Kylee Baumle's Blog, page 9

Wordless Wednesday: Winter Jewels™ 'Painted Doubles'

I picked this up today at The Anderson's in Maumee, Ohio, making it the first official plant purchase of the 2015 season. A fine choice, don't you think?

Helleborus Winter Jewels 'Painted Doubles'
Hybridized by Marietta O'Byrne, owner of Northwest Garden Nursery in Oregon, this fully double hellebore is just one of the Winter Jewels series.

Of course, I want all of them.

Weekend Wisdom: I Like the Way the Greeks Do It

Having been the guest in homes outside the U.S., I know that different locations and cultures have what they consider to be proper guest etiquette. I try to take my cues from my hosts, but sometimes you just don't know what to give your host as a thank you gift for having you in their home, whether it be for a meal or for a few days.

Huffington Post to the rescue!

Photo of Aglaonema from my book, Indoor Plant Décor: The Design
Stylebook for Houseplants
A cut flower bouquet is always in good tast...

The Trees of Our Little Acre: Cornelian Cherry

Several years ago, I visited the historic home of Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924), Indiana author of more than 20 books, and a celebrated naturalist. In the latter part of her life, Gene and her husband built a home near Rome City, Ind., on Sylvan Lake, which they called "Cabin in the Wildflower Woods." There, she worked on her nature studies and her writing, before moving to Los Angeles about 1920, so that she could be more involved in the making of movies based on her books.

Cabin in the Wi...

65 Gallons of Sap on the Wall...

Mmmmm...The second year of maple syrup making is now completed. We were first-timers last year and we beat ourselves on the noggins for not doing it before then. Eating real maple syrup made from the sap of your own trees is like a taste of heavenly nectar.

We were just a tad late getting the trees tapped last year, so I watched the weather closely this year in order to take advantage of the sap season as long as possible. Sap begins to flow when the daytime temperatures are above freezing, bu...

Weekend Wisdom: Spring Officially Started Three Weeks Ago

You thought spring started on Friday, didn't you? Well, you would be right, IF you're talking about spring based on the tilt of the earth on its axis. Astronomically, spring began on Friday, March 20th this year, when the earth was halfway between its extremes of tilt towards and away from the sun.

This is what we've all been taught as soon as we were old enough to understand the seasons. Never mind that it doesn't always occur on the same calendar date; it's usually within a couple of days of...

Bless Their Little Bloomin' Hearts

No whining about winter, but let's just say that today's predicted high of 70, a temperature we haven't seen for 140 days, 5 hours, and 26 minutes (but who's counting?), is being ushered in with much hoopla and happy dancing.
The permadrift in front of the house still lives, but those oppressive mounds of snirt that have served as a reminder that we do not live in Zone 7b and that only the strong and patient survive, have finally evaporated, melted, and otherwise disappeared.&nb...

A Quick 4-Book Gardening Book Giveaway!

My publisher, St. Lynn's Press, is celebrating St. Patrick's Day a little early by giving away four titles from their illustrious repertoire of books. They've made it easy to enter:

Green is good. St. Paddy would agree. How are you 'greening up' the planet'?
Want a chance to win one of our books by Billy Goodnick, Jan Johnsen, Kylee Baumle, Jenny Peterson and the Editors at SLP for St. Patrick's Day? 
Simply visit our page and leave a comment about how you are 'going green' on this status....

It's Tree Tappin' Time!

The maple tree buds will be swelling soon.There are certain things that signal the end of winter and in a year that we didn't think could possibly be as bad as the last (but was), we're celebrating each one as it occurs. It's officially the beginning of the end.

Strangely enough, this was a winter that just five months ago, I was dreading in the worst way. Just the thought of what was to come threatened to be my undoing, but here we are on the down side and I'm none the worse for wear! Yay!

Thi...

Longwood Gardens: Shades of Gray

It would just be too tacky to make a play on "that movie" that premiered over the weekend, so I won't do that. But I have to show how much better Mother Nature does it anyway.

In my last blog post, I shared some photos of last spring's visit to Longwood Gardens.The conservatory there is a world all in itself, with each partof it worthy of an essay highlighting its features. It was the lovely shades of gray in its Silver Garden that especially caught my eye this visit.

Take a look:











So many of the...

A Springtime Visit to Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens, the treasure created by the Pierre du Pont family near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is an enjoyable experience at pretty much any time of the year, but my visit last April made more of an impression on me than my first visit way back in September of 2006. The reason for this may have been a combination of two things.

When I made that first visit, I was a new gardener and while absolutely awestruck by its loveliness and grandeur, my familiarity with plants had not yet reached...