I loved this description of the awakening of your garden. It looks lovely. Roses are so difficult to figure out. We have to celebrate those that return. Long live pansies!
Your garden looks wonderful and so vibrant! Nature brings so much joy. Being outside in the morning and in your garden has the added benefit of regulating your circadian rhythm and triggering coritsol. For me, this has become my morning ritual and the best way to start my day.
That Yukon Gold looks beautiful, and amazing to see your view in the background! So high up!
In my minds eye I plan lots of beautiful beds, which invariably work out differently beautiful. And my mantra 'good enough, is good enough' is essential for a perfectionist like me working in a large garden. And it really is plenty good enough.
So true Marjan! I left behind a really beautiful garden when we moved three years ago, and I am finally beginning to feel that these little oases are feeding my heart.
You have a gorgeous garden and I so look forward to your photos on its seasonal progress! 💕
Oh these glasses are right up your alley Amie! I have a set of six that belonged to my parents, and they go perfectly with their bamboo rimmed butterfly coasters (hard to describe so I will have to post them one day).
I can see Karyl and her chums having cocktails and making fun with these 💕
How beautiful to see your garden. I've just bought rhubarb for my Colorado garden and have set aside your shrub recipe for when the plants are big enough to harvest.
Elizabeth! So lovely to hear about and see your rooftop balcony garden. Love the image of the January deep freeze juxtaposed with the others like pansies… oh great idea , mix grasses with pansies🪴🤗 my my your yellow roses are singing. Enjoy your Beautiful balcony garden this summer. Lots of dead heading and puttering ahead ☀️🌻🥰
Mint and hardy thyme. Sage too, and oregano. Chives if you like them. They will all come back!
I read something here recently that the trick with basil is to keep it in a shallow bowl or saucer of water on a sunny window; apparently it keeps for ages. I have to find that again!
Last fall I fretted about over-wintering two gorgeous purple perennial salvia that our hummers adored. I needn’t have worried, though the process of tucking them in just in case Oregon’s mild winters didn’t pan out was a good exercise. They’re giant this season as are three other pink varieties.
I long for my pink rose climber, Constance Spry, that dominated a pergola in my back yard in Cincinnati. She’s a 1960s David Austin girl - still available for order - but our patio room may not be quite enough. Still…
Thank you Linda! Keeping the faith with our gardens is definitely an exercise in humility 😊
We had a gorgeous incredibly fragrant climbing rose at our house that was there before we arrived. I still miss it but intend to try my hand at smaller varieties. The fun, of course, is that our experiments can be infinite!
So grounding to read your garden diaries, Elizabeth! As your Alfred Austin has mentioned- one cannot garden without humility.
Actually, gardening/growing/raising a life form tends to never ever go as planned. I do not have the green thumb or the outdoor terrace as you have, but the ragtag rescued indoor plants that I have respond to just the right amount of care: Too little or too much, it will show signs of stress. Life is about doing enough- and trusting the process, because it really is up to each plants to blossom, grow taller, or shrivel and go dormant.
Like you have mentioned- there is both excitement and disappointment during this time . Life is that way too, but then again- each season each year will be different. That is still growth. Perhaps that’s the real beauty.
The Rhubarb Shrub looks and sounds delicious . Thank you for sharing!
What a lovely and thoughtful comment Aki. I couldn’t agree more; gardening can provide some wonderful metaphors for life, and the way we manage our expectations. As you say, that’s where the real growth happens.
Thank you Giovanna! I do miss my garden at our house, and it’s been so nice to create some spaces of beauty in the sky. I always love seeing the gorgeous photos you post of your spectacular garden!
Are you back from Italy? Are you surviving the extreme heat?
Still here. I just try to get out in the early morning and then after 6pm. Windows open at night (fortunately it cools down a little). And shutters closed in the afternoon.
Your gardens are so beautiful and impressive!
I loved this description of the awakening of your garden. It looks lovely. Roses are so difficult to figure out. We have to celebrate those that return. Long live pansies!
The pansies give me a daily thrill. When will you come visit? 💕
When the pansies are covered in snow.
A wonderful promise to welcome winter!
They are lovely.
Finally getting around to catching on on your dispatches. The photos, the colours, thank you 🙏
🥰
This is beautiful. I have been transported to your garden and would be more than happy to stay awhile.
Your garden looks wonderful and so vibrant! Nature brings so much joy. Being outside in the morning and in your garden has the added benefit of regulating your circadian rhythm and triggering coritsol. For me, this has become my morning ritual and the best way to start my day.
That Yukon Gold looks beautiful, and amazing to see your view in the background! So high up!
In my minds eye I plan lots of beautiful beds, which invariably work out differently beautiful. And my mantra 'good enough, is good enough' is essential for a perfectionist like me working in a large garden. And it really is plenty good enough.
So true Marjan! I left behind a really beautiful garden when we moved three years ago, and I am finally beginning to feel that these little oases are feeding my heart.
You have a gorgeous garden and I so look forward to your photos on its seasonal progress! 💕
I adore the glass you’re pouring the shrub into, which sounds divine, by the way!
Oh these glasses are right up your alley Amie! I have a set of six that belonged to my parents, and they go perfectly with their bamboo rimmed butterfly coasters (hard to describe so I will have to post them one day).
I can see Karyl and her chums having cocktails and making fun with these 💕
How beautiful to see your garden. I've just bought rhubarb for my Colorado garden and have set aside your shrub recipe for when the plants are big enough to harvest.
Thank you Mira! It’s small but punches above its weight 😊. And certainly gives me joy every day.
Do let me know if you like the shrub. I’ve reduced the sugar from the original recipe and find a little goes a long way.
Elizabeth! So lovely to hear about and see your rooftop balcony garden. Love the image of the January deep freeze juxtaposed with the others like pansies… oh great idea , mix grasses with pansies🪴🤗 my my your yellow roses are singing. Enjoy your Beautiful balcony garden this summer. Lots of dead heading and puttering ahead ☀️🌻🥰
Thank you Jenn! Now that the weather finally seems to be turning to summer, we'd love to have you and Don come up for drinks 💕
What gorgeous photos of your garden! 😍 I love shrubs (made a fermented raspberry one last year) and this inspires me to try a rhubarb one!
Well you know I have So-Cal garden envy with all that lushness 🤓. The rhubarb shrub is so so good and would fit in perfectly with your mocktail vibe!
It sounds delish!
I know and love shrubs very much! I’ve never made or tried one with rhubarb before, though, and plan to get on this asap! 😊
Hooray! You will love it 🥰
Your garden is beautiful! And what a view!
They recently replaced the balconies in our building. I may need to put a pot of something out there in celebration. Mint, perhaps, or basil...
Mint and hardy thyme. Sage too, and oregano. Chives if you like them. They will all come back!
I read something here recently that the trick with basil is to keep it in a shallow bowl or saucer of water on a sunny window; apparently it keeps for ages. I have to find that again!
Thanks for the tip. I had forgotten sage!
Yay, the pansies came back!
I also enjoyed your crossing out of grocery and writing 'garden' in your list. And that rhubarb shrub looks lovely. Happy Summer Solstice 🌞
I still can’t get over those pansies!
Enjoy the peak of summer, Shell 💕
Last fall I fretted about over-wintering two gorgeous purple perennial salvia that our hummers adored. I needn’t have worried, though the process of tucking them in just in case Oregon’s mild winters didn’t pan out was a good exercise. They’re giant this season as are three other pink varieties.
I long for my pink rose climber, Constance Spry, that dominated a pergola in my back yard in Cincinnati. She’s a 1960s David Austin girl - still available for order - but our patio room may not be quite enough. Still…
Lovely post, Elizabeth.
Thank you Linda! Keeping the faith with our gardens is definitely an exercise in humility 😊
We had a gorgeous incredibly fragrant climbing rose at our house that was there before we arrived. I still miss it but intend to try my hand at smaller varieties. The fun, of course, is that our experiments can be infinite!
So grounding to read your garden diaries, Elizabeth! As your Alfred Austin has mentioned- one cannot garden without humility.
Actually, gardening/growing/raising a life form tends to never ever go as planned. I do not have the green thumb or the outdoor terrace as you have, but the ragtag rescued indoor plants that I have respond to just the right amount of care: Too little or too much, it will show signs of stress. Life is about doing enough- and trusting the process, because it really is up to each plants to blossom, grow taller, or shrivel and go dormant.
Like you have mentioned- there is both excitement and disappointment during this time . Life is that way too, but then again- each season each year will be different. That is still growth. Perhaps that’s the real beauty.
The Rhubarb Shrub looks and sounds delicious . Thank you for sharing!
What a lovely and thoughtful comment Aki. I couldn’t agree more; gardening can provide some wonderful metaphors for life, and the way we manage our expectations. As you say, that’s where the real growth happens.
Thank you for being a reader here 💕
I love a good garden list, maybe even more than a grocery list. Lovely post and recipe.
Thank you Giovanna! I do miss my garden at our house, and it’s been so nice to create some spaces of beauty in the sky. I always love seeing the gorgeous photos you post of your spectacular garden!
Are you back from Italy? Are you surviving the extreme heat?
Still here. I just try to get out in the early morning and then after 6pm. Windows open at night (fortunately it cools down a little). And shutters closed in the afternoon.