Quilts in the Garden

 You might remember that the Farm gals are quilters (except for the blogger and we won't talk about when she last picked up a needle!).   These pictures from a recent Michigan garden walk & quilt show may inspire us to have a "quilts in the garden" day at The Farm too :)

No, we don't have a buggy, but we do have a tractor.  Maybe Eric would let us use it for a quilt rack?

As you can see by the plastic, some quilters took extra care to protect their pieces from contact with any garden soil or rough edges of furniture.   It probably is true that quilts in the garden undergo some risk.   But what a beautiful way to enjoy them for a day.

And this one was hanging in an all-white garden in dappled shade.  Perfect.

So what do you think?   Maybe we all should get our beloved quilts out of the dark closets where they are folded and bring them out into the light--or shade-- of the garden for an afternoon.  And if you do, please take a picture and send it to us--we'd love to see yours too!

Every Fairy Needs A Garden

We're seeing fairies these days.   And not just at The Farm!  What?!?  You don't believe in fairies?  Hmmm. . . Well, take a look at these gardens and let us know what you think :)

These little guys were spied on a recent Michigan garden tour:

 And this last garden is by Growing Herbs for Beginners in Rochester.  Check out their how-to  if you'd like to build a little garden for the fairies in your yard :)

Garden Tour Season

Look what we spotted on the Rochester Women's garden tour  today--a flower-filled Rich Zimmer arranger from The Farm!  You know how much we love those flower arrangers  so it was really fun to see this one.  This garden was featured on the tour and Sue made us feel so welcome.  She even shared a seedhead from these gorgeous fluffy pink poppies.

  And she had another sweet surprise for us too.  Even though her peonies had finished blooming, she had cut these and stored them in her fridge so she'd have them for today's walk.  Want to know how she did that?  We did too!

To hold peonies for this special occasion, Sue cut them in tight bud,  rolled the entire stem & bud in damp newspaper and stored in the fridge.   Next year, we are so doing this too!  Here are a couple more scenes from this beautiful garden:

purple smoke bush

tiger eye sumac & ornamental peach

Thanks so much to Sue for opening her garden today!  Garden walks are a great way to get new information and inspiration.  Be sure to check out Secret Gardens of Menard County, featuring eight Menard County gardens this coming Saturday, June 18th.  And stop by the Farm--we're featured on the tour too!