A note....

The best way to use the printable grid map from the "What's Blooming" page of the Blomquist website is to download it and then print it. In the upper right hand corner of the screen with the plant photos is the word "download". Click on the map, and when it pops up as a larger image click the download button and then print the file from your computer. Enjoy!

I had a great tour with Obamikel Alston and his "Sustainable Landscape Design" class from Durham Tech this week. The class was offered in conjunction with the "Green Jobs" initiative created by the federal government. Obamikel, I'm sorry about taking the photo with your eyes shut!

It's Friday!!! The printable map of the Blomquist Garden I mentioned in my last post is ready to roll. Here's a peek at what it will look like. I'm adding it to the "What's Blooming" page of the website tonight. Print it, then make notations of what grids the species are blooming in, then take your own self-guided tour of the Blomquist-in-bloom! Enjoy!

What a weekend!

It doesn't get much better than a day like today. Seventy, breezy and sunny with birds galore a singin' to beat the band. Lots of plants coming into bloom this week! I'm adding new photos every day to the Blomquist Website "What's Blooming"page. In the next week, I'll also add a Blomquist Garden map with a grid that can be printed. I'll add grid locations to each photo so that visitors, with the aid of the map, can locate the area of the Blomquist Garden where each plant in bloom is located. Look for this map in the coming week on the "What's Blooming" page. Enjoy!

oops- I forgot to mention that the Blomquist Garden is just a fixin' to blow up with blooms. Tonight I'll be adding photos of the plants in bloom or about to pop on the "What's Blooming" page of the Blomquist Website. From now until the end of May is the peak bloom time for the garden, so make time for a visit!

Wednesday is halfway to Friday!

Hi there! For those of you who attended my "Native Plant Design" talk at Fearrington yesterday, I wanted to add a link to where you can view the slide show online. Clicking on this link, you can go to a gallery of mine where you can see the show. I'm having an issue with the program lately that causes the slides to be loaded last to first. They are labeled in order, so to start at the start go to slide one and count up from there. I'll add this show to the "Media Center" page on the Blomquist Website in the next few days. Thanks to the Fearrington Garden Club for their hospitality!

a note...

In light of my last post, I'd like to add some more info. As you may remember, Toby Hemenway was here a month ago to talk about Permaculture. In his book, Gaia's Garden, there is a chapter that deals with soil fertility and overall garden ecology that relates very well to our last "Walk on the Wild Side". The chapter entitled "A Gardener's Ecology" speaks to many of the same topics we discussed last week, and the book as a whole is a great resource whether you're an aspiring vegetable gardener or just want to create a healthy ecology in whatever garden you cultivate. By the way, no, I don't get a cut of any sales of the books I recommend- I just like them. I link them through the Regulator Bookshop website because I think it's important to support local businesses. Sure, I've shopped at the big book stores, but if I can get something at The Regulator, or at Barnes Supply, or The Playhouse Toystore, I try to do that. Keeping money in our community supports local jobs that pay local wages that buy local goods and pay local taxes which support local infrastructure...... Let's keep it local, shall we.

Mornin'

I enjoyed the "Walk on the Wild Side" last Thursday. We talked a lot about soil fertility, building healthy soil, and fertilizers. Here's a link to an article that basically sums up my position on how to create healthy soil, as well as why I choose organic fertilizers over synthetics. In case you didn't know, whenever I say "here's a link", I mean for you to click on the word "link", which is a different color than the rest of the text. See you soon!