Monday, July 7
Crane Estate, Part 3: The Beauty Speaks for Itself
Sunday, July 6
Saturday, July 5
Michele's "Front Door" Garden on the Maryand Coast: What to Plant & How to Care For It!
๐ชด Why a Front Door Garden?
Living in a rental with no yard meant I had to get creative. The front railings became my garden’s foundation. I ordered two black window boxes from Amazon and filled them with bright, trailing blooms and compact edibles. Then I lined up seven 1-gallon black pots and a couple fabric grow bags to expand the growing space. Altogether, it’s small but mighty—it has begun to bring me joy every time I walk outside.
๐ธ What I Planted (And Why)
1. Pink Ivy Geraniums (Window Boxes)
๐ Reason: Chosen for color, texture, and the way they spill gracefully over the railing
๐ฑ Growth Note: These are already flowering! They love sun and don’t mind drying out a little, which is perfect for summer in containers.
2. Peppers (Window Boxes)
๐ถ️ Reason: Compact growers, high yield in small pots, and I love cooking with them
๐ฑ Growth Note: Starting to bud! I’m watching for aphids and feeding them with diluted fish emulsion every 2 weeks.
3. Marigolds (Window Boxes)
๐งก Reason: Natural pest deterrents and pollinator-friendly
๐ฑ Growth Note: Thriving! Bright blooms and helping keep pests off my peppers.
4. Basil (1-Gallon Pot)
๐ฟ Reason: Fresh for cooking and makes great companion plant to tomatoes
๐ฑ Growth Note: Bushy and fragrant! Pinching off flowers to keep it leafy.
5. Three Types of Tomatoes (3 Pots)
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Reason: I wanted variety—likely cherry, Roma, and a patio slicer
๐ฑ Growth Note: All three are flowering now. I’m supporting them with simple bamboo stakes and watering daily.
๐ Reason: Fun and sweet, and I’ve always wanted to try growing my own
๐ฑ Growth Note: Small fruits are starting to form! Just protected it from squirrels with mesh.
7. Cucumber (Fabric Bag)
๐ฅ Reason: Chose a bush variety for container growing
๐ฑ Growth Note: Beginning to vine out nicely—starting to see yellow flowers! I plan to use the railing for gentle support.
Thursday, July 3
Caroline's Summer Roses
The roses are all blooming now, and the garden is full of color. My red Blaze climbers, which I planted in the early 1990s from the Michigan Bulb Company, are still going strong.
They cover the arbor and climb up the chimney. They’re the same variety my mother grew when I was a kid. She planted hers along a split rail fence in front of our house.I also have some wild roses that volunteer in surprising places—sometimes right where I want them, and sometimes not. I’m not sure where they came from, but they keep coming back every year. They bloom earlier in June, so by now they are all gone by.
The pollinators are loving all the red blossoms right now!
And then there are the pink and red fairy roses, small and low-growing, filling in the edges of the beds.
This red bush rose I can’t identify by name. My daughter gave it to me for Mother’s Day a few years ago. It’s been a steady bloomer ever since.
It’s been a good week for roses!
Wednesday, July 2
Tuesday, July 1
Maine Garden Recap: Caroline’s June Highlights
June brought a yard full of blooms this year. After several seasons of struggling with vegetables—thanks to ever-growing shade from my mature trees (and the ever-persistent slugs)—I've decided to shift my energy toward what’s thriving: my perennial garden and containers of cheerful annuals. But I haven't given up on edibles entirely. A large pot of herbs is growing on my deck, and a few rogue strawberry plants have popped up in unexpected places, which always feels like a nice surprise. But my focus this season is my perennial beds, flowering shrubs, and containers of annuals.
The blooms in my perennial garden this month were peonies, irises, foxgloves, roses, rhododendrons, yellow loosestrife, astilbe, and cranesbill geranium. Just this week, the daylilies opened up seemingly overnight. The mock orange bush perfumed the dooryard for at least a week.I’ve had to keep an eye on the cranesbill, though—it’s become a bit invasive, spreading quickly into places it wasn’t invited. I’ve been pulling it up by the armful and transplanting clumps to less crowded spots in the yard. It has a strong spicy scent that reminds me of men's cologne. When transplanting it, the air is filled with its fragrance.
Around the patio and porch, my containers are full of begonias, dusty miller, pansies, petunias, and large geraniums, which I overwinter indoors each year. Some of the geraniums must be about five years old now.
It makes me happy to see those same plants spring back to life and carry on year to year.
I'm loving the light purple petunias I planted in various spots. If I can find some, I might get a flat of pale yellow petunias to complement them. I love the light scent of petunias on a hot day.
My rhododendrons had loads of blooms and put on a fantastic show in mid-June.
As June turns to July, I’m planning to keep wrangling the cranesbill and deadheading the spent blooms in my attempt to keep everything tidy and thriving.
I may not have vegetables this year, but the beauty of flowers (and a few ripe strawberries plucked on the way to the compost bin) feels just as rewarding.
Sunday, June 29
Crane Estate Garden Tour: Historic Landscapes and Movie Magic Part 1~ by Caroline
Crane Estate in Ipswich, MA is one of those destinations that should be on every gardener's bucket list. I took an early June tour of the gardens, the Great House, the grounds, and ended the day with a visit to Crane Beach.
The breathtaking gardens were lush with greenery and early summer blooms such as irises, roses, and peonies. The layout is classic and formal, with neat hedges, fountains, statues, and tucked-away corners with gorgeous views.
Friday, June 27
More Photos from Ladew Garden Visit-Part Two
The Ladew Gardens offer much to see and I suggest you split your visit into 2 days as there is plenty to see. If you live near by you can also get a seasonal pass which usually is cheaper. Besides clipped formal and fun topiary and water features you can find various stone statues such as this eagle perched on a stone base in one of the gardens and other out buildings that were used by the farm.
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This Mighty Eagle stood proudly in one of the larger gardens |
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The Tea House |
Thursday, June 26
Ladew Gardens, Maryland, Part One
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A lovely rustic water feature by the Cafe |
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The Garden of Eden |
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A large water feature that looked like a stream |
The Formal Garden Rooms include: The Woodland Garden, Victorian Garden, Berry Garden, Pink Garden, White Garden, Rose Garden, Garden of Eden, Keyhole Garden, Water Lily Garden, Yellow Garden, Iris Garden and many more. A nice map is included with the price of the ticket and garden seats are scattered through out the gardens if you need to rest or want to gaze longer at the beautiful view.
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A lovely large pond in the Rose Garden |
Tuesday, June 24
My Mock Orange is Blooming
One of June’s quiet little pleasures here in Maine is the sudden bloom of the mock orange bush. You might not even notice it until the scent hits you—that soft, sweet, citrusy fragrance that makes you stop mid-step and look around. It’s like nature decided to splash on a bit of perfume before heading to a garden party.
I have a mock orange near my porch that I planted back in 1993, from a little seedling that had popped up in my parents’ garden. Theirs was a well-loved old shrub, and I wanted to bring a piece of it with me. I was told it would never make it, but I planted it anyway. More than thirty years later, it’s still thriving—so much so that I’m constantly pruning it back, and still it gets huge every summer. It’s a survivor with a mind of its own.
Today, I trimmed a few small branches and stripped off all the leaves to make a little nosegay. I tucked it into a tiny purple vase, and it looks absolutely perfect on the windowsill. The scent fills the room—soft, citrusy, and a little dreamy, like a mix of orange blossom, jasmine, and vanilla. There’s something so satisfying about taking something from the garden and turning it into a moment of beauty indoors.
While there are some species of mock orange native to North America, especially out west, the kind we usually see here in New England—Philadelphus coronarius—was brought over from Europe long ago. It was a favorite in colonial gardens, passed down through generations, and mine is no exception. It’s a little piece of family history, growing just outside the door.
The blooms don’t last long—just a week or two if we’re lucky—but they always feel like a reward for making it through a long Maine winter.
Thursday, June 19
Starting a Front Door Container Garden at a Studio Apartment
This summer, I found myself in a cozy little studio apartment in the beautiful historical town of Havre de Grace. Just a few streets down from the Chesapeake Bay. It was a move that was unexpected. Basically I had one week to move to a state and town I had never been to be closer to family.
While moving into a tiny studio apartment meant letting go of a big garden. It also meant that I could downsize and get creative. My first thoughts on where to garden were, "Maybe I will get a community garden like in Portland.
After that did fell through the only choice I had was to do something at my studio apartment that is a 3 unit houses. My goal was to do some gardening and turn a tiny spot into a cozy, a coastal garden oasis! Last week I begun to transform my boring landing by adding two window boxes and just plain black pots for now.
I added 2 black window boxes first |
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This window box has 2 Geraniums and a Sweet Pepper |
๐ชด My Small-Space Garden Setup:
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An assortment of vegetable plants and annuals |
Here’s what I planted right outside my door:
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2 black window boxes (from Amazon) — Each holds:
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1 pink ivy geranium ๐ธ
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1 pepper plant ๐ถ️
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1 marigold ๐ผ (hello pollinators!)
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7 black 1-gallon pots (lined up on the steps and edge):
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1 Basil plant ๐ฟ
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3 Tomato varieties ๐ ๐ ๐ (a slicer, a cherry, and a Roma)
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1 Strawberry ๐
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1 Cucumber ๐ฅ
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1 extra marigold and Pepper for good measure
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A couple of fabric grow bags for overflow ๐ฑ
Everything was purchased from Home Depot (plants and soil) and Amazon (window boxes, pots, and fabric bags).
๐ฐ Estimated Costs:
Item | Quantity | Cost Estimate |
---|---|---|
Pink Ivy Geraniums | 2 | $4 each = $8 |
Peppers | 2 | $4 each = $8 |
Marigolds | 2 | $3 each = $6 |
Basil | 1 | $4 |
Tomato plants (3 types) | 3 | $4 each = $12 |
Strawberry plant | 1 | $4 |
Cucumber | 1 | $4 |
1-Gallon Pots (Black) | 7 | $3 each = $21 |
Fabric Grow Bags | 2 | $5 each = $10 |
White Railing Window Boxes | 2 | $15 each = $30 |
Potting Soil (3 bags) | 3 | $6 each = $18 |
Total Estimated Cost | $121 |
Tuesday, June 17
Mid-June in Maine
Between a rainy spring and a busy few weeks, I’ve fallen behind on the weeding and trimming, but nature hasn’t minded one bit.
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