Welcome!
I’ve been a gardener for a while now-my grandmother sat me down in her garden before I could walk. She was instrumental in raising me and she had a house full of plants; every window had plants in it, and nearly every horizontal surface had plants on it. She also had a yard full of perennials and fruit trees, and a large vegetable garden. As a boy she taught me how to take cuttings from houseplants, prune fruit trees, and plant flowers and vegetables. As I think about it, I think it’s safe to say that my earliest memories, as far back as I can reach into my mind, always have something to do with plants and gardening.
As I grew I went on to manage nurseries, become a head gardener, manage landscaping crews, and own and operate a gardening business. To make a long story as short as possible; there is little connected to gardening that I haven’t had a hand in.
This blog started as a place where local people could come to have their gardening questions answered. Unfortunately nobody asked any questions, so while I waited I began writing about gardening and nature. From there it has evolved into a nature blog because that is what visitors were most interested in.
I hope by visiting that you will see what amazing beauty nature holds and that you will become more interested in exploring your own area. You don’t have to fly or drive anywhere to see the beauty of nature-it’s all right there in your own yard!
I got to you via gardeninancity blog. Your photographs and commentary are beautiful. I am a writer who dabbles a little in a suburban garden in subtropical Australia. Thanks for your lovely work. Especially loved your recent pics of fungus. Cheers.
Thanks very much Pamela, and welcome. Being a gardener at heart I enjoy the garden in a city blog.
Australia is a very beautiful part of the world from what I’ve seen in photos and I’d say you were lucky to live there.
Very happy to have stumbled across your blog. I’m a gardener in Boston and a frequent visitor to NH where my grandfather had a weekend house–he was an avid gardener and apple tree grower. We still have the house–rented out now but we visit often to hike and I have dreams of restoring the landscape there (there are still a couple of grand though nameless apple trees and some feral perennials). And I’m already fascinated by your woodland plant posts–beautiful photos and so much useful information!
Thanks very much Sarah. I’m glad you found the blog and hope it’ll prove useful on your future excursions north to New Hampshire.
I love those old, forgotten apple trees, and so do the wildlife.
There’s no reason you can’t restore the gardens to what they once were given the time and energy. I’ve done that a few times myself.
Thanks for sharing these inspiring mushroom photos and observations.
Can’t wait to get back out in the woods!
You’re welcome and thank you. I hope you can get out there soon!
Hello! I have been bumping into your blog frequently as I research for assorted information. And I always get “stuck” when I hit your site–totally absorbed in your photos and writing. I always wanted to have a blog just like yours! Sharing about all the wonderful jewels to be found in nature. In addition to plants and animals, I’m a huge mycophile so I appreciate your inclusion of fungi and lichens. My greatest joy is crawling the woods and taking photographs. Love your work! Keep sharing your experiences and finds. Thank you!
You’re welcome, and thank you Suzanne. I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog. If you’re out there taking pictures anyway maybe you should have your own blog. It’s very easy to set up and you get to speak with some great people.
I also like fungi (and slime molds) and they should be coming along any time now. I just saw some morels the other day and they’ll appear on a future post.
Hello,
I just found your blog while searching for information about wild leeks and skunk cabage. I absolutely love your blog and would be interested if you had a Facebook page.
Your pictures are excellent and the information is concise and informative with out being too heavy or technical. You feel friendly and aproachable.
I grew up in the country even though now I live in a city. Originally from western NY, a lot of the wild plants you talk about remind me of my childhood.
I have a quick gardening question while I’m here. I’ve been in a ground floor apartment for 8 years and am closing on my first house June 2nd. I have a lot of perenials that will be mid to full bloom. Is there an easy way to transplant them? I have bearded and mini iris, bee balm, Veronica, day lillies, pin cushion flower, lavender, crocus, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, peonie, small butter fly bush, 2 rose bushes, hardy mum, ecchinacea.
Thank you,
Sarah
Albany, NY
Hello Sarah and thank you for the kind words. I’m sorry but I don’t have a Facebook page. I find that blogging takes up quite a lot of time so I haven’t branched out into Facebook.
In general you should water the plants well a day or two before you transplant them and then get them in the ground as quickly as possible. You want to make sure their roots aren’t exposed for any length of time and packing them together in cardboard boxes can help prevent this. The biggest mistake people make when transplanting is not getting the plants back in the ground quickly, but this is very important. If you dig their new holes before you dig them up you can pop them right into their new homes, and this will help lessen transplant shock. Once they’ve been replanted water them every day for the first week and then twice a week until they’re established. You’ll know they’re established when they stop wilting. Watch the bee balm; it will wilt quicker than most of the others and will be a good indicator. Also, keep as much soil as possible around their roots when you dig them, especially the bulbs.
I hope this helps. Congratulations on your new house!
Thanks for the quick reply. The watering frequency and idea of pre-digging the holes are very helpful. =)
You’re welcome Sarah. It’s not as mysterious as it seems. A little thought and common sense will get you through.
I found your blog a few weeks ago and am loving it. I’m glad to find this page so I can understand the title more though. Perhaps I will have gardening questions to pose later in the year as well if you don’t mind!
Thank you Amanda, I’m glad you found the blog too. Feel free to ask as many gardening questions as you wish and I’ll do my best to answer them.
I’m glad you like the blog!
Hi, Thank you so much for liking my post about Austin Macauley Publishers accepting submissions. Your blog is lovely, you have some really beautiful photographs :).
You’re welcome, and thanks very much for the information.
Have moved to FL from NH and your posts and photos mean so much to me as I miss NH so very much. Thank you for your efforts. Your writings with science, poetry, history, and excellent descriptions are not only interesting to read but educational as well. Heartfelt thanks
You’re welcome and thank you. I’m happy to bring a little bit of home to you in Sunny Florida. I lived there for a while but it was just too hot and too flat for my liking.
Thanks so much for the time and effort (which is considerable I am sure) you put into this blog. It gives me the opportunity to study the things I love but don’t presently take time for.
I think this would make a great book even in it’s present form. If you do it count me in !!
Thanks again
Jim Howe
You’re welcome and thank you Jim. Yes, this blog does take a considerable amount of time but I enjoy it and I’ve learned a lot by doing it.
I do have an idea for a book that has come from the blog. Now if only I had the time to write it!
Allen Norcross
Stunning imagery, my friend. But harkening from Australia at age 13, I don’t find much beauty in snakes but love the rest.
Thank you Patrick. I don’t blame you, the snakes in Australia are very different than our timid little garters. We do have timber rattlesnakes but they’re very rarely seen.
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I came across your site while searching for types of mosses. I am now a subscriber and know that you will be one of my regular go-to sites. I started a gardening/nature blog just this year and am also from New Hampshire, so it’s nice to see familiar pictures. Great photos!
Thank you Wendy, and welcome. You should see a post on mosses in the near future, if everything goes well. In the meantime I hope you’ll find some useful information.
Beautiful photography and very informative. Lovely to meet you.
Thanks very much Isabella. I enjoyed your blog, and it’s good to meet you as well.
Very nice! You are an amazing photographer!
Thank you Jackie, It’s good of you to say so.
Good morning from WI! Just tuned in, gave you a follow. To see what is on my mind today, or to just return the favor, you can find me at http://www.thatssojacob.wordpress.com. Have a great day.
Thank you, the same to you!
This weekend and last I’ve done Google searches to identify something I’ve seen in the woods, and on both occasions your page came up. I love your photos and posts — for their beauty as well as their information. I’ve been posting similar kinds of things on Facebook, but maybe a blog is the way to go. I’m also in southern NH — Francestown.
Thank you Pat. I’m glad to hear that you’re getting some useful information from this blog.
I think you’d probably have more readers if you had a blog over Facebook. It can be a lot of work, even when you only do two posts a week like I do, but it is also very rewarding. It takes time to get a readership but it will happen. It takes a little patience. If you start one I hope you’ll let me know.
Just came across your blog. Thank you for doing this. Coincidentally, I just recently delved into discovering my own natural surroundings, and this inspires me to persevere. It’s great to know there’s someone out there who cares too.
God Bless.
Thank you Bud. There are a lot of beautiful things out there, just waiting for you to find them.
I hope you’ll stop back in occasionally and let us know how you’re doing.
HI, Just stumbled across your blog while researching NH native milkweed for developing native pollinator habitat. Very nicely done! I will add you as a link to my blog about beekeeping. Cheers!
Thank you, I have done the same.
Lichens, Moss, and Liverworts – Oh my! Thank you so much for photographing and identifying the wee green things.
You’re welcome Joe, and thank you for stopping in.
We recently purchased a forest in central Maine and I have found your fungi IDs very helpful. Thanks!
You’re welcome Raymond. I hope this blog can continue to offer you help in the future.
I’m sure it will. In fact, reading your blog is inspiring to a new landowner; I’m tempted to start blogging about our property…if only to document the adventure for myself.
What surprises me most about blogging is how much I learn, because it makes me see nature with different eyes in a different way. You would most likely see your land differently and get to know it intimately after a time of blogging. I also recommend it as a way to get to know some pretty special people. I’m sure you’ll be amazed, as I was.
GREAT BLOG!
Thanks!
One of my favorite places, New Hampshire. Spent a whole summer there in 1975. This is where my grandparents where from. Concord was the place I landed after leaving the Army. The New England drizzle will forever be be a memory in my mind. Will be back to view your blog.
It’s good to hear from you. The New England Drizzle hasn’t changed.
Concord is a fine town. We still get our share of drizzle! I’m looking forward to having you as a regular!
Really nice blog and we are featuring it in our Constant Contact Newsletter this week. Lesie van Berkum
Thank you. That must be where the high numbers of views are coming from.
Really appreciate your photographs and knowledge of the local flora. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
My pulse quickened when I saw your your blogger name on another post. I’ve only know one other NH blogger and now I have several contacts. Yeah. 🙂
Welcome! New Hampshire bloggers seem to be a rare breed, but I’ve “met” a few.
Hmm…your header looks suspiciously like Mount Monadnock.
That’s exactly what it is, in a photo taken by my daughter several years ago.
Well, it looks just the same as when I see out my window every morning. Only I see it from the other side. 🙂
Two New Hampshire bloggers in one day? Must be the planets have all aligned-or something. I’m guessing the Jaffrey area.
Two from NH? Wow. I’ve been blogging for a year and you’re the first one I’ve met. As far as the view, it’s more like the Dublin side of Peterborough.
Apparently we’re a rare breed around these parts. I know the Dublin / Peterborough area well-when I was a professional gardener that is where most of my clients lived. One or two in Hancock and Harrisville as well.
🙂
Nice to see a fellow blogger from NH
Same here, and welcome! You are only the third from New Hampshire in almost two years.
Good morning – I saw that you stopped-by my blog the other day. Thank you for visiting…and for letting me know you were there. I hope you enjoyed what you found and that you might spend more time with me.
I am truly glad that you hit the “like” button on one of my posts. Now I know you’re here. I have been browsing your photos and articles…and genuinely “like” what I have found here, too. I shall be visiting.
Scott
I enjoy your blogg Scott, and have been a regular visitor for just a little while now. I’m glad you found this blog and also liked what you saw. Stop in anytime.
I will definitely be doing that. 🙂
Thought you might be interested in this interactive Hardiness zone map for New Hampshire at http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive-new-hampshire-usda-plant-zone-hardiness-map.php