grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

We survived Garden Tour! (Party Crashers and all…)

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Garden Tour

Hey everyone! Sorry I’ve been MIA this past week. MIA as in Missing in Arkansas. A few days after participating on the garden tour, I set out for the Delta Arts Festival and spent two days in the Batesville / Newport area with fellow Arkansas artists and authors. Now I’m preparing to spend five days in Piggott at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center with a group of authors and Ernest himself if he decides to inspire us with his presence. Just kidding about Ernest but it is an inspirational place to write.

This morning before I forget, I want to share my thoughts on the recent garden tour.

(FYI – This post is sponsored in part by The Sweet Bee Company which provided the t-shirt in the last picture.) Continue Reading

How to Create a Certified Monarch Waystation

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Monarch Waystation

Y’all. We are legit! (And I have the signage to prove it — LOL.) We recently received our official Monarch Waystation certification. I’m excited about this. A few years ago, I set out to create a butterfly garden and have finally adapted our backyard into a bonafide stopover for migrating butterflies.

A Certified Monarch Waystation means the area designated (our property) provides food, shelter and breeding habitat for monarchs.

If you build it they will come. It’s true. Continue Reading

Climbing Roses: How to Train Them

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Climbing Roses. How to Train Them

In our garden this spring, I’ve been training my climbing roses. They are still learning to follow directions, so technically that makes them trainees. So am I. Believe me, I am NOT a rose expert by any stretch of the imagination. But we are fast learners. Today I’m gonna show you our process.

Early last fall, we planted two climbing roses (their names are Rosie and Daphne) at separate ends of our rock wall. Other than planting them, we pretty much did nothing to them all winter, other than we made sure they had water. A few months later, before they began putting on spring growth, I started training them using a process called pegging. Pegging works rather well, especially in a small garden space. And the best thing about pegging your roses is that blooms will increase significantly.

Roses want to be good garden citizens. Some varieties need to be taught.Continue Reading

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