Garden Week :: Staunton

The Garden Week gods smiled down on me and opened up the Gospel Hill neighborhood of Staunton for this year's tours. I LOVE this neighborhood and have for a long time. As I mentioned in my Breathe article, Garden Week gave me footing to be less of a creeper/lurker and instead, a paid guest!

Field Trip :: West Virginia

We hit the road last week for a change of scenery and some rest. Also, for direct access to a pool. Swimming in a heated pool or soaking in a hot tub - surrounded by windows looking out to the weather and the snow - is my idea of supreme indulgence.

We spent a few days at Blackwater Falls Lodge, visited White Grass, hiked the trails around the lodge, watched some cable TV (!!) and ate pancakes for breakfast every morning. We are realizing that we need to plan some sort of adventure in late January-early February to stave off the winter blah-blah-blahs.

The trip certainly shook the dust out of my brain and I am embracing the work routine and ready to get back to home and garden projects. More on those things soon.

In the meantime, I am freelance garden blogging over at Breathe Magazine these days. Please visit!

Garden Pilgrimages :: Agecroft Hall

Two weeks ago, I was a lone wolf. My baby girl and husband went to visit family in Michigan. One of my days was spent in Richmond. After a religious food experience at Kuba Kuba, I happily trudged off, full of huevos and cafe con leche, to find Agecroft Hall.

Agecroft was built in Lancashire, England in the late 15th Century. In the 1920's, it was dismantled and shipped over to Richmond - where it was reassembled along the banks of the James River.

Normally not one for tours, when I went to pay my visitor fee, the passionate volunteers told me a house tour was starting. I'm glad I went for it. Agecroft has been restored to how it would have looked in Tudor-Stuart England in the 1500s. We heard about the plague and the Protestants vs. the Catholics and manor lords using their servant's hair as napkins and the eating of rotting meat. And, in noting how diminutive everything was, the tour guide explained that people were much smaller back then and added that women averaged 5' 1". At that moment I puffed up my hair a bit more, to distract from my own, um, underwhelming stature.

I recommend getting into the house for the tour. I was only mildly unnerved during my experience by a fellow tourist and his repeated use of 'henceforth' whenever he spoke. Let's chalk it up to him getting caught up in the Tudor-Stuart moment.

And then, outside! There were knot gardens and fragrance gardens (with scented geraniums!). And boxwoods. And willow wattle fencing. And a stand of linden trees. As well as a still house - where herbalism happened. I took my time. I sat. I walked slowly through the paths to take it all in. I enjoyed the quiet.

But at the end of this adventure that I had all to myself, I thought about when I would bring Willa and Corey back for the experience. Because, it turns out, it would have been fun to annoyingly blurt out 'henceforth' the rest of the day and have someone there who got the reference.

Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah! Garden Week!

Photos 1 and 2 :: The Pavilion Gardens at the University of Virginia

Photos 3 and 4 :: Staunton Garden Week properties around Ft. Defiance and Mt. Sidney

Photo 5 :: Plainfields in Albemarle County

Photos 6, 7 and 8 :: Green Home in Albemarle County

Photo 9 :: Nichola Farm in Albemarle County

Photo 10 :: Grandview Nursery in Albemarle County

Dandelion Offerings and Other Spring Fun

Good grief, we are being sent the loveliest of spring weather and afternoons and evenings. I mean, really. Fields dotted with dandelions and wild violets. Lilacs and red buds and dogwoods. Crimson and salmon colored tulips. And our one Virginia Bluebell plant has hit its stride this year - along with the other natives - Spring Beauties and May Apples. Those Bluebells look mighty fine next to my blue bench.

Red, white and blue organic potatoes from Wood Prairie Farm have been planted. I am harvesting arugula every day from our cold frame (yahoeey!). Our oregano is begging to be used for some fish oreganata dish. Rhubarb is close to ready. The community garden is dotted with green here and there - collards, broccoli, cabbages, kale.

My parents were here for a visit and it was so needed and so cherished. We went for walks up at the University, Mint Springs and the Downtown Mall. And we ate at Taste of China. Twice within three days. Have you heard about Peter Chang? (Anyone from Charlottesville will laugh at this question - so it is for my far flung readers, too.)

And ::

This weekend is Historic Garden Week Virginia time! My lofty goals include Staunton gardens on Saturday and taking a day off from work to see the Albemarle-Ivy gardens on Monday.

I'm planning my black walnut guild with lots of edibles that work with the tricky toxicity of a black walnut - mulberries, currants, elderberries and tomatoes. More on that soon.

I bought a plastic Diana lomography lens for my Canon and can't get quiet enough of it. Blurs and saturated colors and lens flares. Perfect for capturing spring!

Some rest and more time with my pile of books - A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor; The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West and The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway. Reading in the late evening is best enjoyed with the window open to the mountains and the peepers while ignoring the laundry, dishes and dust bunnies.

Hither and Yon

Oh, spring in Charlottesville. Every time you show up, I am immediately transported back 20 years to when I first experienced you as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia. From there-on-in I was unable to settle for a springtime experience that was any less than spectacular (that also started in mid-March!).

On the home front - bulbs are blossoming, garlic is sprouting, rhubarb is peeking up out of the ground and the herb bed is coming to life (oregano, lemon balm, sage). Lettuce and arugula are pushing up through the soil in pale greens in the cold frame. Snap peas are reaching for the sky.

Our sweet community garden is full (all spots taken!) - and it is a thrill to hear people working out there, having fun and getting ready to grow their own food.

While a nasty cold waylaid me from the garden, I took solace in reading - Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters and Ruth Stout's No-Work Garden Book and another Ruth - a foodie Ruth - Ruth Reichl. Nothing like a few wise women to keep you company when you are feeling sorry for yourself.

We drove up to Monterey (also known as Virginia's Little Switzerland) for their Maple Festival this past Sunday. The drive alone was so needed - winding through towns like Churchville, Headwaters and McDowell and through George Washington National Forest. I realized later that it was the first time since September that I had left our area (?!). Returning with maple donuts and local maple syrup in a leaf-shaped bottle extended the visit into our evening at home.

I'm counting down the days to Historic Garden Week in Virginia. There is also an event at Monticello - Meet the Gardeners (as in Peter Hatch and Peggy Cornett! Eeeeep!) that looks like fun.

Unrelated to gardening, but smile-inducing : My new vintage-looking orange peep toe shoes, fresh-made pasta from Mona Lisa Pasta and visits to Charlottesville from two Bens (the first visited this past Tuesday, the second will be here in April).

Let's hear it for spring!

My Head Is In Spring Garden Visits

The subtlest of changes are happening during this last stretch of February. Songbirds are ramping things up a bit. Bulbs are pushing shoots through the muddy-slush covered ground. The evening sky stretches out in golds and pinks and purples well past 5 p.m.

With these exciting shifts comes my garden wanderlust. New places to see during the height of spring. My top three of the wishlist:

Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and Winterthur in Winterthur, Delaware. Willa and I may meet up with the grandparents for this trip, which makes it that much sweeter.

Agecroft Hall in Richmond, Virginia. An Elizabethan knot garden on an estate along the James River beckons. The genuine Tudor manor house was actually dismantled in England and shipped overseas to Richmond to be reassembled at its present spot. A day trip for me - so very do-able now that Willa's nap schedule has changed.

Historic Garden Week in Virginia. My first year getting to this event - I carried a two-month-old Willa around in her Moby wrap and we saw stunning Greenwood estates. Last year, the houses were in and around Free Union and Willa was on my back. This year, the gardens on the tour are tucked away in the area off of 250 West, closer to Ivy and I have a mobile, strong-willed biped on my hands. (I'll be blogging about the tours this year for Virginia Living Magazine.) Is it April yet?!

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Photo from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens.

Field Trip: Swannanoa - Afton, Virginia

We made it up for a quick tour of the Swannanoa grounds this afternoon. Sadly, much of Swannanoa has fallen into disrepair and there's not much actually growing in the gardens. But it still gives off a sense of grandeur with its marble and its terraces and its views. I mean, a classic Italian garden (its structures, at least) tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains is definitely nothing to sniff at.

Here's a peek at some of our discoveries. (Pssst. Paid tours of the house continue until tomorrow, but if you just want to walk around outside - it is free!)

Fall Fiber Festival at Montpelier

When I am not making terrariums during the winter months, I am knitting. I like to stock up on the goods at the Fall Fiber Festival - held at James Madison's Montpelier every October. I am also a fan of the sheep dog trials. Each year we threaten to bring our handsome and smart Otis (half border collie) to the event, to let him loose and see what he can wrangle or herd up!

I picked up some brown alpaca wool for future Willa sweaters from Blue Ridge Yarns and some Bracken green wool for (possible) felted baby booties from Carodan Farm. Once the darkness falls, post daylight-savings-time, I will be blissfully parked in front of our wood stove most evenings. My own version of hibernation.

P.S. Montpelier has spectacular walled gardens and majestic old trees that are worth seeing in and of themselves. Their Fall Big Woods Walk is being offered on October 19th.

Field Trip: Cape May

From the top: The gardens around our house - asters, sedum, hydrangeas; Cape May fencing; a hidden garden; Mom and Willa (tucked away in the stroller/Pope Mobile) among the cottage garden flowers; porch living; and the Painted Ladies.

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Willa learned how to open and close her fist in a wave while we were all in Cape May. While saying good night to her two uncles, her aunt and her grandparents - she stared at her hand and returned the gesture each of them animatedly gave her. Simply mirroring the smiles and encouragement that she saw in each of their faces.

My heart ached as each family member packed up and left our cozy place - our home for a full week. With Corey, Willa and I being the last to leave - the quiet of the house followed me as I flitted from final chore to final chore. Desperately missing everyone already.

As we readied ourselves to get in the car and make our own exit, Willa quietly looked around. Looking for those faces and those smiles, I imagine. And gave one more, perfectly executed, parting g'bye, big girl, unprompted . . . wave of her own.