Category Archives: Gardening
Still Green and Pleasant
In 2011, when Joe and I were in Germany on a temporary assignment, I was posting on this blog three times a week. Then we received wonderful news: we were being sent back to Germany to live. I left to …
Almond Blossoms
This is why we came to Edenkoben, Germany: to see the almond trees in blossom. A herald of spring, the almond trees bloom while many other trees are bare, sometimes as early as February. Like Easter, they promise rebirth. But, …
The Month of the Dead
In Germany, November is the month of the dead, a special time to remember lost loved ones. German Catholics set aside the first two days for this purpose: Allerheiligen, the Feast of All Saints, and Allerseelen, the Feast of All …
A Fish out of Water
An Afternoon Walk around Rodenbach
The town I live in is like Grandma’s cookie jar: I never know what I’ll find when I shut my front door and walk outside, but I can be pretty sure I’m going to love it. There are lots of …
Leaf Fall
The leaves have started to change in Germany. That’s a very big deal to this Texas girl because where I come from the leaves don’t bother to fall off the trees until spring. We rake live oak leaves from February …
My Last Garden, continued
Joe and I found the example graves at the Koblenz National Garden Show completely fascinating. They were so unlike anything we’d seen. Some were as elaborate and elegant as a Japanese flower arrangement. Others were just downright different. Joe’s favorite …
My Last Garden
Graves. Headstones. Birth and death dates. Are we in a cemetery? No, we’re back at the Koblenz National Garden Show, where the program assures us, “a romantic woodland glade is the perfect setting for cemetery landscapers and stonemasons to demonstrate …
Flowers and Books
What did Joe and I find at the Koblenz National Garden Show? Well, we found flowers, of course. According to the brochures, there were 6,000 square yards of roses alone (5,000 square meters). Everywhere we looked, we saw fabulous combinations …
Flowers in Downtown Koblenz
This weekend, Joe and I drove to Koblenz to visit the National Garden Show, a traveling event which takes place every two years. For six months, a German city transforms part of itself into a blooming paradise, and millions of …