Humble Thanks

Today, the winners of the Mouse and Trowel Awards for excellence in garden blogging were announced, after a nomination period, followed by voting.  I'm humbled that Our Little Acre was the recipient of several awards.  I just don't know what I could say to express my thanks and appreciation to so many that felt I deserved these honors.

The field of nominees represented a mere fraction of the wonderful and varied garden blogs out there.  I've seen the number of them absolutely explode in the three and a half years since I began writing about my garden adventures.  This is such a great thing! 

While there are certainly more talented writers and photographers than I, what is most important is that we all are writing about and photographing what we love - our gardens.  This sharing of information among those that have a passion for growing things helps novice and veteran gardeners alike. It helps us become better gardeners, and precious friendships are forged in the process.

I have been a dental hygienist for the life of my entire "career" - since 1977 - and only began gardening in 2005. If you would have told me five years ago that I would be nuts over flowers and the like, to the extent that I am, and that I'd get as much enjoyment in writing and photographing them as I do, I would not have believed a bit of it.

But life has a way of taking twists and turns, especially later in life, when you look at the  opportunities placed before you.  I'm fortunate that I have the freedom to focus on things that I truly love doing while still having one foot firmly planted in the career that I chose so long ago.  Fortunate, and blessed.

Again, thank you and congratulations to all the nominees and winners, and to the rest,  who are just as awesome.  We're all in this together.

With Thanks and Gratitude

Many of you are familiar with Blotanical, the website "where garden blogs bloom." For the past few weeks, nominations and voting were carried out for their annual Blotanical Awards for excellence in many aspects of garden blogging.

On Wednesday, the votes were in and the winners announced. I was surprised and thrilled to find out that Our Little Acre was voted "Best Ohio Blog" by my fellow Blotanists! Nothing makes one feel happier than to know that your peers like what you do and choose to express that by taking the time to vote.

Thank you.

Gardening is a great love of mine and so is writing about it. Perhaps that shines through each time I publish another entry here. In any case, I'm grateful for the honor that's been bestowed upon me and will endeavor to continue to bring you information and updates on what we grow and do here at Our Little Acre in a way that keeps you coming back for more. I truly enjoy your comments and have learned so much from you.

For those that have never visited the other Ohio blogs that were nominated with me in this category, you're missing out. There's some quality writing, photography and overall good stuff contained within the pages of A Hocking Hills Garden, Life in Robin's Nest, Chiot's Run, and A Study in Contrasts. Check them out, as well as the winners in other categories.

Congratulations to all!

2009 Blotanical Awards

The 2009 Blotanical Awards are now open for voting and I am honored that Our Little Acre has been nominated for Best Ohio Blog!

Blotanical is a website that brings together over 1500 garden blogs from around the world. I have discovered so many wonderful writers, photographers and overall great gardeners through Blotanical, and they have taught me a great deal over the last couple of years.

You don't have to be the writer of a garden blog to be a member of Blotanical. If you haven't registered on the site, I urge you to do so and take advantage of this wonderful portal of gardening knowledge. It's garden networking at its very best!

Voting for the awards will end on Tuesday at midnight (EDT), so if you are a member of Blotanical, be sure and visit the voting page and cast your vote for your favorite garden blogs. If Our Little Acre happens to be the recipient of your vote for Best Ohio blog, I thank you.

To all who are faithful or occasional readers here, I appreciate that you take the time out of your day to read about what's happening in this little corner of our world.

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Register for Blotanical here.
Vote for Our Little Acre here.
(Scroll about ¾ of the way down the page to Best Ohio Blog.)

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Fall Foliage at Our Little Acre

Last week, "there came a killing frost" and fall definitely had its game on. The colors are not as vibrant after a dry summer and we sure had that, just like last year. But you can't keep a good woman down and Mother Nature showed us that she still had plenty of tricks up her sleeve.

In years past, it seems to me that the plants and trees that change colors reached their peak at pretty much the same time. This year it was more spread out, which is why this post has been so late in coming. Just as I thought everything had turned, one more plant or tree surprised me.

The high winds we had over the weekend brought down a lot of the beautifully colored leaves, but I had taken several pictures of them before that happened.

This is the only maple (Acer sp.) in our yard that turns this gorgeous shade of orangy-yellow. It's my favorite color on the trees in the fall.





The Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)always turns the most gorgeous shade of peachy gold.





At the very back of Our Little Acre are some Burning Bushes (Euonymus alatus) and our new-this-year Witch Hazel (Hamamelis vernalis), contrasting nicely.


This Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) tree has been in this spot for three years now. Previously it was in the front of the house, which proved to be a bad spot in terms of protection from the strong winter winds we get. It's been much happier here on the east side, where it has a little protection from the house.


Probably the most vibrant of anything we have, the Cutleaf Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) absolutely glows in Max's Garden, especially when the late afternoon sun shines on it, as it is doing here.


The Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Emperor II') really hasn't gotten its usual fall color yet, for some reason. A smaller Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Mikawa yatsubusa'), which is planted under the kitchen window just around the corner from this one, is still green as green can be. But the Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa) in the foreground is just gorgeous! I don't remember it being this red before.



The Beauty Bush (Kolkwitzia amabilis 'Dream Catcher') is new to Our Little Acre this year, too. It has lovely pink coloring right now.

















I have always loved Flowering Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala 'Nagoya') and this fall, they have been fabulous. I've got both purple and white. As you can see, the frost hasn't hurt them a bit.

The Xeranthemum in the background is unfazed by it so far, too, and echoes the magenta colors beautifully.







The ornamental peppers (Capsicum annuum 'Medusa') have been casting their orange spell for several months now. A couple of hard frosts finally did it in though.
















Behind the small bird bath/feeder, the Viburnum (not sure which kind - it was a passalong from my grandma) is glowing a muted red.

The fountain that is usually in this spot has been put away for the winter, but the Viburnum on the right (same one that's shown in the photo above) provides good color interest and the Hydrangea 'Lady In Red' shows just one of the reasons she was so named.



For more beautiful color shows from various locations around the world, visit The Home Garden, where Dave is hosting The Garden Blogger Fall Color Project.




Now that I've shared some of the beautiful color here, I feel better about having received the Fabulous Fall Decor Award, which was presented to me by three fellow bloggers on the same day! Thank you, Perennial Gardener (Does Everything Grow Better in My Neighbor's Yard?), Lona (A Hocking Hills Garden), and Vicki (Havenwood).

What the World Needs Now

There are many kinds of love and it can be found in many places. We love our family and we love our friends, and we love those people who enter our lives in various ways and make our world a better place just by being in it.

We were watching "Modern Marvels" on the History Channel tonight and we were led through the evolution of computers and the internet. It's estimated that 20% of the world's population uses the internet. That means that 1,319,972,109 people have a way to "meet" each other from the comfort of their living rooms - a way that until a few decades ago wasn't possible nor even imaginable.¹

In 1997, when we first got online at Our Little Acre, one evening found me chatting with a college student in Bangladesh. I don't remember the student's name - it was just a short and friendly conversation like you might have if you were sharing a train ride with someone. But it was at that moment that I realized just how much smaller my world had become, while at the same time making it wide open to me as never before.

I've met some wonderful people by way of the internet, which has led to incredible opportunities that otherwise wouldn't have been possible. I'm immersed in internet culture more than the average person and likely have enough stories about that to fill a book. (Hmmmm....)

More recently, I entered the blogging world and once again have been brought together with some pretty amazing and fabulous people. Some, I've met in person, and I hope to meet many more. This may be difficult to understand if you have never developed a relationship with other people in this way, but that doesn't make it any less valuable or real. People are still people, after all, and if you use a little common sense, good friendships can develop.

One of my garden blogger friends, Cindy of Rosehaven Cottage in California, understands perfectly what I'm talking about. She has shared her life with us through her wonderful posts about her garden, her cats, and her travels in a way that makes us feel as if we were her next-door neighbor. That's undoubtedly why she was the recipient of the "Spread the Love" award given to her by another blogger, and it's well-deserved.

Mica at Garb-oodles Soup, the originator of the award, describes it this way:

"I have met so many lovely and very talented ladies here in Blogdom, what more can I do or say to express my humbled heart to each, than to give all my Dearest Readers and Friends a special award filled with Love. So, Spread The Love dear ones, Spread The Love to those you love. Except (sic) my award in which I have specially designed and share it with others. Enjoy the day."

What a lovely way to express gratitude and appreciation for the spirit of love and friendship that develops from getting to know people through the sharing of their lives through blogging. And now Cindy has seen fit to give this award to me. Thank you, Cindy. I'm honored and I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know you better through your blog posts and e-mails.

Some of the people that I wanted to pass this award on to have already had it given to them (Jodi, Yolanda, Cindy, Robin, and Kate), but I want to add Lisa over at Greenbow. She is always so upbeat and has been a faithful reader here at Our Little Acre and leaves encouraging comments nearly every day. I'd like to pass it on to Kim (a.k.a. Blackswamp_Girl) at A Study in Contrasts. Kim and I share a northwest Ohio upbringing and have met in real life. I suppose she could be considered a neighbor in the global sense, but I wish she lived closer than 3½ hours away. We both agree we could get into some serious nursery-hopping trouble.

I'm always a little reluctant to pass awards like this on, because there are so many people that are deserving and my list would be ridiculously long as these things go if I named them all. But know that I appreciate each and every one of you that read my blog and leave comments. It's so fun to get feedback like that. Thank you.

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¹Statistics taken from World Internet Usage Statistics.

Cleveland - Petitti's, Botanical Gardens & Environmental Awards

Mom and Sue picked me up at 8:30 this morning and we began our 3½-hour journey to Cleveland. Though the Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards and reception preceding them - the reason we were going there - didn't begin until 5:30 in the evening, we had a few other things planned, so we needed the early start to our day.



About an hour after our journey began, we were driving through Waterville, Ohio and decided to stop at George Carruth's studio, Garden Smiles. Mom and I have been here many times before, but Sue had not. George Carruth is the creator of those whimsical stone pieces you've seen in many garden centers. I have a few of them in my own gardens and home. His home store in Waterville sells seconds as well as first quality pieces and you can find new pieces there that are not yet in the catalog.

We walked around the corner to Joe Cooper Florist, where I always manage to find something I can't live without. Today it was a metal wind chime featuring a flower. We then continued on our way to Cleveland via the Ohio Turnpike and Interstate 80, stopping near Avon to eat lunch at Cracker Barrel.

Avon . . . hmmmm. Mom and I got 'that look' in our eyes when we both realized the Petitti's we'd visited in May was located within view of the interstate and was only two exits further up the road. We decided to stop in, even though we'd planned to visit their Strongsville store tomorrow. I mean, how could we just go on by, being that close?

After spending about an hour and a half browsing the store and making some purchases (Aster alpinus 'White Beauty', Coreopsis 'Autumn Blush', Digitalis obscura 'Sunset', and Dendranthema grandiflorum 'Bolero'), we then went on to Cleveland Botanical Gardens. We had about an hour to tour the gardens before we needed to change our clothes for the Environmental Awards cocktail reception being held at the gardens prior to the awards ceremony.

The reception started at 5:30 and was held on the pavilion just outside the main building. Hors d'œuvre were served as well as drinks while we mingled, listening to live music and hearing from Natalie Ronayne, Executive Director of Cleveland Botanical Gardens as well as Bruce Klink, President of Dominion East Ohio. Dominion is the sponsor of the awards, along with the Biodiversity Alliance, which consists of Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.


Following the reception, we walked across Wade Oval to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where the awards ceremony took place in Murch Auditorium. Mom and Sue accepted the Honorable Mention Award ($500 and a framed botanical print) on behalf of the Van Wert Master Gardeners. We then heard a very interesting talk about Caribbean Sea Turtles by Karen Eckert, Ph.D. She was available for questions and book signing following the awards ceremony.

The Museum was open for us to browse, as was the Ralph Mueller Observatory. I'd never been in an observatory before, so I was excited about getting to see this. We viewed a couple of unique star formations through the 108-year-old refracting telescope, originally located on the roof of Case Western Reserve University's physics building.

We finally made it to our hotel room in Independence half an hour after leaving the Museum and ready for a good night's sleep following a full day. There's more planned for tomorrow, including meeting a fellow garden blogger for the first time!

Scenes from the Gardens



Gate in Hershey Children's Garden


Water Lily


Giant Frog in Hershey Children's Garden


A Cat Visits the Restorative Garden


Tuscan Wall and Entrance to The Restorative Garden


Japanese Anemones

Reflecting Pool and Fountain


Mom and Sue by the placard highlighting
the Van Wert Master Gardeners


Mom and I enjoy our Diet Cokes

Monarch Update: Romie reports there is still no butterfly emerging yet and that the chrysalis still appears the same.

The Rosehaven Cottage Rose Medallion for Excellence

Now this is a good way to start the week:

Kylee,

It is our honor to present you and your blog with "The Rosehaven Cottage Rose Medallion for Excellence". You have received this award of recognition for your excellence in blogging (click here for more information on the award). We, at Rosehaven Cottage, hope that you accept this award.

Thank you for your wonderful blog and sweet personality that shines through!

Cindy (and everyone) at Rosehaven Cottage

About a month ago, Cindy also presented me with the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award.

For this, she said,

Kylee at Our Little Acre--a wonderful writer, photographer, and gardener that has captured so much in her endearing blog that I wait with great anticipation for each new installment to brighten my day and inspire me.

Well. Who wouldn't love to have Cindy as their cheerleader? Thank you, Cindy. I'm humbled and pleased that you enjoy reading whatever it is I write here. And let me assure you the feeling is quite mutual. I've discovered some very talented and wonderful people through the world of blogging and you're one of them.

If none of you have yet had the pleasure of reading Cindy's blog, Rosehaven Cottage, get your browser over there and get in on the gardening eye candy and her tales of her beautiful cats. Cindy's zest for life shines through in her writings and you'll come away from there with a little more spring in your step.

Visit Rosehaven Cottage online