ramblings from an arkansas farm girl
Dear Sunday Letter friends,
Hi! I hope your last few days have been as wonderful as mine.
The past week brought ideal growing conditions for the garden. It was a fabulous birding week at our feeders. And, my son came for an unexpected visit. (He came for grad school classes, and we were the bonus—ha!)
He’s still here now.
In case you can’t tell, I’m floating around like milkweed fluff, a happy momma after a heart-happy week.
Good morning to my Sunday Letter faithful,
This past week was a strange one for me. I traveled to and from the farm, never seemed to know what day it was, and didn’t accomplish much. Do you ever have one of those weeks?
I’m still here to talk about it, so I guess that’s a good thing!
Also, my youngest turned 26 yesterday. Seriously, I feel like life is passing at warp speed. I mean, we are already staring at Memorial Day weekend…
Summer is just around the corner. Continue Reading
Raise your hand if you’re busy celebrating spring. (Both my hands are raised!) When I was asked to work with Monrovia again, I didn’t hesitate. The timing is perfect, too, because after traveling and promoting my book during March, my immediate plan was to spiff up our butterfly garden with a pop of spring color. Just in time for Easter.
Even though our established perennials are beginning to bloom, adding a few fresh, vibrant Monrovia plants into existing beds is the best way I know to give the world an immediate boost. I headed straight to the local nursery where I had no trouble filling my shopping cart with lots of spring color. Seriously, you can keep the plastic eggs and chocolate bunnies. The picture below represents my dream Easter basket!
So what’d I buy?
Two years ago, I planted a butterfly garden in our backyard. Each spring, I add to it with butterfly attracting perennials. My husband and I live in Zone 6, so it’s a bit early to plant milkweed, but I was happy to find two of our tried and true Monrovia favorites—salvia and coreopsis. These winners are long-blooming and hardy, they complement each other in style and color, and they attract butterflies and bees.
As pollinators, butterflies and bees are critical to our environment. Flowers and flowering shrubs that attract them are high on my preferred list.
