Casa Mariposa: The Usual Suspects

Tammy and Aunt Marilyn

If you've stumbled across my blog and found this page, welcome! I'm a slightly crazy gardener armed with a cheap shovel, worm compost, and a constant supply of big plans for the organic flower garden and ecosystem I've created. I am often foiled by the weather and the ever-encroaching canopies of mature ash and oak trees that have left me with more dry shade than I'd like. A spot that's slightly moist and sort of sunny one year is dry and shady the next. The lovely lady in the picture with me is my Aunt Marilyn who is featured in the post Dear Aunt Marilyn. Yes, she's real and no, you can't have her.

I love the challenge of gardening and have learned that Mother Nature is the ultmate teacher. Gardening successfully often starts with first learning what the plant doesn't need, observing why the surrounding plants are happy while the others are dead, and just refusing to accept defeat! So take heart that no ones garden is perfect and the best gardeners out there have killed a lot of plants! And if you've ever met a gardener who claims to have a problem-free garden, they're either highly medicated or lying.

The Usual Suspects

I share my garden with five shelter dogs rescued from a no-kill shelter. My ironweed (vernonia) has disappeared and a dog-shaped depression in the soil has taken its place... They are a tight-knit pack and rather mafia-ish in their refusal to admit guilt. Their mob names are in parenthese.

Genie (the Weenie) - beagle mix