  If you have a mailbox by the curb, dress it up with a flowering vine or surround it with river rock and an interesting array of flowering species. 

Next, encourage visitors to continue forward to your porch.  Include a bed that adds interest with both height, texture and color.  These areas should include flowering shrubs and trees.  A Japanese maple or a brightly flowering crepe myrtle surrounded by low growing flowering shrub will continue the adventure as guests approch your front door. 

Your doorway should be visible from the street.  If it's not as noticeable as you'd like, try painting your door a brighter color to draw attention to it.  A brightly painted door always says, "welcome."  If you have a front porch, use it to create a seating area.  A porch swing or a bench with cushions ensures guests that they are approaching a home that wants people to stop by and enjoy their space.  Fill your front porch with attractive pieces of pottery, overlfowing with colorful flowers and plants.

However you choose to invite people into your home, remember it starts with that intial first impression.  Use your creativity or that of your landscape designer to welcome people to your home.

Garden Structures

Garden structures are a great way to add height interest to your landscape.  Arbors, pergolas, vine poles and trellises all have a purpose, but along with that purpose comes the prospect of a new way to add more beauty and color to your landscape. 

Arbors are synonomous with roses, but there are several other plants that can create an equally appealing look, depending on the style of your landscape and the style of the arbor you choose.  A simple arbor can create a welcoming entryway when placed over a walkway. 

A well-designed pergola can be used to create a new "room" for your home.  When placed on a deck or patio, with the right furniture and some exterior fabric your landscape instantly becomes additional living space. 

A garden trellis as a stucture will serve as support for any climbing plant or vine.  Additionally, if placed in a certain area of a landscape, it creates a wall for privacy or a blank canvas for adding color with flowering plants.  With a variety of shapes and construction materials, there's a trellis available to match any home.

A vine pole is one of the easiest ways to train a flower vine that needs support, particularly a very fast growing species. 

Hey, Chickadee

Want to bring more birds to the yard?  There has to be a reason for them to want to be repeat visitors, and that reason usually surrounds food.   Why not spend a little time on a rainy day creating a homemade birder feeder?  We searched the web and decided to share our favorites, complete with links and instructions. 

This is a super cute, easy one that we found at Smile Monsters blog.

If you've got small children and are looking for a fun, easy activity then the bird feeder at Surviving Motherhood is a perfect choice.

A recycled soda bottle?  Yes!  Disney'st Family Fun shows you how a recycled bottle and some old wooden spoons make a creative, easy bird feeder.

This one might be my favorite.  Apartment Therapy shows us a cute way to recycle an old toy.  

Have you come up with any ideas for bird feeders?  We'd love to hear your thoughts.  Share your ideas here.

Taking the Outdoors Indoors

We often get asked, "What flowers should I plant for cutting? " and that's a question we love to answer. 

The choices are endless, but these are a few of our favorites:

Yarrow.  This is a tough, easy to grow perennial that blooms and blooms.

Star Gazer Lily.  It's pretty and it smells good.  Of course, we recommend it!

Coreopsis.  It's simple and has a down home, country feel.

Bearded Iris.  With a huge variety of colors, it's hard not to fall in love with these favorites.

Blazing Star.  Gorgeous stalks of color that are also great for drying.

Summer Phlox.  Old fashioned, full and fragrant.

Perennial Sage.  A vibrant purple-blue color.  The more you cut, the more blooms it produces.

Planting for the Irish in You

With St. Patrick's Day quickly approaching, we're feeling a touch o' the Irish.  Since we're always "green" we thought we'd celebrate the Irish holiday by mentioning a couple of Irish themed plants.  .

Irish Eyes Rudbeckia 

Very unusual flowers for planting close up. Huge daisy flowers to five inches across. Aster-like petals in golden yellow surround a bright green center. Add to the middle of the border for some sensational late-season color. Performs well in container gardens. Herbaceous perennial.

Irish Moss

Handsome, lush deep green moss-like foliage forms a soft mat that is good along walkways and between stepping stones. Tiny translucent white flowers add to its beauty in spring. Tolerates moderate foot traffic. Evergreen perennial.

Shamrock Holly

Selected for its compact habit and bright, glistening new foliage, this dwarf grower makes an excellent hedge or border plant. The dense twiggy habit displays an abundance of black berries through winter,

Dark Dancer White Clover

Vigorous grower with dark purple-black, clover-shaped leaves and white summer flowers makes a spectacular groundcover. Intermingles with other plants well in mixed beds or containers. Easy-care perennial requires no deadheading. Heat and drought tolerant.

Edging Options for Your Beds

Curious about options when it comes to edging around your garden beds?

With all the choices available, we thought we'd highlight a few:

Stone Edging

Mix and match stone shapes and colors for a natural edge.  Positioned in a winding pattern, a stone edging creates a nice shape for flowering ground covers to gently creep over.

Metal Edging

Metal landscape edging does a good job of keeping mulch in and keeping unwanted plants out.  It is more utilitarian looking than decorative.  It is also important to buy a quality product to ensure edges are not sharp.

Wood Edging

Wood landscape edging is a good choice for very large landscapes.  While it helps keep the mulch in, it doesn't do a good job of preventing unwanted plants from invading.  Since wood is biodegradable, it needs  to be treated to keep it from decomposing or warping.

Masonry Edging

Masonry (brick or concrete) edging looks great and comes in a multitude of styles.

Flagstone Edging

Flagstone and bluestone feature wide, flat faces that lend a romantic Country feeling to a garden. With the irregular shapes, it's a great choice for cottage style gardens.



Whatever you choose, some things to consider are cost, how long it lasts and especially, how will it look with your home and current landscape.

Gifts for the Gardeners In Your Life

If you've got a gardener in your life (don't we all?), and you're looking for that perfect gift for your dirt lover, we've got some great ideas.  We've spent the winter looking through catalogs and websites and drooling over all the fantastic finds.

Here are a few of our favorites.  Some for the beginner gardener and some for the gardening addicts.  No matter where you fall between the two extremes, gardening is the best way to get in touch with the outdoors.  It's healthy, it's peaceful and above all, it's good for the mind.  

Consider these for that favorite gardener in  your life.  Or even better, give a gardening gift and help someone else discover a new love of the outdoors.

Bogs Garden Boots


May Flowers come early to Bogs! The Bogs Classic Tall is built with maximum comfort and durability to withstand anything Mother Nature can throw at you this spring. The Classic Tall offers 7mm Neo-Tech insulation to circulate air as well as a contoured removable insole (with antimicrobial protection to keep toes fresh as a daisy). Easy-on pull handles and durable hand-lasted rubber over a four way stretch inner bootie ensure maximum comfort and durability.

Solar Powered Rain Barrel Pump System

Tired of low water pressure from your rain barrel? The solar powered rain barrel pump system provides pressurized pumping through a garden hose with no electrical outlet required. High powered system pumps up to 100 gallons on a single charge. There's no need to elevate your rain barrel to extract the water or install expensive electrical pumps. Solar energy pumps with enough force to work for all your watering needs including sprinklers and other watering activities.

Stainless Steel Solar-Powered Fountain Birdbath with Copper Finish

Place this stainless Steel Solar-Powered Fountain Birdbath with Copper Finish in a sunny spot, sit back and enjoy the show. You'll provide needed nourishment while you relax to the soothing sight and sound of water in motion, no wiring or installation needed.

The built-in solar panel circulates water whenever the sun shines. Includes one gentle shower and one bubbling fountain head. Stainless steel construction with real antique copper finish. 

Tomato Grow Bucket

Start your garden with delicious Beefsteak Tomatoes! This kit is the perfect, fuss-free way to start growing your own tomato plant.

Tomatoes are one of the easiest plants to grow, and they yield massive amounts of fruit. The Beefsteak is one of the biggest tomatoes out there - it's a juicy variety that you rarely find at the supermarket because factory farms prefer smaller, tougher skinned fruit. That's a shame, because beefsteak tomatoes are great salad or hamburger toppers, with big, thick, juicy slices the size and color of a steak. If you want a Southern Style BLT, you need Beefsteak tomatoes for the full taste.

The kit includes Beefsteak Tomato seeds, a galvanized steel bucket, row marker, soil, shovel, and a rake.

Once the tomato plant outgrows its pail planter, simply transplant it in the garden to allow optimum root growth and number of tomatoes produced.

Herb Saver

Fresh herbs wilt quickly in the fridge, but the Herb Saver or "Herb Savor" by Prepara helps keep the flavor and vitamins from wilting away. The HerbSaver protects rosemary, cilantro, basil, and other herbs from frost damage and dehydration. It has a handy design that can prolong the shelf life of herbs for up to 3 weeks.

Pottery for Impact

A favorite is always a great piece of pottery.  A piece of pottery bought from a local artisan is even better.  Go to an art show, a local garden center or ask around.  A magnificent piece of pottery filled with gorgeous plants will give impact to any entry.