a lifestyle garden

Several years ago, our house was on a garden tour sponsored by a local nursery. We were very flattered to be a part of this tour. The organizer of the garden tour and owner of the nursery wrote a description of each garden, including a title and a blurb summarizing the garden and the experience. He called our yard a “Lifestyle Garden”. I had never heard this term before nor have I seen it since. Initially I was puzzled by the term and thought...

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Our Garden on the Evening News

<p><p></iframe<br /> <br /> </p></p>We are excited to have our garden featured on this week's Montana Fish, Wildlife and...

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Insect collection update: the year of the Bombus

Indiscriminate cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus insularis)Last year I started an insect collection in order to document (and learn) all the insects visiting our garden. This project has been so much fun and such a rewarding endeavor.  I am constantly amazed by the abundance and diversity of insects using our garden, and I am always fascinated by the ecological interactions going on in our little yard. Last year I was obsessed with...

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Some other things flowering in the garden

Grand collomia (Collomia grandiflora)The garden is both nearing its peak of blooms and drying our from the hot weather that is normal for this time of year.  As I've mentioned, we don't water anything in our garden- except our vegetables (we only water food), so as a result, the garden is ever changing and always seems appropriate and in-line with what is going on around us.  That is, as the hills around Missoula dry up and turn a beautiful...

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Progress on the Project List and Pictures from the Garden

I crossed another project off my list a couple of weeks ago, by extending an urbanite path past our hammock and our tool shed out to the alley (on the left side int he photo above).  Frankly, even though I had this on my list, I never really expected to do it this year. I think this and the potting bench really improved this part of our garden. Below is a picture before the urbanite path and the potting bench.And, this picture shows the...

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