Skip to content

67 Comments

  1. Tina
    April 24, 2013 @ 12:31 pm

    Do you think the Hellebores would survive being potted? Because I’ve got a shady pass through that could really use some brightening up.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      April 24, 2013 @ 2:32 pm

      Anything in a pot, plus winter, equals uncertaintyā€¦ Like any potted plant, probably your biggest issue is weather/waterā€¦ and eventually restricting the rootsā€¦ and theyā€™re always going to need more attention than their siblings that acclimate to in-ground plantingā€¦ especially during the winter when the pots dry outā€¦

      Try it with one, and see how it does overwinterā€¦ Iā€™ve personally had stuff in pots do fine, and others of the same, die right next to each otherā€¦ thereā€™s a myth that hellebores are picky and hate to be moved, but my personal experience is that theyā€™re plenty hardy and mine have survived a couple re-arrangements.

      Reply

  2. Jocelyn
    April 24, 2013 @ 11:27 pm

    Ha ha! those are nice trowels. Unfortch, I have thus far resisted the twitter time suck, so I will allow others to “reap” the benefits of your post. šŸ™‚ Fun idea!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      April 25, 2013 @ 12:56 pm

      I can write 4,000 words, no problemā€¦ but the challenge of 140 characters of sheer wit is harder than it seems. (And probably why I can never think of anything to say.)

      Reply

  3. Kevin Ross
    April 25, 2013 @ 10:41 am

    I love gardening… AND Gardening Tools. Lee Valley has been my friend over the past 5 years ! This trowel looks nice and I would love to win it ! Thanks !

    Reply

  4. the misfit
    April 25, 2013 @ 1:15 pm

    I personally would love to hear any information you have on gardening whatsoever. Particularly on shade-loving plants. And ones that bloom all summer. And things that come back by themselves. And anything you can’t kill (though in my case I know there is no such plant). I am humbled by the fact that you already have an abundantly-flowering garden, and I am just starting to plant things (I thought I was early this year!), and I live south of you. Although my strawberry plant has already come back by itself. It has two flowers! But it will never have any strawberries. That’s how it goes with things I plant.

    So, anyway, more plant advice, please!

    Sadly, I will not be able to enter the contest for the lovely trowel, because I don’t use those newfangled technologies. But it’s OK – I never win anything, anyway :).

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      April 26, 2013 @ 11:37 am

      I have to say the shade garden a-requires NO care, now that itā€™s inā€¦ and b- blooms earlier than everything elseā€¦ but will also be the first to dry up/die/look terrible by Augustā€¦ Thatā€™s the blog post you wonā€™t see.

      I took a small-fruit farming classā€¦ and the only thing I remember about strawberries is that you can NEVER ever ever plant them where tomatoes are/wereā€¦ and that the kind you can buy at Home Depot are crap and useless.

      Reply

  5. Ileana Keltz
    April 26, 2013 @ 8:57 pm

    I have to have this trowel!!! I love to garden and this would make me HAPPY as I dig and pull and yank and….well you get the picture. If I don’t win, I have to buy one. I love your blog, you are a riot. How are your kitchen plans coming along? I think of you as my hubby toils away building our cabinets.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      April 27, 2013 @ 9:40 am

      Funny how shiny things make everything nicer!!! Even weedingā€¦ maybe I should try it in an evening gown!

      Paul and I have both been busy with real-life stuff, plus trying to get garden inā€¦ so kitchen isnā€™t progressing at all!! We went to a few kitchen places, but no plan is ā€œspeakingā€ to meā€¦ so Iā€™m ignoring it (to Paulā€™s irritation).

      Reply

  6. Patina and Company
    April 29, 2013 @ 9:46 am

    Wow, so IMPRESSED with your blogging feats and sophisticated entry button and stuff! Not sure when you find time to garden in between all of that but I know your garden is perfectly gorgeous, ’cause I can just tell . . . .

    Also glad to hear about Neiman Marcus and the car . . . .

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      April 29, 2013 @ 1:37 pm

      I have to say my garden was WAY better prepared last yearā€¦ this blog is seriously getting in the way of actually growing anything!!

      Also, the giveaway program was so easy to useā€¦ it practically set itself up! Now all I need is a free Mercedes.

      Reply

      • Patina and Company
        April 29, 2013 @ 3:38 pm

        Well that is all very interesting about the giveaway program. Incidental to your house, garden and life topics, you are such a wealth of blogging-related information!

        Reply

  7. carollynn
    April 30, 2013 @ 12:34 pm

    I love the easy, peasy nature of zinna’s that you describe — now I just have to get past my snobbery for wanting more elegant flowers in my garden. Don’t worry, I’m learning from your mistakes, (ha, being a grown up sucks!) and conclude that we most likely share some genes, cos I would (and have) totally swanned in and said this. must. go. on a number of occasions and situations. Oh the chuckles we could share on how well those decrees went down.

    But seriously, there aren’t ANY roses you would recommend to make my snobby foofy heart go flutter and sigh (and are low maintenance)? I know, I ask for the world, but why not, I’m worth it, right?

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      April 30, 2013 @ 2:19 pm

      Oh the decreesā€¦ itā€™s why they love us, right?

      The only roses I never had any issues with were also the ones that had NO scentā€¦ which is pretty much the worst trade off in the world!!! The worst ones for disease were of course the ones that smell best!

      I totally forget the names of anythingā€¦ itā€™s been eight years since I ordered themā€¦ and now that I donā€™t battle them every year, Iā€™ll see them at this time of year, and be like oooo, prettyā€¦ and then sternly remind myself Iā€™ve been there, and Iā€™m not going back!

      I DO know that some people never have any issues at all!! Iā€™m just not one of those people. Maybe a dryer climate would be better? Our summers do get super humid!!

      Reply

  8. Bud Wysor
    May 17, 2013 @ 5:36 am

    I, too, have many hungry deer that would devour my hosta. My solution was to give my neighbor a 50′ row planting of my hosta in their back yard (my son planted it for them). Now the deer graze on their yard and leave mine alone.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      May 17, 2013 @ 6:01 pm

      This actually made me laugh out loudā€¦ Iā€™ll suggest this to my mother. Itā€™s the only thing she hasnā€™t triedā€”moving the buffet.

      Reply

  9. Sharon McGrady
    May 5, 2014 @ 9:33 pm

    Ahh, those look like extra special and hard working tools. I won’t hold my breath on the car šŸ˜‰ but I’ll sure try for this giveaway! Thanks for the tips on the perennials and deer stop.

    Reply

  10. Janet
    October 3, 2014 @ 12:24 am

    I make my own deer repellent. They are notorious for getting into okra and eating the young leaves. After trying all kinds of store brands including the stinkiest stuff on the market, I took a jar of my own hot canned cheyenne peppers, took out 25 of them, boiled for 5 minutes, seeped another 10 poured the juice into a empty gallon jug and filled the rest with hot water. I let it sit for a good 3 days and then poured into a cheap spray bottle and wet those plants really good. It worked. You have to spray after every rain but it’s cheap and well worth it. I wonder how they would like my jalapenos next year?

    Reply

  11. Andrea
    May 4, 2015 @ 1:09 pm

    Love you for sharing your gardening knowledge – I don’t take classes because I can’t sit still for an hour. I will buy Deer Stopper on my next trip to town. I use Liquid Fence, which works fabulously, but I think switching off once in a while helps. Keep those suckers confused! Until now, I have not had anything to switch off to. Liquid Fence smells worse than the worse smell you can imagine – I mean, really, you could drop dead if you put your nose close to the open bottle – so the nice smell of Deer Stopper would be a bonus. I agree about the narrow garden spade. Mine isn’t that narrow, but it’s the only one I use.

    Reply

  12. Annie Gaddis
    December 22, 2015 @ 9:49 am

    Is there such a thing as an EVERGREEN with flowers that blooms in the shade?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.