photo tour

25 Mar
2013
snow covering the outlaw garden

Garden stroll #16: More snow!!?? Good grief.

According to the calendar, we’re nearly a week into spring. Here in Virginia, this usually means we’re looking at sprouting peas and potatoes, blooming fruit trees and bright, warm days with temperatures in the 60s. Of course, the weather varies from year-to-year. Sometimes it varies a lot. After spoiling us ...

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18 Mar
2013
snow-covered mantis egg case

Garden stroll #15: Snow!?

I published my last weekly garden stroll on August 22, 2012. That’s, uh, well, a long time ago. Time to bring that tradition back. It snowed today, but I’m not letting that stop me. In fact, that’ll be today’s theme. It needs to be; there’s not much else going on ...

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22 Aug
2012
garlic chive in bloom

Garden stroll #14: August showers bring…

Here in northern Virginia, we’re accustomed to hot hot hot and dry-yet-humid summers interspersed with dramatic bursts of intense rain and lightning. That’s standard for this region. Complaining about the lack of rain is a regular summertime conversation-starter for farmers and gardeners in these parts. But, seasonal dryness and actual ...

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25 Jul
2012
squash plant wilts following a squash vine borer assault

Garden stroll #12: Midsummer doldrums

It’s the last full week of July, and the midsummer doldrums have stopped by for their annual visit. Never mind the fact that I never issued an invitation. The midsummer doldrums are the gardener’s version of what-if mingled with goddamnit and I-knew-better. Like memories of some past love turned stale, ...

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17 Jul
2012
red cabbage

Weekly garden stroll #11

Ohmygodmosquitoes! Seriously, where do they all come from? I’d been enjoying a perfectly fine — albeit insanely crazy-making hot — summer, and then, bam! Or, rather, slap! Because, that’s what I’ve been doing in the garden lately. A whole lot of slapping of mosquitoes. Frankly, it’s beginning to get a ...

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10 Jul
2012
sweet potato flowers add to the ornamental quality of this lovely edible

Monday morning garden stroll #10

Yeah, yeah, yeah… It’s Tuesday. Rather than focusing on the lateness of this garden stroll, let’s focus on this: It’s Tuesday, and the heat wave is gone! So long 100°F temperatures, and hello 80°F temperatures. It’s amazing how, well, amazing 80°F can feel after 11 days of temperatures in the 90s ...

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2 Jul
2012
yard long bean seedlings, sprouting at the base of a "planted" stick trellis

Monday morning garden stroll #9

Fair warning: This isn’t going to be a typical garden stroll. No photos of flowers, for starters. In fact, very few photos of plants at all. We’re taking a bit of a detour, and I’m blaming it on the weather. In keeping with recent pattern, this week’s stroll does have ...

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25 Jun
2012
The outlaw garden at dawn

Monday morning garden stroll #8

If there’s a theme to today’s garden stroll, it’s this: Early morning sunlight on late night raindrops. A small but intense thunder-boomer skirted my neighborhood around midnight last night. Most of the rain passed to the north of me, but about a tenth-an-inch fell on the garden. Not much, but ...

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18 Jun
2012
Artichoke flowers are absolutely stunning.

Monday morning garden stroll #7

It’s drizzly and gray and a touch chilly in the garden this morning. In other words: perfect. The garden is packed with recent transplants and just-started seeds and seedlings. Everything could do with a little drink. Even if today’s precipitation doesn’t amount to much, it’ll at least moisten the soil ...

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13 Jun
2012
gaura blooming profusely

Monday morning garden stroll #6

Well, we’re moving in the right direction. This week’s Monday morning update is coming out on Wednesday, not Thursday. Progress! The garden along the front path is bursting right now. It’s an incredible change from this time last year, when I had just finished installing the brick path and had ...

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