gardening Archives - PaolaPrints

Blue Milkweed

September 21, 2024

Blue Milkweed Blue Milkweed is the first scarf I’ve made that refuses to be photographed in the house. Her colors just don’t come through well so here she is-featured in the midst of autumn greens. She’s in stock now. It’s that wild and crazy time of year, when all outside must be put to rest before winter. I’m still waiting for some bulbs to ship in but house plants are almost inside now. It’s this time of year when I’m trying to remember what I did and didn’t order last winter…thank goodness I can search back into emails. A Mixed
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Spring is here!

March 20, 2024

Spring is here! I’ve been at hard at work creating new artwork for my fabric designs. Here’s a black and white look (with fake lilac blooms) at some wrapping fabric that should be interesting. I’ve always got some scarves to sew. I just signed up for a collection of fairs in nearby locations and am searching for options nearing the holidays. I like to try new places every couple years. Sharon’s annual juried craft fair offers the magic combination of beauty, shade, great food and SALES that exceed much more impressively billed locations. Visit me at fair this year if you’re
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Autumn Begins

September 25, 2023

Autumn Begins. Once again, it’s taken me too long to reach out and stay in touch. This could become a seasonal blog, which means only posting maybe 4x annually. There’s a thought. Like all of us, I will try to do better- until life once again gets in the way. Yes! Fall is here, and with it, torrential rains in Connecticut. We’re busy sewing and cleaning up per usual-with one caveat. My left foot remains encased in a walking boot for another two weeks to round out EIGHT WEEKS- due a stupid foot fracture. It’s really a quite simple practice to remember-
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Mother Nature: Litchfield Summer 2023

July 27, 2023

Mother Nature: Litchfield Summer 2023 Mother Nature has always been the inspiration for my creative work. It makes sense that summertime is incredibly labor-intensive- caring for all those growing things that inspire creativity. Since flowers are the high point of plant life in my garden, one puts lots of time in to get the flowers. Of course, as we learned especially well this year, Mother Nature may have entirely different plans- regardless of what you do or don’t do. An early frost here in Connecticut killed the entire hill of azalea flowers, save one bush, a Maine native that blooms late.
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Spring Into Summer

May 19, 2023

Spring Into Summer …ouch, I’m pretty sure that’s been said before. Spring is motoring ahead into summer- which officially starts June 21. Featured today is a new scarf I call Savannah-homage to a recent visit to that beautiful Georgian city. I was inspired by the city sidewalk grates. Beautiful and functional too. Beauty is something that’s too often lacking in our everyday lives. Mulch is in. Three yards of mulch arrived this week. These last many days I’ve been doing azalea bloom prep work like pruning and checking for winter damage. That includes placing Hollytone, cultivating winter-hardened soil and watering
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The Circle Game

October 7, 2022

The Circle Game. We all know it. You can feel it. Fall. The circle of seasons continues. But doesn’t it feel like it got cool all of a sudden??? A few days ago I brought in some plants that I’d put out for the summer-just to be safe. I left one out because it hasn’t been doing well and I was secretly planning to let it go to compost. This morning it was mildly blackened from a light frost. On October 6! I just read that in Connecticut the risk of frost is from October 5 through May 10. By
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Holding Onto Green

August 24, 2022

Impossibly, today is a little cooler following a long dry summer here in Connecticut. It’s nice to not be constantly worrying about the last time I watered my garden residents. And it’s wonderful to look out and see the dark soil, nicely saturated. Mother Nature does such a better job than I. This is the first year that almost all the hostas, day lilies and phlox were chewed away pre -bloom. Mysterious nocturnal marauders assaulted my little garden. I started spraying a Bonide product called “Repels All,” after the fact. It holds some hope for next year and I’ll begin spraying
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Soil Amendments For the Garden

June 6, 2022

Yikes. Once again I’ve waited too long to write a blog post. So much going on. Let’s jump right in!. Some of you may know that I’ve been making scarves for a few years. I’m designing with images I’ve taken in my gardens for almost five years. Aside from adoring gardening, the beds provide me with ongoing photographic material. This year has been incredibly busy so I finally dove into necessary soil amendments to the flowerbeds. Hmm. Happily, I also had the opportunity to create and produce a quantity of beautiful chiffon scarves for my high school classmates. Featuring the Morning
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Post Garden, Travel Bug

December 7, 2021

Does this sound like an unusual play on words? It does to me. It’s quite simple really, now that the garden has been put to bed, Larry and I hit the road to shake off COVID cabin fever before the BIG holiday rolls in. We drove to Montreal for Thanksgiving, taking a leisurely drive to stay overnight at a hotel in Lake Saranac. Driving the following morning was a breeze, even though we got a taste of “lake effect” snow. Oh, oh. Winter IS here, and once again, we headed north. Latte! The gorgeous red shoes shown above are not
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Deep Dive Into Summer

August 17, 2021

Yikes! The insane humidity has finally broken in Connecticut. Gardeners can go outdoors again. So much everywhere has been in a state of climate upheaval. And yet, here, in Connecticut, I really can’t complain. Happily, my own garden residents are independently motoring along – the generous periodic downpours have been a mixed blessing outdoors. Good growth yet LOTS of weeds with significant mildew, insects and slugs. Safer spray and Slug Magic have helped me combat the undesirables. After I shoveled on a 3-yard mulch cover in early Spring, I’ve realized I need at least another yard to beat back excess
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