The Gardens of France – Part 1- Tarascon

Posted on September 17, 2007 by Christy
I had never been to Provence.  Dreams of sweeping hills of vineyards and lavender fields had always lead me there in my mind, but never in reality.  This summer,
after a tour of Ireland, my husband and I decided to extend our stay and see Provence and all its wonders.  The first stop on our tour of the gardens of France is Tarascon. 

At a friend’s recommendation, we utilized France’s Gites de France system of bed and breakfasts to find a place to stay,
and boy did we score: a 17th century monastary overlooking this little city’s cathedral, now inhabited …

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True Bug – Good Luck Charm or Messenger of Death?

Posted on September 15, 2007 by Christy
Another great question came in this week from a fellow Gardenerd:

” I’m pretty sure we have a variety of stinkbugs including harlequin bugs.  Any suggestions after destroying infested plants and accompanying bugs?”

First things first.  I just found a really great website featuring a insect photo catalog to help you identify your critters.  Simply hover over the diagrams on
the left hand side to find the right category of insect.  You will find Stinkbugs and Harlequin bugs under the category of “True Bugs”.  I’ve been looking for a complete
photo library of bugs for years and this one is the best I’ve seen yet.   Be sure to bookmark that …

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A Sentimental Tree

Posted on September 12, 2007 by Christy
A concerned gardener writes in:


“[My daughter] has a tree she planted from
seed.  I’m not sure what it is, at one point thought it was a Chinese Elm.  It has completely outgrown the huge pot it was in (cracked it in half wide open), and is much too large for us to
keep in the pot, and no where to plant it.  The tree is somewhat sentimental (if trees can be that – it is to us, we’re weird).  Is there anyway I can keep part
…

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The Gardens of Ireland – Part 4 – Kylemore Abbey

Posted on August 28, 2007 by Christy
I’ve saved the best for
last.  I am hoping that you will share my enthusiasm for
what pictures can only begin to describe as the most amazing
garden in Ireland.  I speak – with hand ceramoniously
held over heart – of Kylemore Abbey. 
Kylemore is a castle tucked into a wooded hillside on
the edge of a lake.  That alone has a pretty high drool
factor.  What you can’t see from the entrance of the
estate, however, are the sweeping gardens that are
a shuttle drive away down a windy road nestled in the
forest. 

…

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With Harvest comes Fruit flies

Posted on August 24, 2007 by Christy
It’s hard to think that
anything bad can come from having too many tomatoes
around.  They sit so beautifully on my kitchen counter
in an Italian ceramic bowl, their colors ranging from bright
striped green to bright yellow to golden orange to brilliant
red.  Yet one thing tarnishes their image.  Fruit
flies.  They seem to come from nowhere, and appear to
have nowhere else to go and no other target than my
tomatoes.  Naturally, I’d much rather be out in the
garden than standing around in my kitchen with a fly swatter,
so with a little research and …

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Oops, I overwatered!

Posted on August 20, 2007 by Christy
A gardener writes in:

“I left my soaker hose on in my garden for two days straight
and everything got way too much water. Will it be ok? I have
squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions and lettuce.”
 
Well, in this hot weather, you should be
okay.  In the summer, up to 60% of the moisture from
overhead watering can be lost to evaporation.  You’ve
been using a soaker hose, so your evaporation is going to be
less.  If you have sandy soil, drainage and evaporation will
happen faster than with clay soil.  If your soil is covered
with mulch, clear it out for the time …

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The Gardens of Ireland – Part 3 – Strokestown

Posted on August 19, 2007 by Christy
Near the end of our tour of
Ireland, we made a stop at Strokestown House and
Gardens.  This was quite possibly the most influential
part of the tour, historically speaking.  Strokestown
House is where you will find the Famine Museum.  Now,
most everyone knows that there was a potato famine that swept
Ireland in the 1840’s, but what I didn’t know was the
horrific treatment of farmers that came with it.  Here’s
a short summary:

Irish farmers had their land taken away from them by British
rulers. British landlords who were put in place would then rent the
…

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The Gardens of Ireland – Part 2 – Powerscourt

Posted on August 6, 2007 by Christy

There is much to be said for opulence.  Whether you admire wealth or despise it, you’ve got to hand it to the creators of the Powerscourt Estate for a job well done.  I won’t go into a history lesson, but I will tell you that this site is one of Ireland’s most important and most famous pieces of property.  You might recognize it from the film of recent years, The Count of Monte Cristo, in which the big-bash, “I’m richer than all of you” party scene was filmed.  My jaw dropped open upon walking through the double doors overlooking …
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Flies in My Soil

Posted on August 6, 2007 by Christy

A gardener writes in:

“We used 5 gallon buckets for our 3 tomatoes, 2 squash, and lemon cucumber plants this summer. I seem to have flies in the dirt! Am I over watering? What natural ways can I get rid of them?”

I’m going to take a stab and assume that the flies in question are gnats rather than house flies or white flies.  Given that, yes, over watering contributes to this problem.  It sounds like you have Fungus Gnats – little flies that lay eggs in the soil where it’s nice and moist, then the eggs develop into larvae and new …
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The Gardens of Ireland – Part 1 – Adair

Posted on July 29, 2007 by Christy

Our trip to Ireland during its “dry” season promised to be one filled with green, green, green. I photographed many gardens, but I’ll start with something cute, since this is most likely the kind of garden I would have expected to see in Ireland.

The small town of Adair provided the perfect backdrop for thatched-roof houses with cozy cottage gardens all in a row. It seems that the people of this little town made the best of the short summer by going gang-busters on flowers and vegetables, with copious amounts of hanging plants (usually impatiens) to liven …
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