While I was in Rhode Island last week, I visited my favorite place in the whole world – Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown, RI. I absolutely love sitting on the rocks, watching the waves crash upon the shore, and listening to the sea gulls. I also love looking at all the wild flowers and plants there that thrive in the salty air. Come take a look. Nature’s Garden by the Sea!
Today, I’m going to take you on a journey from where I came from to where I am now. This journey spans three states on two sides of the Mason-Dixie Line. It’s a journey of genetic destiny and Yankee determination, splattered with culture shock and awe. A Yankee grows in the south!
Yesterday, my father read my article, “How to Record the Weather in Your Garden,” and it nudged a memory for him; so he commented on it on my Facebook page. My father often comments on my articles, but this time was special because he told me something about my grandfather that I didn’t know. Read more!
It’s that time of year again. In eight days, hurricane season begins – that six-month long, annual Southeastern ritual of daily watching the Weather Channel, browsing the NOAA website, and praying any storm doesn’t hit the coast. For us, it’s not an event of climatological intrigue; it’s life and death. Continued!
According to the calendar, it’s officially autumn. According to my surroundings and the daily high temperatures, not so much. It’s that time of year when this Yankee girl pines for all things New England. I’ve lived somewhere in the South for almost 30 years now, and I still miss having four distinct seasons. Here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, we have only two seasons: summer and not-summer. During autumn, there isn’t much autumn color on our deciduous trees, if at all. We don’t have autumn temperatures until winter (mid-December or so). And there is definitely never any smell of impending snow in the air as autumn comes to a close! Of course, I love the length of the growing season here and the ability to grow more varieties of crops during the year; but I still miss the changing seasons, especially autumn. So, I thought I’d share with you what I love most about autumn while reminiscing my New England days gone by. (Above photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org) Fall Favorites!
This year, I’ve seen dozens of dragonflies in my garden. The numbers have lessened since the heat wave hit, but I’m still seeing quite a few. Because they eat insects, I sure don’t mind them around – unlike when I was a kid and hated them. That might’ve had something to do with my father telling us that they were “sewing needles” and would sew our mouths shut if we talked around them. Thankfully, I’ve outgrown that trauma. Now, I’m actually paying attention to these interesting insects and noticing that they come in different, beautiful colors. Take a look!
Welcome to the second of my posts on the wildflowers I saw while on vacation in Rhode Island. (If you missed part one, you can see it here.) Some of these I remember from my childhood, others seem to be new to me. As I said yesterday, maybe I’m just more interested now and, thus, am paying attention! The two places I took all these pictures were Beavertail Lighthouse State Park in Jamestown, RI, and what used to be Rocky Point Amusement Park in Warwick, RI. Beavertail is my favorite place in the world, and Rocky Point is an iconic childhood memory. I’m happy to share these flower pictures with you! Wildflowers of Rhode Island!
As my regular readers know, I just got back from vacation in Rhode Island. I had a great time, visiting all my favorite places with my family. While there, I decided to take pictures of wildflowers, so I could share them with you. I did my best to identify them, but please correct me if you believe I am wrong. Because I’m having problems with my home computer, I’ll post half the flowers today and half tomorrow – so come back to see more! Rhode Island Wildflowers!
It’s Friday, and I thought I’d made it a funky fun Friday. In the past year, I’ve seen some odd flowers and funny fruit in my garden, so I thought I’d share them with you today. Enjoy! Funky flowers & fruit!
Here in the United States, tomorrow is Independence Day. As I do every year, I think of our Founding Fathers, those brave men who vowed to “mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” They laid down everything to give us a type of country that had never before existed. This week, while looking through a couple of seed catalogs (planning for the fall planting!), I started wondering what our Founding Fathers actually laid down. What were their lives like? What did they do? I assumed most were lawyers; and, in some cases, that’s true. But I found out many were farmers or plantation owners. As a gardener, I found that interesting. So, I did a little research to see how many Founding Fathers were farmers!
Sanctuary Gardener 