Snowdrops and A Granola Cookie Recipe

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Mominthegarden

Snowdrops from Wexford.

Hi there! It’s me, Mom in the Garden! It feels like I’ve been hibernating the past six weeks, or maybe just hiding from all of the rain we’ve had in Ireland! The sun has graced us this past week, and brought new life along with it. The difficulty I face with my blog now is figuring out where to start again. I suppose I could start with saying Happy Birthday to my blog! The beginning of February marked my first year of blogging. I have loved it! I really enjoy taking pictures, gardening, and putting it all together. I do appreciate all of the wonderful comments from you, too! Thank you for visiting, commenting, or following my blog. It’s lovely to meet so many gardening enthusiasts from all over the globe!

A love heart … representing the fun I have with my blog!

Lavender and a pretty bow. Well, just because!

I’ve been making mental notes the past month of what seems like a million different topics, and sorting through them in my head is proving difficult. I have a couple of recipes, a garden tour, some boxwood trimming, a few flowers…

Snowdrops.

Yes, I agree, that’s a lot of snowdrop pictures! But they were the first signs of life in the yard, so I had to capture them (and capture them, and capture them…). The snowdrops were given to me by my friend Susan. They come from her home place in Wexford, which in my book, makes them extra special.

Signs of Spring!

I love seeing the green shoots of flowers to come. To me, they are signs of hope! I like to plant even a few bulbs every year to have something new to look forward to. Last year I had a bunch of daffodils in containers https://mominthegarden.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/fragrant-and-pretty-daffodils-to-calm-a-hectic-day/ and planted them here (photo above) in the fall. I was quite a sight taking this picture. It’s right near the road, and I was crouched quite low photographing the snowdrops and daffodils, trying to get that perfect shot! I think my neighbors are getting used to my peculiar ways. 🙂

This look says it all.

Lucy, our cat, is my gardening and photography companion. She sits near me, and keeps me company without complaint, most of the time anyway.

I’m straying from my original plan! A recipe! I promised my friend Susan the recipe for Granola Cookies. It’s the least I could do for my gardening bff! I used Martha Stewart’s recipe which she calls Breakfast Cookies. I am quite fond of Martha, and only made one adjustment of just using dates for fruit, and my family loved them.

Granola Cookies (Martha Stewart’s Breakfast Cookies).

A full plate of Granola Cookies (Martha Stewart’s Breakfast Cookies).

Perfect with a cuppa. (Our days had been quite dark!!! Imagine a candle for breakfast time?)

My favorite “cream for one” jug.

It’s good to be back. I hope you like the recipe!

Dana

Granola Cookies from Martha Stewart (she calls them breakfast cookies)
http://www.marthastewart.com/921948/breakfast-cookies

Ingredients

2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
4 sticks (16 oz.) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups packed dark-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped (slivered)
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened dried coconut
1/2 cup raisins or currants (I used dates only for the fruit)
1/2 cup finely chopped dried mango
1/4 cup finely chopped dried papaya
1 cup banana chips (I skipped bananas)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (172 C). Whisk together flours, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Beat butter in a large bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add sugar; beat until well combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla; beat until just combined.
Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until well combined. Add oats, almonds, seeds, coconut, raisins or currants, mango, and papaya, and beat to combine.
16 cookies (using about 1/2 cup each, they are large!), and place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Top with banana chips. Bake until golden and firm, about 13-15 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheets, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cook’s Note: Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Flower Friday

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Mominthegarden

My favorite flowers!

We are having quite a wet, gray winter. Or maybe it just feels that way at the moment, but none the less, I would enjoy seeing some sunshine and flowers! So I’ve put together some of my favorite pictures of flowers from the past year. I hope you enjoy them and they bring a little sunshine into your lives!

Dana

Burgundy Ice Floribunda Rose.

Silver Anniversary Hybrid Tea Rose.

Queen Elizabeth Floribunda Rose.

Tulips.

Anemone Mr. Fokker.

Zephirine Drouhin (1868)

Poppies.

Marigolds.

Afternoon sunlight on black-eyed-Susans.

Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susans).

There, that feels better! 🙂

Winter harvest of Organic Parsnips (And New Neighbors … of the mooing variety!)

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Mominthegarden

Freshly dug Halblange White organic Parsnips.

Winter harvest: One box of parsnips. Woo hoo! O.K., it is a full box, and I didn’t have any last year, so I call that progress. Eventually, I’d like to have different vegetables and fruit growing in the garden throughout the year. But I’m going to give myself a little more time on that one! I planted lots of carrots to have with the parsnips, but only a few of the seeds germinated this year. Last year we had a bumper crop of carrots, this year not so much. That’s how it goes in the garden!

Yellowstone organic carrots (and some garlic).

That is me holding the carrots with my pink gloves. I was a bit camera shy after working in the garden. 😉 The carrots were delicious and sweet and I was happy with their size. Want to see where I hung my garlic to dry?

Garlic being left out to dry.

Another one of those not so pretty pictures, if you ask me! These are hanging at my back door. Well, they were hanging there while it was dry. I moved them inside to my utility room (laundry room) after a while. They are still braided and hanging in there – minus the clumps of dirt hanging from them. I cut those clumps off as soon as I could manage it! I just pull off a head as I need it. 🙂 The parsnips have now joined the garlic in our back room as it is rather like a cold storage room. I suppose it is a good thing that I don’t have a dryer, so there’s no variation in room temperature. It’s just plain cold, all of the time!

A little less muddy after a good rinsing, the parsnips were a nice size.

We’ve used the parsnips a few times already. I find them to be a sweet vegetable. We like to pair them with carrots. This year we also tried making parsnip chips (like potato chips/crisps). When I say “we”, I mean my husband! They were quite tasty. One thing we learned was to not overlap them on the tray when baking as that prevents them from getting crispy. Here is the link he used: http://www.inspirededibles.ca/2012/02/oven-baked-sweet-potato-parsnip-chips.html

Parsnip chips made by my husband.

We harvested the parsnips, although we could have kept them in the ground. My son and husband were tidying up our raised beds and decided it was best to move them. I’m now in the planning stage for deciding what we want to plant this growing season! The time goes so fast! It’s already time to plan out the beds, and order seeds.

My teenage son helping out with the beds.

Neat and tidy! Ready for the next planting season!

They worked some of the more aged compost into the soil. That will give it plenty of time to break down before the growing season starts. (You can see some parsnips in the bottom right corner of the picture above.)

Now, about those new neighbors! The field behind us was harvested of it’s sugar beet a while ago. The cows were brought in to finish off the plants. And they are doing quite a job of that! The kids and I enjoy watching them, especially the two calves. Really, we do! The farmer surely thinks we’re a bit nuts…

Hi there.

The black calf was born in the field.

How many pictures of cows did I take???

Yeah, I know, they are just cows. But I like them, and they seem to be posing for me!

These two are eating my thorny weed pile!

This one came right up to my fence.

I like that I have some items from the garden that I’m still using. The garlic should last me through the spring. The parsnips are also going to keep us busy for quite a while. Want to hear a confession? My pumpkins are hiding in my utility room too…

Pumpkins. And they’re even orange!

Yep. Pumpkins. In perfect condition. They aren’t the baking variety though, so I’m at a loss for what to do with them. I think that eventually I’ll get the seeds from them, and try to grow some more! 🙂

A frosty Iceberg Floribunda Rose.

There’s the “end of post” flower! So much going on, even in the winter! I love having something so enjoyable to keep me busy. Have you picked out what you are planting this year?

Dana

A little girl’s pink room on a sunny day.

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Mominthegarden

Our littlest one’s very pink room!

Today was such a lovely sunny day. After a couple of weeks of gray darkness, the sun was a welcome change! Over the Christmas break, my littlest one and I cleaned her room. You wouldn’t think an eight year old’s room could get very untidy, would you? Well, it took us an entire day! I had to capture it on camera while it still looked good.

An antique “zig-zag” blanket.

We worked together in organizing her clothes, toys, books, dolls and room so that everything has a place. Yeah, I know, I’ll be happy if it lasts even just a little while! I love her room. I think the pink is fun and cheerful. She has some things from my childhood in there, too (antiques!?). The blanket on the bed was made by my mother when I was eight. We called it the zig zag pattern.

A ceramic music box.

This music box little girl has been around for quite a few years! My mother painted her in ceramics when I was a little girl. I loved pink back then, too. My sister was given a blond girl with a blue dress, which matched her personality. Happy memories!

Made with love.

There is a painting in her room, too. It was painted by a local woman from where we used to live in Manlius, New York. I have three paintings by Terry Garwood as I love her style! It’s not surprising that there are flowers in the painting, is it?

Painting by Terry Garwood.

I also love baby pictures. This one is special because she is wearing a sweater that my grandmother had made when I was a baby. I still have that sweater – packed away in my cedar chest!

My daughter is wearing a very special sweater in the top right picture.

Those are fairy lights at the top of the picture frame. She used to use them as a night light, but prefers the dark these days; a sure sign of her growing up. 😦

There was a light breeze coming in through the open window today.

It really was a gorgeous day today. I had all of the windows open in the house! I love her curtains, so simple and sweet.

Sweet little girl curtains.

Here is the view from her window to the side of the house:

The driveway & garden from the littlest one’s bedroom window. We have a big garden project underway: my husband is building borders for our beds!

It just felt like a pink kind of a day. Even the tulips given to me on Sunday were opening up!

Pink tulips.

Pink tulips in the sun.

I hope you have the chance to soak up some “pink” today!

Dana

Happy Birthday to me with a Chamaecyparis nootkatensis “Pendula” tree!

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Mominthegarden

: Chamaecyparis nootkatensis “Pendula”.

The proverb “good things come to those who wait” came to mind as the Yellow Furze nursery delivery truck pulled into our driveway. Ever since taking notice of trees around me; their shapes, colors, sizes, I’ve wanted one of these “droopy” trees. As it turns out, my neighbor James has a mature Chamaecyparis nootkatensis “Pendula” in his garden. I was able to see what it looks like after 25 years (it is beautiful!). So for my birthday, which was back in September, I ordered this conical tree. It just arrived today! I didn’t mind the wait since September, though. That gave me time to put some newspapers down to kill the grass. I used our “turtle sandbox” cover on top of the papers to keep them all in place, and to give me the round shape. My husband kindly dug the hole for the tree. I love it. I think it fits in perfectly.

Marked area ready to be dug up.

My new droopy tree!

My favorite thing about it is the droopy look of the branches. It has a character all its own! I don’t mind the small size for now. It will grow in time, and as it does the garden will grow with it. Such simple pleasures! 🙂

Tagged.

The other saying that keeps popping up in my head these days is “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Yeah, maybe you can guess that I’ve been working on pulling down the ivy from my Hawthorn trees? It really is mentally challenging! The brambles and ivy are completely entwined with the trees and surrounding front and back areas. I wasn’t sure if I’d find any more of the ditch wall, but surprisingly a few sections of it have been uncovered!

The new (pink!) gloves my kids gave me for Christmas to protect me from the Hawthorn thorns! And a view of the back of our trees where all of the brambles & ivy seem to thrive!

I would love to write about how easy it is to pull up the ivy, and cut the brambles, and that the hawthorn “thorns” weren’t sharp at all. Yeah, except that would be lying. 🙂 For me it is enough that my husband has taken note of the laborious work entailed in freeing up the Hawthorn trees. If the rest of the row of trees looks as good as the first tree I cleared last year, we’ll be delighted with the results!

Uncovering part of the ditch wall!

Boy do I wish I had a finished “after” photo to show you though! (This is where I chant “Rome wasn’t built in a day”…)

Looking for some encouragement here … Go Dana, Go Dana, Go Dana…

A dark day, but we can see through the trees!

And here is what I still have ahead of me 🙂

This is what keeps me going – The first Hawthorn and section of the ditch wall which I uncovered from ivy.

I found a little bit of color in the garden today. These primroses weren’t recognizable when I moved them into my little “nursery” garden from the front gate garden this past summer. The slugs *love* primroses! I threw them into the nursery to see if they’d survive, and it seems they did. The slugs still enjoy eating them, but at least they are recognizable for the moment.

Primroses.

Primroses, with a bit of a slug signature.

I’m so happy with my little droopy tree (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis “Pendula”)! Yes, I think it is worth waiting for what you really want. I hope if you’ve been waiting for something special, that it finds its way to you!

Dana

A new year is dawning (and a Christmas Wreath).

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Mominthegarden

Early morning fog in Sheepwalk.

Hi there! I’ve been enjoying a much needed break with my family. Our schedules are pretty hectic during the year, so it has been so nice to just sit back and relax together. We’ve watched more family movies this past week than in the entire past year! I think we all needed that time together, and it has been really nice.

I have to confess that I struggled with really getting into the Christmas spirit this year. The Connecticut Killings tore at my heart. As a mom, as an auntie with nephews & a niece in Connecticut, and as an American, it just completely knocked me down. I continue to pray for all of the relatives and friends of the victims. They are in my thoughts as I continue on with my day to day activities. The tragedy has also made me (more) thankful for my family and our precious time together.

O.K., that is a tough topic to write about. I just thought I’d share where my heart has been this holiday season. I took to some of my creative therapy during this time. It really did help me. A friend of ours made me a cast iron wreath frame last year. Not only did he make the frame for me, but he has given me huge bags of holly to use in my wreath. Thanks Fred!

Using my cast iron wreath frame.

It takes a bit of work to give the wreath some life. You can just see the frame on the bottom left side of this picture. This year I also acquired (love that word instead of “took”!) some lovely evergreens from Margaret & James’ garden. James had just trimmed the hedges on their property when I went to get some of their twisted willow for my flower arrangement. I’m sure they think I’m crazy, as I was so excited to get their fabulous evergreens which they weren’t going to use!

Adding some life to the wreath.

A little bit of bling.

I’m still a novice with my arranging. I just love trying, and hopefully improving in time. I’ve learned that holly can be painful to work with! My hands were filled with holes from the very sharp points of the holly! So this year, after getting James’ evergreens, I decided to use mainly the greens and just add a bit of holly as contrast. My son thought that one red bow wasn’t enough, so we threw on a few more little ones. I like having the kids’ input, and I try to incorporate it if I can.

Really, you should always take photos *before* a huge windstorm blows through!

Yes, some of the evergreens decided to go in a different direction after the storm. My husband wasn’t keen on my idea of getting the ladder out again to fix a few greens, so it’ll have to do. 🙂

Christmas wreath 2012.

Because I hope that I am making progress, I’ll show you last year’s wreath (which looks a lot skinnier!).

Christmas wreath 2011.

And I thought it was beautiful last year! Oh yes, it is much more filled out this year! I love the holly and the berries, but I think I need to get a good pair of gloves to work with the holly next year.

I seem to have missed the “weekly view of the garden” boat. I think a monthly view is more my speed. I haven’t completely neglected my garden, well, not if you count taking pictures! Here’s a look:

The garden on a foggy morning in December.

I’ve been placing cardboard and newspapers down every chance I get! It is almost at the final shape. Almost!

The other side of the garden on a foggy morning in December.

A foggy start to the day in December.

So as the start of 2013 approaches, I share with you my new goal of being nice to myself. I’m usually quite critical of myself, and I think I’d be better off not being that way. So I’m going to try “lighten up”! Life is precious.

Thanks so much for being a part of my gardening journey! I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have so far. Here’s to a Happy, healthy, and lots of veggies & flowers in the garden New Year!
Dana

Christmas floral arrangement from home grown flowers.

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Mominthegarden

Annabelle hydrangea, blue hydrangea, allium, and twisted willow for Christmas.

I’m supposed to be cleaning, writing Christmas cards, baking, laundry, the list goes on! So instead, I’m escaping it all by using my creative side. Going to that floral arranging demonstration has inspired me! I love creating through flowers.

True blue.

Here’s the deal though: I have to work in an imperfect world, unlike Mr. Perfect Floral arranger. The branches sorta went where I wanted them (nope, not at all). The dried flowers kinda matched (learned that you shouldn’t put white and red together, so I’m guessing that it’s still too much of a contrast for white and blue?). But really, the Annabelle flowers are off white, so it should be ok, right? And the container, well, it’s just not right (width, height, the fact that it’s an ice holder). But all of that aside, I was quite happy with it! 🙂

Christmas is in the air!

The blue Christmas balls (is there a nicer way to describe them?) are the old fashioned glass ones. I love the glass ones. I don’t like the plastic ones, although they are perfect for my kids to decorate with! But the glass ones are special to me. I have them in the container, and hanging on the branches along with small sparkly silver ones. At the bottom of the container, I have glass marbles which help to hold the stems in place.

A touch of silver.

The allium has been in my back room since the summer. It didn’t really look that great, honestly. The kids had been asking me why I didn’t just throw it out. I was hoping I’d figure out something to do with it! A little silver spray paint (on one of the blue hydrangea flower heads, too) and they were completely transformed!

I really appreciate that a few dear friends had their hands in my creating this arrangement. The hydrangeas are Susan’s. They dried really well after she gave them to me! Also, I must mention the branches again. My lovely neighbors, Margaret & James (Mr. Manure man!) have the most wonderful garden. The branches are from their tree, which I believe is a twisted willow tree. There was a bit of a debate going on whether it is a contorted witch hazel, or twisted willow. I’ll do a bit more research to figure it out, because I really want to plant one in my yard!

A nice big space in the kitchen just for my creation!

I’ve cleared out of the kitchen anything that wasn’t needed during the holidays. Unfortunately, the blue bowls in the above picture don’t have another home, so here they sit. Do they kinda sorta match the arrangement???

An inside view.

Oh dear that picture looks out of focus. There is no sun here today. Those outside pictures were taken at 1 P.M. even thought it looks like it’s evening! It seems the flash created a shadow, making it seem quite fuzzy.

Christmas cake all wrapped up and ready for the oven!

Now it is time to tackle those other jobs on my list! At least the Christmas cake is in the oven. I was quite proud of my “wrap job” this year! It is much neater than I’ve ever done before. I think that wrapping it is definitely the hardest part of making a Christmas cake! There has got to be an easier way…

I hope you get to do something fun and creative in between all of your “must do” things! It definitely puts a smile on my face!

Dana

Holiday floral arrangements by Richard Haslam.

Posted on December 8, 2012 by Mominthegarden

Christmas wreath by Richard Haslam.

I love flowers. All kinds, all colors, all seasons. So I absolutely loved watching Richard Haslam creating his “contemporary floral arrangements with a twist” last week. Back a few years ago when I wasn’t completely swamped with my three kids’ activities, I was a member of a garden club. I had so much fun learning how to create floral arrangements! (Thank you Spade & Trowel Garden Club of Manlius, NY!) I guess I haven’t created any arrangements in a very long time, because I miss it. The local garden club in Ardee hosted Irishman Richard Haslam for their Christmas arrangements demonstration. What an enjoyable evening! He has won two gold medals at the Chelsea Flower show, among other honors. What I really enjoyed was how he spoke to the audience, and how personable he seemed. His arrangements were fabulous. I was really hoping to win one in the raffle at the end of the night, but no luck. I’ll have to make my own!

Richard Haslam’s Christmas wreath.

I liked his idea of first putting silver garland around the wreath, and then adding baby’s breath (lots of it). Who doesn’t like orchids? I think it is a lovely alternative to the traditional Christmas wreath! I’m afraid I don’t know the exact names of a lot of the flowers, he went too quickly for me to get that information.

Richard Haslam’s pink Christmas arrangement.

This pink arrangement had a few levels. I think it looks completely different depending on the angle. Definitely not your standard Christmas arrangement.

Richard Haslam’s pink Christmas arrangement.

Richard Haslam’s Christmas arrangement using cane.

I loved this black, red, and green arrangement! He said the fanned material was cane. He opened it up and tied it (perfectly, of course) in front of us. I love the unusual look it gives!

Richard Haslam’s floral demonstration with cane.

It doesn’t look like much in the picture above, does it? But quick enough, he had it up and lovely! The flowers had their own tubes of water, which he had painted black.

Richard Haslam’s creations.

His table arrangement was surprisingly tall. He explained that you usually only spoke to the people next to you anyway!

Richard Haslam’s carnation table arrangement.

That red stuff looks fabulous. It is hiding his oasis.

Close-up of Richard Haslam’s carnation table arrangement.

Yeah, a little different, right? Even as he was creating them, I was wondering how they’d turn out. But I think I like them more for being that bit different. (ok, maybe I’d have left out the red cane sticks here and just stuck with the carnations?)

Keeping with the red theme, here is a great way to display roses!

Richard Haslam’s roses.

I loved this one! I’m allowed to say that more than once, right? He lined the roses up on a table and then cut them accordingly. It was such a “duh” moment for me, as I usually cut the flowers while holding them, put them in the vase, adjust, try again, and again! How simple it really is once you learn the tricks.

Close-up of Richard Haslam’s red rose arrangement.

Hey, that’s the ivy I’m pulling off of my Hawthorne trees! It looks lovely here.

Roses by Richard Haslam.

Behind the roses, you can see the next arrangement. It has white roses, silver painted leaves, and is massive!

White roses Christmas arrangement by Richard Haslam.

Close-up of white roses arrangement by Richard Haslam.

Three arrangements by Richard Haslam.

Purple and pink mantel piece arrangement with candles. All I can say is that it worked! It is beautiful.

Mantel piece arrangement with candles.

Pink & purple mantel piece arrangement with candles by Richard Haslam.

I love those colors!

Pink & purple mantel piece arrangement with candles (and ornaments).

Multi leveled Christmas arrangement by Richard Haslam.

This arrangement was really nice as individual arrangements. The finished product was quite impressive, but I’d prefer just one level.

Close-up of Richard Haslam’s arrangement.

Gorgeous Christmas flowers.

Some of the final arrangements by Richard Haslam.

It was nice to get out and see some creative arranging to get some new ideas! My friend from book club invited me to go, and I’m so glad I did. Thanks Ciara!

Do you make your own Christmas arrangements? If so, happy creating! 🙂
Dana

The most photographed beech hedges in Ireland!

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Mominthegarden

Vegetable garden in November. The beech hedges are finally finished!

Tenacious. This word played around in my head as I enjoyed another day of working in the garden. You’ll never guess what I was doing… more weeding and trimming along the hedge! Tenacious, or maybe crazy? No, I like tenacious better than crazy. Determined is another word that comes to mind. It just once again shows me that anything is possible if you put your mind to it, stick to it, and take it in small steps! You know, maybe it does help to be just a little bit crazy, too.

Frosty beech hedges.

Messy November veggie garden.

I have been very unlucky with nettles the past few times in the garden. My hands, my legs, my feet, my ear (!) have all been stung numerous times. I wish I could say I’m getting used to it, but it still hurts every time. Some of the nettles were as tall as me. You could say that the weeds had gotten a bit out of hand! The very good news is that I have finished the worst of the job. I worked on the area around our vegetable beds, and it looks better than it ever has. I am so pleased with it. I really didn’t like taking pictures of that area since the weeds were higher than my hedges. Granted, a lot of the weeds were on the farmer’s side of the fence, but still.

A cleaned up vegetable garden.

Cleaned up beech hedges.

Speaking of the farmer, he was out harvesting his sugar beet in the field behind our house yesterday. He’ll use the sugar beet to feed his cattle. I enjoyed a nice chat with him. He offered to spray those weeds on his side of the fence for me. He said he hadn’t done that since he knew I didn’t like sprays. (He’s getting to know me!) He’ll be moving cattle into the field next week. Do cows eat nettles???

Field of sugar beet.

Field in foreground is harvested sugar beet.

An Irish Robin under the fence.

I was lucky enough to catch a picture of this little Robin while I was working. It’s worth keeping the camera at hand! The picture of the harvested sugar beet above, was taken at around 1 PM. I thought the sky was so pretty, even though still somewhat gray. I think this is my first post with no pictures of flowers in it, but I’ll finish with a picture I took of the moon. It was quite low, and you can just make out the trees (if you look *real* closely) and the cloud behind the moon. It was spectacular to see!

Thanks for visiting.

Dana

A beautiful moon.

A frosty end to November.

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Mominthegarden

A frosty rose.

We had our first hard frost the other day. Winter is here! I won’t complain, as it really hasn’t been cold, and even today it isn’t too cold (today it is 6 degrees C/ 42 degrees F). I was able to capture some of the flowers in the garden on the frosty morning. I love how they look covered in crystals!

A frosty Silver Anniversary Hybrid Tea rose.

The roses seriously have my heart. I just love them. My little rose garden has pinks and whites. But I’d really like to expand the color scheme to have corals, yellows, and reds! I think that is going to call for another flower bed…

A frosty Pink Peace Hybrid Tea Rose.

Even the greens of the rose plant look pretty to me!

Frosty rose greens.

I have some London Pride plants almost hidden in a very small garden. I want to bring them out to a more showy place next year. They have a lovely tiny, delicate pink flower when in bloom. Their greens are quite nice, now, too.

London Pride in November.

Our grass is quite long! It was just too wet at the end of the season to give it that last needed cutting… Should be interesting in the spring.

Yes, I even took a picture of the too long grass.

End of November view of the Fruit Orchard.

The fruit garden is being expanded. So I have newspapers and cardboard down to kill the grass. I am using large flower pots filled with stones to hold down the cardboard, oh, and an unused slide! I am not too impressed with how this looks, but thankfully, it is only for a short time!

Frosty November morning. Garden bed in the making.

This garden bed in the making looks like a triangle, doesn’t it? I am planning on making it into three circles, but I have a good bit to go still! On the far side of it, I have quite a large rock. I have yet to figure out how to incorporate that into my garden. For now, it is just “there” and my kids enjoy climbing on top of it.

A frosty view of our front yard.

It looks like snow, doesn’t it? I’m glad I trimmed the hedges for all of these photos.

Hawthorne berries.

The Hawthorne trees which have been freed from ivy are doing so well! I love seeing all of the berries!

Calendula Apricot Twist.

I will definitely be planting Calendula again next year. What a hardy, pretty flower! As for hardy vegetables, I am told that parsnips taste better after a frost. We dug up a bunch of ours for Parsnip & Maple Syrup soup for our Thanksgiving celebration. I was very pleased with the size, shape, and taste of the parsnips!

Frost loving Parsnips.

For me, November is for giving thanks. This past weekend we enjoyed a beautiful Thanksgiving feast with some lovely American friends of ours (and Polish, too!). It is a perfect way to finish up the month… before diving into the Christmas season!

I have to go and take down all of my fall harvest decorations now. Although, maybe I can work a bit in the garden first. 🙂

Dana

See mom, I do still have the turkey! I just used a candle instead of flowers. 🙂