Learning in Bloom gathers the active side of the garden — where curiosity meets practice. This is the working record of what I’m growing, testing, and discovering right now, from individual plant notes to small-scale experiments and ongoing lessons that shape how I understand the garden season by season.
Jump to the Tools Mentioned The Small Things That Keep the Garden Running Gardens may be shaped by the big decisions, but the daily work depends on the small, ordinary tools that rarely get credit for how much they actually do. They are the things I reach for without thinking, the ones that end up […]
Essential Garden Tools: The Small Things That Keep My Garden Running Read More »
What Sparked My Curiosity This experiment began with a simple realization. I have been keeping seeds for more than twenty years, some saved for sentiment, some for practicality, and some I cannot even explain. It occurred to me that if I am going to keep storing them, I should finally find out whether any of
Toss First, Ask Later — The Experiment Read More »
What Sparked My Curiosity The idea began, as most of the good ones do, with a simple conversation. My sister was visiting a tulip farm when the woman there mentioned that she plants her bulbs inside mesh onion bags to keep the squirrels out. It made perfect sense to me. The mesh is strong enough
Mesh Onion Bags: One Small, Clever Structure Read More »
Context and Curiosity I came to buckwheat looking for a helper, not a harvest. The back edge of my yard, where the property meets the easement, has been a quiet mess for years. Between the trees and the buried utility lines, previous owners had left it to its own devices. Burdock, in particular, had taken
Buckwheat as Living Mulch Read More »
Opening Observation Some plants earn their keep quietly. Shamrock inkberry is one of them. I first noticed it at Country Bumpkin while hunting for a completely different plant, Ilex crenata ‘Woodwardii’. The tag caught my eye, and a quick bit of on-the-spot research convinced me it might solve a problem I had not quite named
By January, the garden looks like a pause: bare stems, frozen soil, and the one patch of green that refuses to quit. That is where the work really shows. The evergreens keep their shape, softening corners and holding the structure together until the growing starts again. These plants are the quiet scaffolding of the garden,
Evergreens That Work for You Read More »
Opening Observation I had seen heuchera for years without ever really noticing it. It never caught my attention in bloom, and I dismissed it as background filler, pleasant but forgettable. That changed when I started planning my chimney garden. When I asked the AI for plants to accent evergreens, it suggested heuchera. Curious, I started
Heuchera (Coral Bells) Read More »
Opening Observation I came to buckwheat looking for a helper, not a harvest. The back edge of my yard, where the property meets the easement, has been a quiet mess for years. Between the trees and the buried utility lines, the previous owners obviously left it to its own devices. Burdock, in particular, has taken
Opening Observation Peonies have been part of my gardening life for so long that planting a new one feels almost like adding a familiar piece back into the rhythm of a place. In Georgia, they came and went before I had time to enjoy them. The flowers opened in a burst of color and were
Coral Sunset Peony Read More »