Every historic building has a story to tell
Many years ago, on a farm located on the Salt River in Mercer County, Kentucky, my maternal grandmother planted a spiraea. It blooms early in March, sometimes the delicate white blossoms even appear in a mild February, and blend in with snow on the ground. My mother took a division from this shrub and planted (read more)
Category: Kentucky Gardens
Tags: #kentuckygarden, #shrubs, #spiraea, Gardens
It’s National Gardening Day, and I am grumpy. The weather is acting like June (80 degrees yesterday!) and I only have one rain barrel half full of water – we last had rain on March 31 in my neck of the woods. My pansies turn tortured and accusing faces toward me, as if to ask (read more)
Categories: 1901 Farmhouse, Gardens, Kentucky Gardens
In the fall of 2020, mired in the uncertainty of the world and convinced we might never venture off the farm again, my daughter and I ordered some tulip bulbs. Tulips, while beautiful, have never been a mainstay of any of my gardens. They are too expensive to be treated like annuals, and yet that (read more)
Category: Kentucky Gardens
Tags: Gardening, Gardens, Kentucky gardener, tulips
I suppose the first time I ever heard of a gazing ball was when I was around eight or nine years old. One of my favorite activities at that age was to rifle through my older sisters’ possessions, especially their books (everyone needs a hobby, right?). Jane-Emily, by Patricia Clapp, boasted a lurid cover perfect (read more)
Category: Gardens
Tags: Gardens, gazing ball, Gothic novel, Jane-Emily, Kentucky gardens, Patricia Clapp, yard art
I need a headlamp. Last night, around 9 pm, I doggedly continued layering newspapers (the Wall Street Journal, given a second life) on a new flower bed, and then topping those newspapers with mulch. But while I could appreciate the layered puzzle pieces of the tree branches silhouetted against the night sky, my own activities (read more)
Category: Gardens
Tags: Gardens, Kentucky gardening
I have a confession to make. Yesterday, I went to Lowe’s to see if they were stocking flats of pansies yet. I returned home with only furnace filters and light bulbs, shaking my head over my own foolishness – led astray by the erratic weather patterns in the Bluegrass. I know it’s too early – (read more)
Categories: Gardens, Historic architecture, Historic Preservation, Kentucky, Morgan County, Vernacular architecture
Tags: crepe myrtles, Gardens, pansies, Spring
My mother remarked earlier this week that Kentucky was experiencing “locust winter.” The recent cold snap has caused me to fret over my tomatoes (safely in containers, so I can cover them up if need be) and wonder when the sun would return. According to the weather forecast, sunshine and warmer temperatures will bless the (read more)
Science was not my strongest subject in school, but chlorophyll always fascinated me. In my mind’s eye, scores of thirsty plants absorbed the rays of the sun with zeal after winter’s gloom – nothing short of magic. Not unlike those plants, I too gravitate toward the light streaming from the sky this time of year. (read more)
The restoration of a historic building is a process of love and labor – one that has been made wildly popular by HGTV and other media outlets. I love watching a historic building come back to life – but the rebirth of the very land upon which that building rests – that is another story (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, Kentucky, Kentucky architecture, Kentucky Gardens, Lexington Kentucky History, Lexington neighborhoods
Tags: African American history, Dr. Harriett B. Marble, Gardening, Gardens, Jim McKeighen, Kentucky gardens, Lexington gardens, Old Georgetown Street, Western Suburb
This post was originally written for the Smitten by Britain website I loved Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Secret Garden when I was growing up – and I still haven’t lost the dream of one day having my own walled garden. (A garden ideally free from the rampages of dogs, and graced with perfect soil and (read more)
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