My name is Sally and I live in Zone 6, in the “lake effect” rain and snow shadow east of Lake Michigan. That means we have a microclimate, slightly cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, compared to areas around us.
For the past few years, I have been slowly taking over my mother’s garden. (None of us are getting any younger.) She has her preferences for flowers, but more and more, it has been up to me to dig, water and tend.
This is a garden made for enjoyment: spending time outdoors, creating beauty with plants, stopping to smell the flowers, and watching the birds and bees.
As a self-taught gardener, I’ve made lots of mistakes and spent an embarrassing amount on plants, seeds and other items. It has been my ticket to an ongoing horticultural education. I’ve also learned a few things to economize while getting what I want.
What I do now in our back yard is a result of years of trial and error, starting in decades past around here, and in different places where I’ve lived. I feel fortunate to have sandy loam soil here, because I know what heavy clay is like, even though most of this garden is planted in raised beds and containers.
When you work with nature, there’s always next year. I love to new things that I see on tours of other home landscapes, in stores big and small, in catalogs, books and magazines, and online via the many related YouTube channels.
I didn’t start this, and I do not have complete control over its future, but I get to fill in the spaces and add to it as time goes by. And most of all, enjoy it.
I’m happy to share my love of gardening with all of you and hope that you might find something useful and even inspirational in these pages.
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about any of the information you see on this site!