Burpee Lavender Giveaway

It's been quite some time since I ran a giveaway, and at least three years since I've worked with Burpee. Recently I was browsing through their online catalog, when I discovered something I had not noticed before!  Burpee sells ready to plant vegetables, herbs, and perennials. I had always thought of them as a seed company and garden supplier. How had I missed this?

After contacting Burpee, we agreed to a test run of lavender, my all-time favorite herb and then a giveaway of 6, yes SIX, Provence Blue Lavender plants to my readers. My package arrived within a few days, in a nice sturdy box. 

Looking inside I saw what care was taken to protect the plants during shipping. These plants would not move, even if the box was turned upside down.  As a matter of fact, it was a little struggle to get them out.

Look at how healthy these are. The leaves are soft, fresh, and fragrant. I guess I was expecting little twigs bubble-wrapped in a mailing envelope.  I should have known better. Everything about Burpee is quality.

If this looks good to you, and you want to give Burpee your own test run on perennials, sign up now to win one lavender plant. 

Hrre's how to enter:

If you subscribe in more than one way, leave a separate comment for each.
1. Leave a comment after visiting the Burpee.com web site about your favorite perennial..
2. For a second chance to win, sign up as an e-mail subscriber (see sidebar.) 
3. For a third chance to win, blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this contest showing your link here. 
4. For a 4th chance to win subscribe to my twitter account @daylilythyme.

Good Luck!!
Open to US residents only, 18+.
Winners will be chosen by random.org.
Email addresses will not be shared with any third parties.
This Giveaway ends Saturday, May 25th at midnight ET.

Burpee provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose; nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.


You might also like to visit my cooking blogs at 
An Herbal Bedfellow
 and my restaurant reviews at
 Grabbin' A Bite

Square Foot Gardening with Strawberries

   We're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the spring garden cleanup; though, there are always a few leaves that insist on hanging onto their branches throughout the winter only to fall after we have raked and cleaned the gardens, causing me much frustration. Regardless, it was a good day to add to our Square Foot Gardening Project.

   Instead of building two new squares with lumber and nails, we decided to purchase these eco-friendly raised beds from Home Depot.  They were on sale and turned out to be much cheaper than buying wood. Not only that, but they offered free shipping over a certain dollar amount when pruchased online, so they were delivered right to our door. (This is not a paid advertisement for Home Depot.  As a matter of fact the price we paid was only offered for a short time, so I won't mention it here.) And they were very easy to assemble, so my husband tells me.
   These two lovely beds will be for our strawberries.  We purchased Junebearing varieties because it is safer with our climate.  One box will hold All Star and the other box will hold Honeoye.  Both plants claim to have large, juicy fruit, good for freezing.
   Now for the long wait.  I won't see any berries until June of 2014!  My patience will surely be tested, but I'm sure the wait will be worth it. And my Square Foot Garden experiment will have one more notch in it's belt, with the addition of strawberries.


You might also like to visit my cooking blogs at An Herbal Bedfellow and my restaurant reviews at Grabbin' A Bite

Arbor Day, 2013

 It's not going to be an exceptional Arbor Day in Michigan this year. I usually look forward to the blooming trees and bushes, the faint glow of green as the buds on the trees start to form, and just looking at the sky with the tree branches making spider web patterns overhead. But today the sky is gray, once again.  The flood waters are receding so road travel is good, but seeing all of the trees that have fallen over because of high water is devastating. Luckily, I didn't have to suffer the consequences; we are in an elevated area that is well away from the river and many lakes.
   It's not a good time to plants trees today, here, but as soon as the earth dries out and the sun begins to shine regularly again, we will be planting more apple trees for our small orchard, and adding a few more maples to our woods. I'm looking forward to walking nature trails and other wooded areas.
   In a another month Michigan will be a glorious green again and we can thank our tree friends for their participation in our color palette.  Michiganders take nature pretty seriously.  As a matter of fact, The Conservation District's motto is, Your Land, Your Water, Your Michigan. This motto should apply to any state. We need to take pride and ownership in our surrounding landscapes and feel blessed with all we have been given.
 Don't forget to check out your local Conservation District for tree and wildflower sales; they usually have great prices --  especially on or near Arbor day.

You might also like to visit my cooking blogs at An Herbal Bedfellow and my restaurant reviews at Grabbin' A Bite

Garden Books on a Rainy Day

   It's still raining here.  We've had continual floods and yesterday a light dusting of snow.  Spring is very, very late! So I've been browsing Amazon for some garden books to, hopefully, give me some kind of gardening experience through reading. I thought I would pass along the four that most interested me.


   The first book I came across was Your Backyard Herbal Garden, a guide to over 50 herbs plus how to use them in cooking, crafts, companion planting, and more.  I can always learn something new in this area. I have been planting and using herbs for about 35 years and there is always something else to learn. Herbs  are  simply amazing!

   The second book that interested me was Lasgana Gardening.  Well, who could go wrong with a title like that?  But I was immediately drawn to the subtitle -- No Digging, No Tilling,  No Weeding, No Kidding.  This book is all about layering for a little-to-no work garden.  Is that possible? I'm not sure.  I'll have to look into it.

   Great Garden Companions is a book about how to plant a pest-free, disease free garden by using certain flowers and herbs among your vegetables. Nature has a great plan so you can avoid chemicals, and the author, Sally Jean Cunningham, is eager to teach us all about it.

   Vertical Gardening is something I began to look into last year. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans, and squash vertically.  Some worked and others did not.  I need to find out what I did wrong.

   Some of these books are available on Kindle through Amazon and Android epubs are available through other Internet sites like Kobo.com or ebooks.com. 

   Sitting back in my easy chair, browsing  garden books is almost as good as being outside in the sunshine and dirt. Well, not really, but it's all I've got for now. 

You might also like to visit my cooking blogs at An Herbal Bedfellow and my restaurant reviews at Grabbin' A Bite