April is for Gardeners
Here’s your April Gardening Checklist!
A field of Texas Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) near Dallas last weekend
Hello, friends!
I hope this email finds you well! I just returned home from a quick Spring Break trip to Texas to visit my family. As we neared Dallas, I was so excited to see patches of the Texas state flower along the highway — the Texas Bluebonnet.
As a child growing up, all-things-Texas were in the school curricula, and I vividly remember making a tissue paper Bluebonnet in first grade. Tearing the tiny pieces of tissue paper… wrapping them around the eraser end of my pencil… dipping them in Elmer’s glue… and a thousand repetitions later you had a Bluebonnet. Did anyone else do that?
Anyway, we stopped and took photos, because — well, how can you not? And what a photograph or a video can’t convey is the smell. Glorious!
Bluebonnet Seeds
Click here to buy some Bluebonnet Seeds for your garden!
Bluebonnets are part of the pea family — like Sweet Peas — and they smell a lot like Sweet Peas, too. It’s intoxicating on the breeze with a whole field of them. According to the Extension Office at Texas A&M, the State of Texas started seeding highways and roadsides with Bluebonnet seeds back in the 1930s, and, of course, we have Lady Bird Johnson to thank for the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 which required the sowing of wildflower seeds along highways across the country. Those wildflowers are even more important now as we face declining populations of insects and birds. And the Bluebonnets I saw this weekend were host to butterflies and bees — even on a rather windy day.
There are actually five different varieties of Bluebonnets, and they ALL are officially the Texas State Flower — as are any other species subsequently discovered! Talk about planning ahead!
Speaking of planning, it’s time to get to work in the garden, and I have two things to help you get to work: Garden Notes, my gardening journal, and your April Gardening Checklist.
Here’s your April Gardening Checklist!
Wishing you all the best as spring comes your way! And, as always, if you have questions, just ask!
Yours,
Angela
PS: You’ll be hearing more from me this week as the One Room Challenge starts on Wednesday. This time around I’m going small… very, very small!
Spring is on the Way!
Signs of Spring and a seed starting guide
Friends,
I hope you are well! We are buttoning up here for a big snowstorm, and I must remind myself that March and April are our snowiest months, but those storms bring great moisture. So all is well!
I have been busy in the greenhouse getting all kinds of seeds started. It's such fun to see those little baby plants emerge, and every day I check to see who is the newest arrival!
And even outside there are distinct signs of spring including my first blooms! Iris reticulata wins the race — and look at that gorgeous purple!
Iris reticulata in early March
If you are looking to start some seeds, I have a new seed starting video to give you my favorite mix recipe as well as some tips, too. So I hope you’ll check that out!
And don’t forget the March Checklist, too:
If you are gardening, don’t forget: peat-free is best! Here’s my guide to Peat-free gardening — and a reminder of why destroying peat bogs isn’t a necessary part of gardening.
Wishing you all the best as spring arrives! Be sure to let me know if you are doing the Spring Grow Along — and it’s not too late to join, too!
Cheers!
Angela
A Spring Cutting Garden Grow Along!
Happy February, Friends!
As I write this, the snow is melting from last weekend, but it is clearly still covering the ground and there is a decided chill in the air. I discovered today that voles have been at work in The Orchard and ate the entire root system of one of my apple trees, so I have to think about that unfortunate situation! But aside from that unpleasant discovery, all is well here.
I held off on my monthly update, because I had a very fun announcement to make: I am doing a Cutting Garden Grow Along with my partner, Botanical Interests! If you have ever wished you could have a cutting garden, let’s start one together!
All of the details can be found in this blog post:
Grow Along Details
Everything You Need to Know to Join the Cutting Garden Grow Along!
And the seed list is available here:
Grow Along Seed List
Choose the seeds that will work for your garden!
A cutting garden can be any size, and I chose seeds which will work in most zones. There are flowers for every climate, but choose what you like to grow. And choose what will work where you are, too!
I will be posting all kinds of content both on Instagram and on YouTube for the Grow Along, and I’ll post updates here as well. Be sure to subscribe and follow on Instagram and YouTube to stay up to date!
If you have questions about the Grow Along, don’t hesitate to ask!
And here’s your February Gardening Checklist, too!
Happy New Year!
Friends,
Happy New Year to each of you! I hope your holiday season sparkled and was filled with cozy joy. I know the holidays can be complicated for many, and I hope you found some time to rest, to rejuvenate, and to reset — no matter how and what you celebrated.
And here we are in the infancy of the new year — promises of new beginnings both big and small, and a new trip around the sun. The days are still dark and cold for many of us, but I know my mind turns to planning at this time of year. I’m starting to think about what varieties I want to plant and grow in the garden, what projects I want to take on in our home, and what creative endeavors I’m ready to tackle this year.
One of those projects will be revamping my cutting garden. It has had several identities over the last few years. When we bought our home, this area looked more archaeological than agricultural — remnants of someone who once liked gardening.
I started by building up the four existing raised beds, but I soon found that the space was just inadequate.
So we built more beds. Lots more beds. What started as four raised beds is now twelve. And because I have other places to grow vegetables now, this area is devoted to flowers — especially flowers for cutting bouquets.
But I will confess something: it was an overgrown mess this last year. I’ve had so many other gardening projects happening, that it was a very low priority. So this year, one of my primary projects will be growing perennials in the cutting garden. I’ll also be direct seeding here. And just making sure it LOOKS beautiful. It’s one of the first places in the garden that people see when they come in. It should be beautiful.
I have a new video out which gives you a better feel for what the Cutting Garden looks like and what I have planned for this year. Take a look!
Wishing you all the best in this new year! Here’s to a year filled with love, creativity, and growth!
Cheers!
Angela
That's a Wrap!
Two Mid Modern bathroom renovations — finally done!
We have had one bathroom or another under construction for 19 months, and it is DONE! And so ends another One Room Challenge. Check out both rooms here!
The Primary Bathroom:
Primary Bathroom
The Big Reveal is finally here!
And here’s the Guest Bathroom:
Guest Bathroom
A little Palm Springs here in Colorado
Two bathrooms with lots of color and fun! Enjoy!
Cheers!
Angela
OMG! Big News!
More content in new places!
So I wrote that I had some big news coming in the last update. Here it is: I’m partnering with Botanical Interests and Epic Gardening — creating new content together! I’ll be teaching gardening basics from starting seeds to planning whole gardens. I’m so excited about this new venture, and I hope you’ll stop by to check it out.
Be sure to like and subscribe, so you will never miss an update.
Speaking of updates, the One Room Challenge begins next week, too, so it is busy around here. More to come!
Happy Gardening!
Angela
Hello, September!
Finally harvesting veggies!
Happy September! I was taking a dip in our stock tank pool today over lunch and marveling at how quickly the summer passed. We were so busy, and time simply flew by! I hope you are well and are enjoying some beautiful days. I am already starting to see signs of the changing seasons — migrating birds, browning grass heads — even as we are finally reaching a harvest in the vegetable garden.
Our unseasonably mild and wet summer, while absolutely delightful for gardening, has meant a later harvest of tomatoes and cucumbers and nearly NO dahlias so far. It has been a strange summer here to be sure.
But I am so thankful for all of the moisture, and the new Wildlife Garden is THRIVING because of the rain. Planning a big project like this feels a bit like playing the lottery. We could have had a dry, ghastly summer like Texas has had which would have made keeping these little plants alive and thriving much more labor intensive: more watering, providing artificial shade, and worrying. Instead, the rain has allowed all of those little plants from High Country Gardens to reach into the soil, put down their roots, and even BLOOM!
Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit, Salvia sylvestris Caradonna, and Rudbeckia fulgida Goldsturm blooming in the Wildlife Garden.
Scrophularia macrantha and Coreopsis verticillata Moonbeam are blooming together, too.
To learn more about this exciting new project, check out the new Wildlife Garden section of the website!
There is also still room in my new class: The Art of the Word! Sign up before it is filled up, though! I’m so excited to be teaching this again, and I hope you’ll join us for this live Zoom class in October. More info here:
Did you see the Blue Moon the other night? Here it is shining over the Shade House — magnificent!
Blue moon over the Shade House
The Shade House is one of our favorite places to be these days — cool and shady and so comfortable all day long.
I will have some BIG news to share with you next week, so stay tuned for that. I’m really, really excited about this! I mean: really excited! That’s why this is in BOLD! OMG! You’ll see it first on Instagram, so be sure you are following me there.
Until then, I have some other exciting news to share! HoseLink, one of my partners, is having a month-long sale: 10% off all watering and gardening 😊 Retractable Hose Reels, Weed Puller, Secateurs, Sprinklers, you get the idea – all 10% off! I genuinely LOVE my HoseLink hose reels, and I highly recommend them. And their sprinklers are fab, too!
Here’s my affiliate link in case you are going to do some shopping:
Go get those discounts!
OK. Stay tuned for the BIG news next week — it’s exciting! And until then, happy gardening and happy September!
Cheers!
Angela
New Online Journaling Class!
Join me for this fun class in October!
I will be teaching The Art of the Word — an altered book journaling class again this fall!
October 21 and 28: 1-4 pm MST
Online via Zoom
This is an online class through Two Hands Paperie. The course cost includes all class materials, and we will do lots of great journaling exercises and fun activities. It’s a relaxing way to spend the day, and I would LOVE to see you there!
To register, click the link below.
Class description:
Give an old book a new calling by transforming it into an altered book! The paper in older hardbacks is perfect for art, and an old book can become a treasured place for sketching, painting, writing, and collage. An altered book is also fantastic for journaling on the go – easy to take traveling or to tuck in a bag for moments of inspiration.
Angela K. Nickerson, a writer and inveterate journaler, enjoys using an altered book for her art. She introduces you to the work of art journalers she admires and shares remarkable examples from other creatives. Whether you’re new to art journaling or do it regularly, their examples can infuse your practice with inspiration and new ideas.
In the first meeting of this two-session class, Angela shows how to prepare and transform a vintage book. Use her simple method to cut out, paste, and mark up the pages. She’ll also introduce you to a number of techniques, one of which is layering cutouts through several pages to build up a scene. By the end of the session you’ll have christened your altered book with an exercise or two.
The intervening week provides time for you to personalize the cover and work more on the pages inside. Everyone shares what they’ve done in the final session, then Angela demonstrates some more techniques to expand your repertoire. We’re particularly drawn to the way she uses words and phases on the page. She is a writer, after all!
This online class will be recorded and made available to class participants for 10 days after the class.