Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Looking out the kitchen window, there is still a lot of color in the flower garden. Flowers just aren't as vigorous as they were a few months ago. I was fortunate to recently view some wonderful flowers that were still in their prime as I traveled on a bus trip to Mackinac Island in Michigan. Located in Lake Huron, the trip didn't disappoint with eye candy for flower lovers. I'm thinking the waves of humidity from the water is a breath of moisture each day for the flowering plants. Never have I...
Lantanas are blooming their little hearts out. They love the hot, humid days of July in Nebraska. Humidity occasionally fogs over the view out my kitchen window but, as it slides off, we are delighted to again see mama turkey by the flower garden. She was standing as if on guard this wet morning. On guard she was, as to our delight, we spotted a young turkey nearby, busily pecking away for bugs in the grass. Summer out the kitchen window includes, not only the turkeys, but also bright bursts of...
I love the sound of a sprinkler on the garden. The spit, spit, spit of water lets me know the day will warm up, corn will continue to grow in the fields and my garden will also thrive and surprise me with new blooms. It’s summer in Nebraska. Looking out my kitchen window, I can’t help but gaze a bit longer at some head turners. Pops of flowers, when in full bloom, are head turners. As the month of June unfolds, there were not enough peonies in my life. The early head turners are done and it’s ti...
I started my day looking out the kitchen window at the spring green of grass, iris, peony plants and the leaves on trees. May offers such a pretty green in the landscape. The early iris are blooming including an orange toned flag iris and a light peach iris. Buds have formed on others and the peonies are budded too. Two little bushes, little Henry sweetspire, haven't shown their leaves yet. If they don't soon, they will have to go. That will mean back to a nursery to find something to fill in th... Full story
The sun is shining and the temperature is above freezing. As I look out the kitchen window things are slowly greening up. A pot full of happy little pansies were added recently and they are showing off their faces on purple toned petals. A variety of birds are fluttering about the garden, traveling from feeder to feeder and landing on the bird bath for a quick drink. Oh, spring in the garden. I'm watching the garden as tulips and daffodils sprout up and shoot blooms. I'm anxious to hit the garde...
March can be a gray month. The grass is still brown and crunchy. No flowers sprouting. Occasional sunless days. When the sun does shine through my kitchen window, I get anxious for spring planting. The realization of how March affects the garden world brought to mind that the month definitely spurs the love affair we have with pansies. I can hardly wait to shop for pansies. Years earlier I would love shopping for the early blooming plant as a gift for my mother’s March birthday. I wanted the b...
As I look out the kitchen window I can't get excited about a Ground Hog's prediction. It is February in the Nebraska garden and it is cold and, except for birds at the feeders and cats playing in the backyard, it's pretty bleak in the garden. Despite the lack of color, I did get my fix of fresh flowers on Valentine's Day. I was asked to be the driver of a fresh flower delivery van. The day started early and when I entered the flower shop, it was a blur of activity. The three flower designers...
Kicking off the new year in one degree weather, looking out my kitchen window was, truthfully, “warm” as I went from the window to a recliner and sat in front of the television, watching the Rose Bowl parade. Those floats made me dream of a flower garden filled with colorful blooms. I won’t be plucking petals to make a float, but I am thinking ahead to a certain flower arrangement. In 2021, we traveled with friends to Cape Cod. Yes, we saw some cool gardens. We also saw a few lighthouses which...
A recent trip to Colorado gave me time to enjoy the fall colors before a hard freeze zaps the show from shrubbery and trees. The burning bushes were an intence blazing red while many trees dotted the landscape with gold and rust tones. It was breathtaking and we were traveling west, not into the eastern United States known for the fall show of colors. Arriving at home and looking out my kitchen window, the temperatures had dropped enough while gone to drain the last color from marigolds and...
Looking out my kitchen window, my eyes seem to travel to plants and blooms in the tones of orange, rust and burgundy. It's October and I just can't get enough of the warm colors of fall. Even the kitten that plays in the flower garden has orange in its calico-colored fur. We know the weather is going to get cooler, but somehow we are never ready for the chill and then the freeze that ends our growing season. I'm not sure just why the flower colors are so much brighter preceding a frost, but...
It's 55 degrees this September morning and I'm greeting the day with a cup of hot cocoa. I'm a cocoa fan rather than a cup of hot coffee. Despite the cool temperature I have my kitchen window open as I peer outside at the flower garden. Crickets can be heard singing a serenade which I hope is their goodby song. Of course their song also means goodbye to the bright, warm summer days. The plants are transitioning into fall as some of them have lost their growing vigor. Yet others seem to blend in...
Did you realize that there are flowers that evoke different emotions? Looking out my kitchen window, I usually smile as I look at my flower bed. When walking in the garden, I smile too, unless a weed catches my eye. Early in the mornings is my time to clip a bouquet to bring inside and keep that flowery smile going throughout the day. Currently, I have a bouquet in a vase with the printed verse, "Friend You Make Me Smile. "I have clipped and placed in it what I think of as the happiest of...
BEV WIELER I’m watching the water sprinkler go back and forth out my kitchen window. Outside the birds are enjoying the light mist of water in the garden. They sing what I call their happy song. Oh this is living the dream for me. I’m retired and sitting on my patio enjoying the warm weather and looking over the flower garden. The peonies and iris had a long bloom season and are loosing their color while lily flower pods show color as I wait for their blooms to burst open. Annuals continue to gr...
BEV WIELER April showers have brought May flowers and I can hardly wait for blooms that fill out the rest of May and lead us into June and summer in the garden. There was a little set back recently with frost warnings for the morning of May 11. While the spring planting of impatients, geraniums and a variety of petunias has been underway in my rural West Point garden, Mother Nature sent a reminder to put the brakes on. It was full speed on the eve of May 10 as boxes, empty flower pots and...
BEV WIELER It’s April and I’ve walked through my garden checking if bushes are leafing out and watching as each day more color appears on tulips buds. Tiny grape hyacinth flowers seem a much darker purple this year and I’ve clipped a huge bunch of them to place in little glasses placed around the house. My yard isn’t the only place spring is appearing. Garden centers are bulging with plants and the color is eye boggling. The best laid flower garden plans are trashed the minute you step into th...
Madelyn Meier Nebraska News Service With the 20 below-freezing temperatures that swept Nebraska this winter, most gardeners had a concern: if previously planted perennials would grow this year. For plant lovers and gardeners alike, the snow layers have acted as good insulation against extreme temperatures, protecting most herbaceous perennials. “Snow cover helped keep soil temperatures from reaching the extreme lows, so the roots should still be in good condition and resume normal growth in the spring,” said Kyle Broderick, extension edu...
I’m enjoying the now view of my flower garden out my kitchen window. If you are wondering what could be worth looking at out there, I’ll try to describe it. Despite being covered with white fluffy snow, I see swags of greenery and pots filled with clippings of evergreens. The red bows still add a pop of color to the scene. The snow is deep enough that the decor will probably stay through February. There is bird bath with open water, where birds perch and dip their beaks in for a drink. Clo...
The final annuals have been pulled and perennials that still stand in the garden are drained of color as November is here. There does remain one spot of color as I look out my kitchen window. The flowering kale or ornamental cabbage is still in a fairly good form even after the recent ice storm. The medium green outer leaves surround the rich purple center that has evolved as the plant continues to share color. Flowering kale blooms are actually just the colored leaves or are known as rosettes....
There’s a rustle as I walk through the flower garden. It’s autumn and leaves are scattered on the ground. Moving indoors and looking out the kitchen window, the color in the flower garden has changed as the weather slowly creeps into cooler days and nights. It’s the kind of weather that makes a person want to cuddle up in a favorite sweatshirt and stoke a fire in the backyard fire pit. I’ve resisted the urge for the wood in the fire pit due to the extreme dry conditions and low dew point in the...
With the recent rain, I’m able to look out my kitchen window and still enjoy color in the flower garden. Just a few weeks ago I was ready to pull flowers out and hope for the best for wintering over perennials. It’s surprising what almost two inches of rain can do. All summer I dumped water on the beds. It takes rain to really make the color pop in the landscape. I realize we aren’t out of the woods yet. It will take a lot more moisture to bring up our water table. Plants need deep watering. Tha...
The landscape is changing outside my kitchen window. The greens have started to take on a different tone. Many flowers are reaching maturity. In the vegetable garden, red tomatoes fill the line of tomato plants and potato plants are drying down. It's only August and I'm not ready to give up summer. Nor am I ready to write out Welcome Fall on chalkboards or wood door swags. Summer, please hang on. I welcome the cool evenings and mornings, but just maybe they were a bit premature. I've looked...
A look out the kitchen window into the flower garden this morning revealed the usual lilies, zinnias and petunias in bloom. The tiger lilies green buds hang down waiting for their turn to open. In this hot, dry season I’m lucky to have color. Listening to the spit, spit, spit of the sprinkler rotating on the vegetable garden, I move to the patio for a bowl of cereal and hope something new might be blooming in the flower garden. Then I saw it, the garden phlox is starting to show color. Late last summer I planted two. I’ve had them before, but a...
I know the old saying: April showers bring May flowers. I also know we need showers month after month, but I don't like being held in the house by rain showers. It's May and I want to play outside. I do want the rains but have never figured out the happy medium, as to when it is to rain when needed, so I can be outside. If it rains at night, it's muddy during the day. Hmm, what to do? I suppose those rainy days are the times to look out the kitchen window while I dig into indoor chores. Or, I...
The sun is shining as Nebraskans wake up. With a break from cold temperatures, a walk outside lends a view of tulips pushing their way through the soil. I am so ready for spring, although I know that Mother Nature can fling back her head and dump cold and snow on us. I'm not scared of what will unfold. Spring is coming and the tulips and sedum popping out of their winter blankets are a sure sign that we will be able to step outside soon and feel the warmth on our faces. Until then, I plan on...
February 2020 is on the calendar as I look out my kitchen window. There are still red bows and swags of red berries decorating the flower garden. Moving from Christmas to February, we are ready for Valentine's Day. February is one of my favorite months with dashes of pink and red spread around my house and yard and hearts tucked in where I can. As I watched the Super Bowl ad for Google, romance was definitely in the air in the Feb. 2 ad, along with precious memories. During the ad, an elderly...
