Three Neat Plants

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

It’s good to be back in the land of the bloggers. I’ve endured nearly 11 days of an unplanned and undesired vacation due to losing my DSL connection before Christmas. Apparently Verizon didn’t consider it convenient to send out a technician to solve the problem until this morning. In the meantime, I made arrangements to switch to a different service provider, and the changeover should occur later this week. I’ll update my contact e-mail on my About page when I get my new address. Assuming all goes well, I should be back to my usual blogging here and at Gardening Gone Wild very soon.

I made good use of my time offline (except for dealing with some internet withdrawl issues), at least: Besides doing my bookkeeping, reorganizing my office, and cleaning out closets that I hadn’t touched since I moved in eight years ago, I completed the herculean task of tagging all of the many thousands of images in my photo archives, including the last two years of images with no ID info whatsoever. Now, I’m all set to start work on a new book project over the next few months. But first, I’m delighted to start on a fresh list of neat plants for the new year. (more…)

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – December 2009

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

It’s time for Bloom Day again, and…um, Daniel dearest, there’s no need to look so bored. I’m sure I can find something to show. Yes, I realize that the weather has been uncooperative; I too have been slogging through the recent snow, ice, slush, rain, and mud (though, granted, I don’t have to do it in bare feet, as you and your brother do). Why, look at that: some gorgeous flowers right next to me, on the ‘Washington Park’ witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis): (more…)

Published in:  on December 15, 2009 at 4:15 am Comments (25)
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What’s in a Name – Through the Rainbow Part II

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra 

I started this series over at Gardening Gone Wild, but since I’ll be busy for the next few weeks building the Garden Bloggers’ Idea Gallery over there, I figured I’d finish up this part of my fun-with-nomenclature series over here. You can find the previous color-related posts at Black, White, and Shades of Gray and Through the Rainbow Part I. And now, the conclusion. (more…)

Published in:  on December 4, 2009 at 9:09 pm Comments (11)
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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – November 2009

Rosa Rainbow Knock Out Nov 13 09

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

We’re more than a month past our first frost date here in southeastern PA, and indeed, we’ve already had several frosts, as well as one night down to 23 degrees F. The garden as a whole looks pretty dismal, but there are still some scattered blooms, so closeups are the way to go for this last Bloom Day of autumn. (more…)

Published in:  on November 15, 2009 at 4:15 am Comments (36)
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The Name of the Sage

Salvia 4

It’s always a thrill to be able to connect a name with a plant. I enjoy being able to identify unknowns for others, and I’m delighted when someone can help me with those I’m puzzled by, but the very best feeling comes from figuring out an ID for myself. (more…)

Published in:  on October 31, 2009 at 2:00 pm Comments (17)