Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Constantly growing: Looking back at 10 years in my garden

The front garden in July 2019.

When we moved into our first home, it came with a huge front lawn.

I wanted none of it.

I grew up in the city, and despite this we actually had a decent sized garden to accompany our two-family home. My dad would often create new garden beds for plants he would buy at the nursery and online, and while he was not a lawn aficionado by any means, he still spent a significant time each summer maintaining it. Later we would move to Long Island and have a lawn made of zoysia grass. (I still wasn’t a fan.)

June 1, 2009 was the first day I worked in my new garden. 
For my garden, I had big dreams for an area filled with plants, flowers and life. While not an absolute beginner gardener (thanks to my upbringing), this was the first time I had complete say over what the land would look like. Within weeks of moving in, I systematically started to remove the lawn in chunks.

That first year I planted with wild abandon – or at least what my limited budget could afford.

I also made a lot of mistakes.

That first year I battled a rainy summer, massive slugs, and wondered whether the strip of land along my driveway was suitable for growing vegetables (the sunniest location of the property). I realized that the back garden that appeared sunny when we moved in that May was only temporary – the black walnut trees were late to fill out. The impulsive, full sun plant purchases I had made all ended up having to be relocated to the front garden – with some not making it.

Somehow I wasn’t discouraged and actually kept gardening.

The "garden" 15 years ago. By the time we were owners, the foundation plantings were removed. 


The front beds began to take shape in 2011 as I continued to chisel away at the front lawn. 
While I was not yet Frau Zinnie, I had blogged previously on and off since college, and I have one post from that first fall. The beginnings of the garden blog were there, but it wasn’t until 2011 that the Frau Zinnie blog was officially launched, after another year and a half of experimenting, ripping out more lawn, and planting more plants.

The front garden in May 2012.

People often ask how I became Frau Zinnie. I knew I wanted to start a garden blog and play off my German background, so I translated Mrs. Zinnia – and Frau Zinnie was born.

And while I knew a decent amount about gardening from the books I read growing up (“A Way to Garden” by Margaret Roach was my bible when I was a teenager), I realized I still had a lot to learn as I continued to garden and began to blog more regularly.

So I kept reading. I learned about why it made sense to be an organic gardener. I bought several gardening magazines and ripped out pages to keep for inspiration. I found garden experts in my community, and interviewed them for my blog. I began to fit gardening in whenever I was not working at the nearby bakery. After I left the bakery and returned to school, I still made time to start seeds under my grow lights in the kitchen, and plant a ridiculous amount of spring-blooming bulbs.

Through it all, I have never stopped learning or experimenting. Some things grow well and others end up needing to be replaced. My garden has grown into so much more than I originally imagined it would be. Not only does it feed me — with actual food like vegetables and fruit — but also the wildlife, including the songbirds who now nest in the trees, plantings or bird houses. And little creatures too, like the monarch butterfly on the various milkweed plantings or the spicebush swallowtail butterflies which feed on spicebush.

The front garden in 2018.

My garden has changed a lot since I first plunged that shovel into the lawn – and so have I. We’ve both matured – a lot. But through it all, I have found that being in my garden continues to be one of the ways I find happiness.

Happy 10th birthday, dear garden. We're just getting started.

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Hanging with my tribe: Why I love to attend the Garden Bloggers Fling



Three years ago, without really knowing what I was getting into, I joined a merry band of garden bloggers.

I had attended my first Garden Bloggers Fling, an annual gathering for garden bloggers from the United States, Canada and England. For each fling, a designated group of garden bloggers (also known as the fling committee) host and welcome between 80-90 garden bloggers and industry professionals to tour the best private and public gardens their area has to offer.

Three years ago the event was held in the Capital region (Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C.). Last year it was Austin, Texas. This year it was Denver, Colorado. (This was the 11th Garden Bloggers Fling.)

The Denver fling was my third. Picture an action-packed itinerary and lots of cameras. Many of the gardens that are featured on fling tours are drool-worthy. They contain wonderful plant pairings, whimsical touches, and different ways you can use plants in your garden. (For example, I learned that I definitely baby columbine too much after seeing it used repeatedly in blazing sun conditions.)

But here's what else I've learned in the last three years.

A major part of touring great gardens is so much fun because of the people I am with.

In Denver, not only did I meet lots of new garden bloggers, but I saw familiar faces from past flings as well. The people who attend are talented, thoughtful — often times hilarious — and above all else, super friendly.

Authors Pam Penick and Kylee Baumle enjoy the front porch vibes at a garden stop on the third day of the fling.

Garden bloggers take in a meadow planting at one of our private garden stops. 

We have a pretty awesome raffle. This year two of the fling sponsors were Botanical Interests Seeds and Proven Winners. 

Deep down, I consider myself to be an introvert, but when I attend the flings, I feel comfortable to be myself.

I mingle easily and chat about flowers, veggies ... anything really. The fling usually starts on a Thursday evening followed by three action-packed days. They fly by.

We all take photos. We all take notes. We all talk — a lot. When the buses leave in the morning, there's a buzz of excitement for the day to come.

Waiting patiently to enter a private garden. 

We also know how to have fun. We not only give the paparazzi treatment to flora, but we also stalk the fauna we encounter as well, whether it be huge bumblebees or resident cats and dogs.

A bumblebee on 'Rocky Mountain' penstemon in Colorado.

The Garden Bloggers Fling is the perfect excuse to travel with other garden enthusiasts. But in the past three years, it has become more than just a destination gardening event where I find inspiration from talented gardeners featured in the fling.

What I love most about the fling is the automatic connection I share with other garden bloggers thanks to our shared passion for gardening.


Want to read more about this year's fling? Click here to see the list of posts (it's updated regularly).

If you have a garden blog and want more info on how you can attend a future fling, click here to read the attendance guidelines.
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Blooming rose arches steal the show at Elizabeth Park

















West Hartford, Conn. — When it comes to garden goals, the roses at Elizabeth Park have set the bar high.

The rose garden, centrally located within the park, reaches peak bloom during June but continues flowering through September. But the arches, covered in rambling roses, only blooms once — reaching  peak bloom in late June-early July. The 75 rose arches are spread across 2.5 acres.

Now's the time to visit the oldest municipal rose garden in the United States to catch the blooming ramblers before they fade.


The rose varieties on the arches includes the pink ‘Dorothy Perkins’ and ‘Excelsa’ roses. There is a 'Crimson Rambler' and a ‘White Dorothy’ variety as well. The rose arches “radiate” from the center vine-covered gazebo.

The arches were being restored in 2016 when I last wrote about the garden, so I was happy to see they were returning to their former glory this season.

It's easy to see why the rose arches are so adored by visitors and photographers.



Of course, there are other roses to view as well; 15,000, or 800 varieties in fact.


The park is open every day from sunrise to sunset. While there is no admission charge, donations are accepted to help care for the park.
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