Good Dinner Mrs. Mellen

As much as I love to cook I love to garden, maybe even more if that is possible. I am so passionate about my gardens which sooth my soul each and every time I venture in the garden. Even if I say I am just going to spend a few minutes pulling some weeds before I know I have been working at my garden for hours. No matter how long I stay in the garden, I don't want to leave, I have to force myself to stop and go inside. I love nothing more than getting up early on a spring morning, grabbing a cup of coffee, heading out to spend the cool early morning spring laboring in my garden. Laboring yes, but a labor of love! Every January I long for spring and my garden. As I put away my Christmas decorations my mind shifts to garden plans including new plant acquisitions to enhance my already large perennial beds. I curl up at night with a cup of tea searching through all my favorite gardening sites and catalogs dreaming of spring while visualizing all these beautiful plants gracing my ga...

I've always loved Old Fashion English Roses. Not only the fresh blooms but the beautiful images of these roses in photos, on fabric patterns, plates and more. For some reason it took me a long time to plant the roses in my garden. Finally three years ago I ordered David Austin Old Fashion English Roses in five varieties and my only regret is that I waited so long to make this spectacular addition to my garden. I was a little disappointed when I opened the box and saw what the roses looked like shipped bare rooted. I didn't expect much the first year. Following the directions I soaked the roots over night. Just by chance I was speaking with a knowledgeable gardener and she mentioned that I should cut the roses back to a foot high after planting . I was very skeptical but she assured me that the roses would do better the first year if I followed her instruction. I did and she was right. I had lovely blooms the first year and for the past two seasons. Each summer season I am dazz...

Yes I know that I sound obsessed with my garden, but I am so happy when I am working on producing more and more beautiful gardens. Saturday I wasn't torn about my plan of action. After a fun Girls Night out at Pandora's in Legacy place and martinis with fun names like French Manicure at Aquitaine, I still managed to get up early. But no Hot Power Yoga for me (sorry Masaaki I do love your class), out to hot power gardening. I needed to separate day lilies that were not producing many blooms because they had multiplied too much. These lilies had grown so thick in a few years because they had been planted in top soil that we had trucked in to our garden. I should wait until the fall but with the cool rainy weather that was projected for this weekend, I think that it will be fine. And I will make sure that I keep them watered until the roots take hold. Separating perennials is best done in the fall before it gets too cold but sometimes you just have to break the rules.(Don't ...

The fate of my failed hydrangeas is sealed. Off to the woods they go, never to remind me of my failure to get beautiful blooms all summer long from one of my favorite variety of hydrangeas. I almost transplanted these thorn in my side plants to a garden that I call my overflow garden. This garden is located at the edge of the woods and this past spring when the Charles River flooded the whole area was under water. When I separate plants and don't have room in my more formal gardens, this is where the plants end up. I even wondered "What would Martha do?" I think that I know the answer, she would never get rid of a plant, she would know immediately where she should transplant the under producing plant and finally have wonderful blooms (or better yet one of her many gardeners would take over). I, having had enough of looking at bloom less hydrangeas all summer long, made a hard decision for me and through the plants away! On to more a much nicer topic Delphiniums. I like...

Gardening is in my blood! I come from a long line of gardeners who love to spend hours cultivating a lush garden. My Mother who is eighty eight still spends her mornings working in her garden and it is just beautiful. She claims that she is slowing down because now she can only spend 2-3 hours working in her garden before she is tired instead of 4-5 hours. It is hard to explain to a non gardener how you can spend endless hours getting lost in your garden and losing all sense of time. And the exhilaration you feel working the soil and planting. Or the joy and satisfaction you experience after a long winter and you see all the work you did in the fall bursting into bloom with the first harbingers of spring, the crocuses, tulips and daffodils. As much as I love the spring bulbs, I am just crazy about perennials especially Peonies. But like a mother with her children I tell all my plants that they are my favorite. When I started planting Peonies, I was only...