Nature & Seasons - grace grits and gardening

Gardening, Writing and Making Enchiladas.

March 31, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Gardening, writing and making enchiladas will keep a girl busy. My mother (aka The Bat) thought I had either croaked, lost my phone, or dropped it in the toilet because she had texted me several times over two days, and I hadn’t responded. I hadn’t posted on Facebook or blogged either.

First of all, I never received the texts because of a mysterious change in my iPhone settings. How does that happen? Anyway, after a bit of research, I fixed it without a call to AT&T (which would have severely cut into gardening, writing and making enchilada time, for sure). Yay me.

As far as being absent on social media, I’ve been on a self-imposed schedule that involves a) working on my book in the mornings, and b) gardening in the afternoons. And yes, I did make enchiladas the other day, but more on that later. So here’s an update. The book? I think it’s going well, but it’s taking longer than I expected. That’s mostly okay by me because when I’m done, well there’s the whole finding-a-publisher-thing which is way harder than breathing life into dead pansies.

And the gardening? You already know it’s one of my most favorite things to do in this life.

Here are a few of the plants John and I bought at Westwood Gardens, my go-to local (Fayetteville) garden center. A trunk full of plants leads to an afternoon well spent.

One of the things I did yesterday was attempt to spruce up our front porch pots. After the snow and ice, last fall’s pansies were soggy and shriveled and looking rather pathetic, BUT since the pansy growing season in Fayetteville is soooo much longer than Dallas, I decided to revive them instead of throw them away. I dug them up, trimmed the dead leaves, added more soil, and replanted them with snapdragons and asparagus fern. The pots look much happier now, and I believe the pansies will make a recovery.

Believing is an essential part of gardening.

End of Winter (left pot) / Beginning of Spring (right pot)

Here’s another before and after shot showing my pansies going from pitiful to perky.

Check out this cute little succulent. This one is named “Pig Ear”. Perfect for Razorback land, don’t you think? I put him in one of our most unique pots, a container we purchased at Redenta’s in Dallas. (It was handmade by an Arizona artisan whose name I don’t know, or I’ll tell you.)

My sister-in-law gave me lots of irises, day lilies and onion sets from her yard! “Dig up whatever you want,” she said. Now that’s a gardeners dream, right? Receiving plants from someone else makes the world even more special, and some of these plants originally came from my mother-in-law’s garden which makes me happyhappyhappyyyyy.

I planted a row of them along our rock wall. This is a hot spot, so they should flourish.

Others I planted around this boulder (along with phlox).

So where does making enchiladas come into this story? I made a big platter of chicken enchiladas last weekend using an old favorite recipe from my Baylor Cookbook (recipe tweaked a bit and coming later, maybe). We ate supper outside around the fire pit while enjoying the beginning of spring.

This is an Arkansas meal. Chicken enchiladas made with Tyson chicken + Riceland rice.

Thank goodness, gardening burns calories:)

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Trunk full of plants + belly full of enchiladas = perfect day. @Redentas @TysonFoods @RicelandFoods #WestwoodGardens[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Travis Tritt – It’s a Great Day to be Alive

what the dogs smell (let it rain)

March 11, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

My walks with Lucy and Annabelle consist more of stopping and starting than walking. We play a sniffing game, especially after a rain or snowstorm. For just one day, I’d love to be able to smell what the dogs smell. To be that alert and aware, so alert they nearly pull my arm out of socket when a scent hits their noses and yanks me in a completely different direction.

What’s in the rain?

Does the water revitalize the scent of the soil, the tracks of the squirrel, the mark of another dog? Or is there more to it?

The same rain has fallen since the beginning of time.

Rain.

Evaporation.

Rain.

Evaporation.

And with the process, a world of smells travels from the ground, into the rivers and lakes and oceans and into the clouds overhead. The smells of yesterday. History. Animals, extinct and present. People, here and long gone. Every smell that ever existed has been soaked into those rain droplets and snowflakes.

That’s what I like to imagine anyway.

The history in the smell of rain is responsible for our less than smooth strolls. It’s not just dog pee.

I love the smell of rain—that distinct earthy aroma that’s difficult to describe yet immediately noticed. A smell that always grabs my attention and makes me pause and inhale long and deep. What do the dogs smell? The explosion of a Civil War musket? Tracks left behind by the Cherokee who settled in this area? The smell of a wolf pack, their ancestors?

Or is it merely the squirrel sitting on the branch above their heads?

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]I’d like to smell what the dogs smell. #historyintherain[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Eric Clapton, Let It Rain

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived. The odors of fruits waft me to my southern home, to my childhood frolics in the peach orchard. Other odors, instantaneous and fleeting, cause my heart to dilate joyously or contract with remembered grief. Even as I think of smells, my nose is full of scents that start awake sweet memories of summers gone and ripening fields far away.”

― Helen Keller

Monrovia Plants fuel my gardening addiction. Even in winter.

March 4, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Note: Today’s post is sponsored by Monrovia, but my love for their plants is all my own.

I have a problem. Even though we are in the midst of winter and experiencing wave after wave of snow and ice, I’m still gardening. Spending time at Westwood Gardens on a cold winter day is a great way to stave off cabin fever. I walk through the warm, humid greenhouse, lusting after the lush Monrovia plants and dreaming of spring. Outside, fresh air is plentiful. So are shopping carts.

I chat with (not really, yes really) plants covered in a layer ice. Here’s a tip for you…if a plant is thriving at the nursery while covered in ice, it will survive in your garden. Check out this Brakelights Red Yucca that now lives in my backyard:) Yucca plants are water-wise, self-sufficient and provide an interesting design element. This is not your average yucca. It’s named “brakelights” for a reason. Its bloom season is long and the prolific red flowers will make you stop and take notice. And bonus: hummingbirds love it!

I’ve been buying proven Monrovia plants for years. In fact, it’s not a stretch to partially credit Monrovia with my gardening addiction. Years ago, as an inexperienced gardener with a hot, dry, square patch of Texas grass, Dallas nurseries lured me in with sidewalks filled with brilliant fuchsia azaleas. But the coral bark maples and red Chinese fringe flowers hooked me. Turns out, I’m more of a foliage kind of girl.

Since my husband and I recently moved from North Texas to Northwest Arkansas, we’ve been designing a new garden—a peaceful space that blends with the natural beauty of Northwest Arkansas. Our wish list includes not only places for gathering with friends, but quiet spots for reading and writing, and sunny corners for growing vegetables. When we step into our backyard, we want to be on vacation. We want the “ahhh” factor.

Our new yard is bigger than our last. More space means more possibilities, yet that can also be intimidating. One of the first things we did was develop a new design plan, working with The Grey Barn in Fayetteville. Monrovia plants are a key design component. Interesting foliage and bark patterns form the background for our new garden—the backdrop for what’s to come in spring and summer. During winter when perennials have died back and annuals have been tossed to the compost, foliage takes center stage providing year-round color. And no, a little winter weather doesn’t scare us. We began implementing our plan in January between snow storms.

Take a look at our design so far. This is the front yard.

Monrovia plants form the back drop of our design. We left plenty of open spaces for spring flowers.

Here’s a shot of the backyard including our fire pit and a few more soft touch hollies and laurels.

Here’s a more typical winter view. But see, if we didn’t have Monrovia evergreen scrubs poking through the snow, there’d be nothing to break up the blinding white…am I right?

Through the years, we’ve learned a few things by trial and error, by reading gardening books, by visiting arboretums and making note of things we love. We have favorite plants. Much like choosing paint color and arranging furniture inside the house, there’s a thought process to peaceful design. Gardening is much more than digging a hole and planting a shrub. Designing a relaxing space involves creating garden “rooms” with beds, creating movement with texture and materials, adding fun elements with found objects and personality specific items.

And yes, specimen plants like our new yucca create interest.

This morning sleet is falling (again) in Fayetteville and the ground is frozen solid. Our new yucca hasn’t been planted. I’m still considering the best location for him, a place where I can see him from the house. Possibly near the fire pit.

No matter the weather, no matter the season, I always find a way to garden even if only by dreaming on a winter day and planning where my new Monrovia yucca will live once the spring thaw arrives. And yes, that counts.

So what about you? Are you dreaming of spring?

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

FYI everyone – Monrovia brand plants are available at local garden centers (Westwood Gardens in Fayetteville) and Lowe’s home centers across the country.

[tweetthis]Fueling my #gardening addiction. Even in winter! @MonroviaPlants #Monrovia #Plantlust https://ooh.li/d9d9725[/tweetthis]

Watch me:

« Previous Page

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.