Baby It's Cold Outside

We are having another severe winter in New Hampshire. December's ice storm was very damaging to trees (not to mentions the 1000s of homes including mine without power) and shrubs.
There is always the temptation to try to rescue precious shrubs and small trees from the ice. But trying to free small branches will only do more harm. Branches that may survive the ice will probably snap from any attempt to loosen them.
I think Henry Mitchell's advice in the Essential Earthman is the best:
"Whenever there are ice storms, pull the window shades down."
Of course ice can be beautiful, snow magical. So perhaps just a peak outside. My old apple tree is always lovely in winter.

Find of the Day:

One way to stay sane through the long winter is to fill the house with little plants: foliage plants, flowers and herbs.

Here are some lovely planters from my friend Virginia Wyoming. They are available on her Etsy shop, VirginaWyoming. Just $24 for the set.

Dahlias

I think it rained every day in July and so far August has a perfect record as well. Running through the rain to my car yesterday I realized that the daylily season is coming to a close and I hardly had a chance to see the blooms. I am always saddened at the end of the daylily season, the end of high summer.
But of course there is much left to enjoy phlox and all the yellow daisies and especially one of the great beauties of the garden, the dahlia. I am not a great dahlia grower, the big ones that I love take quite a bit of fuss and bother. They have to be well staked or they make a terrible sprawling mess. They need rich soil in full sun. And they must be dug up each fall and stored for replanting in the spring. I am often tired of gardening by fall and have forgotten many an expensive tubor. The ones I do remember don't always make it through the winter, they can dry up and wither into nothing or rot if kept too moist. So far I have had the most luck putting them in damp vermiculate in an extra refrigerator. But they are so beautiful I keep struggling with them every year.
Luckily, my friend Elaine manages to grow magnificent dahlias in her husband's "vegetable" garden which is now devoted to the truly important vegetables - dahlias, tulips, annual flowers etc. She brings me wonderful bouquets. Both of these photographs are dahlias from her garden. You can even see a lovely yellow dahlia poking out from behind the white.

Flower Find These red flowers aren't dahlias but they are certainly beautiful. This is a print made by Debra Linker (http://www.debralinker.etsy.com/) from her original painting "Guardians". Like much of her work it glows, here with rich gold setting off luminous red.

Color

A quiet pastel garden is lovely and restful. But I love color like this explosion in my friend Stephanie's garden.
Orange and magenta are not for timid souls but wow, they are gorgeous. My own front entry garden is full of California poppies in bright oranges and yellows growing in front of magenta purple phlox. Wear your sunglasses when you come to visit.

Flower Find.
And here is a hat for the brave. Isn't this beautiful? It is called "Dorothy Parker" and it does make me think of New York City in a more glamorous era. The hat is custom made by BoringSidney (now how could anyone who designed this hat possibly be boring??) and can be ordered at http://www.boringsidney.etsy.com/.