Annie's Gardening Corner: September 2015

Friday, September 18, 2015

Staying in Love with Your Landscape

How goes the final days of summer? Are you still loving it, your landscape that is or are there moments of apprehension or worse, a feeling of dread rather than enjoyment? We all set off on an ambitious path when we undertake our outdoors spaces. So what keeps your love going and growing in your own landscape?

This Delphinium's second bloom comes just in time to meld nicely with the late season grapes. Sometimes things just happen in a garden. Call it synchronicity or timing - it's the simple surprises you can find in a 'loved and cared for' landscape.

Texture and color in the landscape go hand in hand. Don't settle for ho-hum. Keep it vibrant.

Leave spaces for seasonal changes like this big pot of Mums. Its range of color blends make it a happening space.

Here's an interesting tidbit from a recent Ted Talk on staying in love - 'to stay in love is a choice'. Sounds pretty simple but we all know it's work. Yes, even when it applies to our landscape. We often forget there's a bit of give and take. And often, when it becomes more 'give' in keeping the vibrancy of a landscape going, we call it quits. This alive, growing work of art cannot be ignored or given up on if you expect it to remain.

If your choice is to keep that landscape vibrant, colorful and interesting must be part of the daily routine. Don't settle for ho-hum. Rather than just falling into autumn, make a choice to keep your landscape colorful and interesting. After diving big, even when the seasons change, this alive and growing work of art takes on a whole new meaning when you make a daily choice. Share what you're loving or not loving about your landscape. And for those mourning the loss of summer, enjoy these last few days before we fall into autumn - my favorite season. And if you're looking for the fairy tale, there's always my favorite pumpkin - Cinderella.

Cinderella it is. In case you missed this month's earlier post, here it is again.

If you like this blog, check in for your daily share's worth of garden inspiration, landscape architecture and design tips; always original, not cookie cutter and copied. Just like our design work, we strive for unique! We invite you to contact Bilowz Associates, Inc., or to browse our portfolios. Like our Facebook follow on Twitter or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. You can follow with visuals on Pinterest and find us on LinkedIn and Houzz, too. And you can also find us back on our Google+ Business Page. (Landscape architects/Landscape Design/serving Massachusetts and New England.)

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Cinderella And Pumpkins – Fall at its Best.

A French heirloom both decorative and edible - it doesn't get better than that! This Cinderella pumpkin exudes fall in New England. Bright and colorful-harvest season at its best.

Do you love fall and pumpkins? Cinderella it is. This unique French heirloom with its intense red-orange color stands out in the pumpkin patch. Although one of the prettier pumpkins for decorating, it’s also great for eating. Cinderella’s thick, non-stringy flesh and very sweet flavor make it tops on our growing list. And why would you want to grow your own pumpkins? It gives the ‘end of the summer’ garden a splash of colorful orange zest.

But this year, in particular, there's a dash of extra magic to our Cinderella pumpkin patch. What makes this year any different or stand out from the rest? Well, these beauties managed to survive and grow through that terrible hail storm a few weeks back. That nasty weather pattern hit our area close to harvest time when many of our nearby farm friends suffered great loss. So this Cinderella pumpkin is a testament to surviving rough times. It's a Cinderella fairy tale plus fall magic at its best.

Cinderella and pumpkins – fall and New England, it doesn’t get better than that! And we can’t forget our #12 is back! For Tom Brady nation, the New England football season is on its magical track!

And one last note - celebrate the harvest season and our local farmers. Kick it off this Labor Day weekend - the perfect time to pick out a special pumpkin from your local farmers' pumpkin patch. Fall in New England - it doesn't get better than that! Enjoy these last days of summer while they last.