15 Jan

From My Garden to Yours 2019

Posted by Nan Ondra in Seeds!. Tagged: , .

Happy 2019, folks! Now that the early-winter festivities are behind us, it’s time to think about the upcoming growing season. One of my own favorite parts of the yearly gardening cycle is the “distillation” process: turning this… Continue reading

13 Nov

About the Seeds

Posted by Nan Ondra in Seeds!. Tagged: , .

'Indian Berries' Popcorn (Zea mays)

Hi folks! I wanted to post an update for those of you who are used to me posting my seed-giveaway list around this time of year. The overall dreary and rainy growing season here delayed the ripening of many seeds, and I’m way behind in getting them cleaned and organized, so I figure I will tackle the giveaway in early to mid-January instead. That should please those of you who have said it’s inconvenient to think about seeds as the holidays approach.

My plan is to link the giveaway with my Etsy shop; it will, however, include some special things I’m not selling there. So for now, I’ll wish you all a joyful holiday season and look forward to posting the seeds here on January 15. If you feel the need for seeds in the meantime, I welcome you to check out my Etsy shop. Take care, everyone!

 

3 Sep

Gardening with Weeds

Posted by Nan Ondra in Cool Plants. Tagged: , , , .

A combination of the flowers of three plants often considered weeds: crown vetch (Coronilla varia), common yarrow (Achillea millefolium), and common fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) [Nancy J. Ondra/nancyjondra.com]

Weeds: the bane of any gardener’s existence. But…are they really?

When we’re new gardeners, we figure that anything we didn’t plant is probably a weed and pull or dig it out. We eventually catch on that sometimes our “good” plants produce useful seedlings, and gradually we learn to recognize which little plants to remove and which can stay. Ah, but then there are the mystery plants–we assume they’re probably weeds (particularly if they look really strong and healthy), but we leave them just in case they might be something desirable. And sometimes they are both: technically weeds, but also interesting enough to keep—at least for a short time.

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21 Mar

One Plant, Three Seasons: Sanguisorba tenuifolia

Posted by Nan Ondra in Cool Plants, One Plant, Three Seasons. Tagged: , , .

Purple Japanese burnet (Sanguisorba tenuifolia var. purpurea) against the bright yellow foliage of golden elderberry (Sambucus nigra 'Aurea') [Nancy J. Ondra/hayefield.com/nancyjondra.com]

Purple Japanese burnet (Sanguisorba tenuifolia var. purpurea) against the bright yellow foliage of golden elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Aurea’)

Happy first full day of spring, all! Unless you’re in the other hemisphere, of course, in which case, it’s the start of autumn. We could actually split the difference and say happy winter, since it’s still decidedly wintery here, no matter what the calendar says. I wish I could have done a Bloom Day post back on the 15th, but it would have been awfully short. So instead, I decided to write about one of my favorite perennials. (By the way, I used smaller photos this time to save storage space, but you can see the high-resolution image at my stock photography site if you click on a picture.) Continue reading

15 Dec

Odds and Ends

Posted by Nan Ondra in Blog News, Seeds!. Tagged: .

'Drama Queen' poppy (Papaver) [Nancy J. Ondra/Hayefield.com]

‘Drama Queen’ poppy (Papaver)

Hey there, folks. I have some newsy stuff to cover this time, so I hope you’ll bear with me…. Continue reading

15 Nov

From My Garden to Yours 2017

Posted by Nan Ondra in Blog News, Seeds!. Tagged: , .

Blackberry lily (Iris domestica [Belamcanda chinensis]) [Nancy J. Ondra/Hayefield.com]

[Edit: Please note that this offer is now closed]

It’s finally here: my yearly seed-sharing spree. This is my biggest list ever, with over 240 offerings that I’ve collected from plants growing here at Hayefield. I’m not asking for anything in payment or trade for these, except for postage; it’s just a little thank-you for those of you who take the time to visit and read throughout the year.

I’ve included something for pretty much everyone, I think—annuals, perennials, vines, woodies (shrubs and trees), herbs, edibles, and lots of natives—and have given very basic descriptions for each offering. I encourage you to use your favorite search engine to find more information and photos for the plants you’re considering.

Because my 2017 list is so long (12 pages), I’m not posting it here. You can download a PDF, RTF, or Word version from my OneDrive: Hayefield Seed List 2017. Whichever version you choose, all of the details you need to know about placing your requests are in the file with the list of seeds.

This offer is open to Hayefield readers starting today (November 15, 2017). My intention is to keep it open for one week, through November 22, 2017, but if I get overwhelmed with requests, I might need to close the offer early, so I encourage you to get your order in as soon as possible. Don’t hesitate to leave a note below or to email me directly (nan at hayefield dot com) if you have any problems accessing the lists. Have fun, my seed-loving friends!

15 Oct

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – October 2017

Posted by Nan Ondra in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Tagged: , , , .

The Aster Path at Hayefield ~ October 2017 [Nancy J. Ondra/Hayefield.com]

Hmmm…how best to sum up the last month in the garden? I keep coming back to the punchline of an old comedy sketch called “The End of the World”–the version with Peter Cook and Rowan Atkinson: “Well…it’s, uh, not quite the conflagration we’d been banking on. Never mind, lads; same time tomorrow. We must get a winner one day.”

Certainly, I don’t mean to be ungrateful: Many things are good. Very good. But I can’t help thinking that they’d be close to perfect if a particular plant had come into bloom just a few days earlier or stayed a few days longer, or that we’d have more fall color now if the last two weeks had been properly Octobery instead of August-like. And I don’t think that’s truly being whiny or hard to please; it’s just part of what makes gardening so interesting. I cherish those few moments each year when I look around and think “Wow, this is amazing.” But if they started happening too often, then there’d be nothing to left to do, and I’d have to find a new hobby. Fortunately, I don’t see that happening any time soon.

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