A blog about finding balance in your life, connecting with who you are, and creating a lifestyle where you wake up each morning eagerly anticipating the day ahead.
Bleeding hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) have arching foliage and drooping, heart-shaped flowers, and once mature can reach a height of about two feet. They flower in spring, produce seed pods, and then have a dormancy period.
Anyone have any ideas as to what animal we’re dealing with here? Last night something “picked” all of the small developing squash on seven of the squash plants in our meadow garden.
Fringed polygala (Polygala paucifolia) has creeping stems that grow partly under the soil and partly on top of the soil, with several shiny leaves at the top of each stem. The stems are less than six inches long, so the flowers grow very close to the ground.
Like many of the plants in my gardens, my collection of chives began with a tiny clump that my mother gave me many years ago. Over the years that one clump has somehow multiplied to become at least thirty large mounds of chives…
Our extremely short summers and a celery plant’s need for a lengthy growing season are not a good match. Perhaps that is why it is impossible to find celery seedlings or even celery seeds in this area in any of the usual places where seeds or plants are sold.
Alpine columbine (Aquilegia alpina) plants can grow up to three feet high. The flowers are bell-shaped and a most beautiful shade of purplish-blue.
Common sage (Salvia officinalis) is a hardy perennial and an easy herb to start from seed, but the seed must be fresh or the germination rate will be very low. Seedlings should be spaced at least twenty inches apart because each seedling will grow into a large bushy plant.
Sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata) is a hardy perennial herb that blooms in spring (usually in May here).
Leopard’s bane (Doronicum orientale) is a flowering perennial that has been growing in gardens for hundreds of years. This plant has a long history that goes all the way back to the woodlands and meadows of Eurasia.
Over the last few days we have picked thirty-two ripe tomatoes… and they all came from just two tiny Micro Tom plants that we have growing under lights. The tomatoes grow in clusters and are nearly an inch in diameter.
The photos are my own. Some illustrate the post... others show our surroundings and the things we love about our version of simple living and voluntary simplicity. I welcome links to my blog or to any of my articles, but please do not copy my photos or content. —Shirley
Our Story...
Thank you!
Still Want To Read More?
Check out the hundreds of other articles in the Choosing Voluntary Simplicity article archives.