Talya Tate Boerner - grace grits and gardening

10 Sun-Loving Perennials and Annuals

May 23, 2024 By Talya Tate Boerner

10 Sun-Loving Perennials and Annuals

Since spring is the best time to work in the garden, now is the perfect time to introduce you to my favorite sun-loving perennials and annuals.

I garden in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which is growing zone 7a, recently shifted from zone 6b after an update in the USDA Plant Hardiness Map. (Check your zone HERE.) Depending on where you live, my favorites may not be the best choices for your area, but many of these will do well in a wide range of the country. As always, research before you plant.

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Sunday Letter ~ May 2024

May 5, 2024 By Talya Tate Boerner

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Don’t you just love May? While I don’t know the history behind the maypole, I love the idea of it, girls dressed in floaty, flouncy dresses wrapping Easter-colored ribbons around and around and under and over. Hair woven with flowers—clover and daisies and baby’s breath.

May feeds me and fuels me; fills me now with words to use later. If I could, I would spend all of my time crawling on my hands and knees looking for every tiny change in each plant budding and blooming. (I do spend quite a bit of time doing this very thing—ha.)

The past few weeks have been excellent for migration. We’ve had goldfinches and rose-breasted grosbeaks at our feeder (always a thrill!), and the monarchs have been passing through laying eggs on our milkweed. Yay!

I know Christmas wears the moniker of being the most wonderful time of the year, but really, spring is hard to top.

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We Created a Moon Garden!

April 26, 2024 By Talya Tate Boerner

We created a moon garden by accident! I realized this a few nights ago when, half asleep, I trudged outside with Gracie and Annabelle and saw the Man in the Moon perfectly situated in the sky above our backyard. It was like he was waiting for us. And, even though he was still one day shy of full, his brilliant spotlight made our plants glow.