All posts by Lillian Davis

Hi, my name is Lillian but everyone just calls me Lil. I’m an artist, organic gardener & plant junkie. I live in north central Illinois in a little house on the edge of the woods with my husband and two of my four grown children. In my spare time you can find me outside playing in the garden or taking lots of pictures of my flowers or the local wildlife for my blogs~ and for eight wonderful years I had my dream job of running the garden center at Blain’s Farm and Fleet...

Impatiently Waiting

 

Little Leaf Linden ( Tilia cordata) my seed source

Here it is March 1st and at the time of this post it is 16 degrees and snowing, again.
While it is depressing, there are little signs here and there that Spring is trying return. The sun is staying out longer and is warmer now, melting the snow inch by inch everyday. There is now a little patch of grass in my back yard again. Yea!
My thoughts are also turning towards the garden center, though I keep joking that I may have to include a snow shovel while setting it up this year! Lots of new ideas rolling around my head right now for displays and such. Let’s hope I have a good crew this year!
I will be starting my own crop of organic tomato plants and other veggies very soon too for my own garden and I am also plotting out a new shrub and perennial border and getting excited about beginning as soon as I can.  There are even plans for a small pond but I’m not sure exactly where yet.
And I finally decided on where to put my little leaf linden tree (grown from seed from my original linden at my other house- the picture above is that tree- it was a rescue from Walmart and I brought it home in my van over 10 years ago. It is now over 15′ tall).
I have a love/ hate relationship with the linden. They can be a messy tree, with the sooty mold caused from aphids, and the plagues of other insects, including the dreaded Japanese beetles, that devour their leaves in summer~ but the attacks are rare and my love for their deep shade and drooping canopy and the sweet honey suckle smell of the tiny white flowers in May override their faults.
I cannot wait until it gets big.

Happy Spring everybody! I’m keeping my fingers crossed it will be a good year!

Out the Kitchen Window….

 

Evening Invasion

My herd of deer passed through the corner of my yard last night, browsing for something to eat. They looked so cold (Temps below 0* tonight), I actually felt sorry for them (sorry Sissy!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You can’t see me when I duck behind this snow bank!”

 

Guess what we got more of….

Welcome February 1st. Welcome Winter storm Maximus, welcome 12+ more inches of the white stuff!  Lets hope the ground hog doesn’t see his shadow tomorrow!

the Wren’s house
snow covered white pines and spruces

 

 

my favorite antique ceramic feeder decorated with bat chime

 

Douglas fir on our corner
Even Morton, our neighbor’s dog, looks unhappy about the extra snow!

 

 

 

 

 

Longing for Spring to Begin

It’s snowing again, but rather than post another picture of the “White Stuff”, I’m going to go back to a happier time.
I was digging through my pictures and found these of ‘My’ Garden Center in April of 2012.
I call it My garden center, because I run it. It actually belongs to the company I work for.
I’ve been with the company, going on 8 years now and this coming March will be my 8th garden center. Finding these pictures is giving me the itch to get back outside again.

angel from the front entrance display

 

Front entrance display~ spirea, azalea, rhododendron, geranium, viola, arborvitae & water features are always a big hit.

 

another shot with a Korean boxwood and candytuft iberis- can you find the frog statue?

 

a sea of early violas and pansies

 

Early shrubs, just leafing out. They come in as dormant twigs and it’s exciting to see them leaf out.

 

early yet for tomatoes, but they are well protected in the greenhouse

 

Dear Winter…

Dear winter, you tire me so,
Though lovely and white,
I wish you’d go.
My camera if full of fluffy snow flakes,
How I long to see flowers,
and design my new garden gate.
No worries, the weatherman predicted,
This next little storm is only a clipper,
Just one to three inches of new snow is expected.
Another ten inches and still snowing hard!
That’s it! I’ve had it!
I want my green yard!

L D

Stick Horse Remake

Here is a recreation of a lost horse for a little girl. It’s not one of my patterns but we were trying to replicate it as close to the original as possible, down to the chenille bedspread. It is not for sale.

 

How Cold is It?

It’s so cold the birds have turned into fluffy little cotton balls!
Temps were around -15 today and that didn’t include the windchill!

Did you know the American Tree Sparrow only spends the winter in northern Illinois? source
Goldfinch, winter plumage

 

goldfinches, winter plumage. See the yellow chin and wing bands?

 

“Somebody bring back Spring!”

 

American Tree Sparrow as ‘puffed out’ as he can get while keeping both feet warm
Downy Woodpecker, looking extra downy today…

 

Blue Jay was more interested in the squirrel’s corn across the yard

One thing I did notice was that the smaller birds on the ground were all hopping around a little strange. Kind of flopping a bit while they moved from one place to another and using their wings as balance in the snow as they hopped, while propping themselves up.
After watching them for a minute, I realized they were hopping around on one foot, holding the other one up in their feathers to keep warm. They would alternate feet every few hops, then sit down when they found the seed they wanted to eat, keeping both feet warm.
Hang on little guys! Only another 2 months and spring will be here again!

Junco keeping one foot warm

 

same for the American Tree Sparrow

 

Whole Lotta Blowin’ and a Snowin’

Welcome January, welcome 2014, welcome winter storm Ion….
Didn’t we do this last year?

It’s pretty to look at, out the window, while inside my warm living room with a hot cup of coffee in my hands, but alas, as this little Junco was trying to tell me, the bird feeders weren’t going to refill themselves (I think he was tired of eating the thistle and wanted his sunflower seeds).
Okay, Hubby and I had to dig out the walk and driveway anyway, so I might as well take my camera out before we got started.

vaaaarrrrrooommm!

I took the Labs out with me and Daisy, being the fun loving dog she is, took off like a shot, racing around the yard like a crazy fool.
Annie on the other hand, wanted no part of the cold and snow and wanted back in right away. I don’t blame the old girl.

can I come in now?

 

super dog!
After filling the feeders and getting a boot full of snow, Hubby joined me and we took a little walk to enjoy the winter wonderland, taking hyper dog with us.
are we going for a walk?

It was short walk. The road was un-plowed and the snow deep. Not to mention the wind was cold and howling, blowing the snow in our faces. We only made it about a quarter of the way down the road before turning back. Hibernating sounded more fun than freezing in the wind.

The snow was a foot deep on South Saddler rd
snow was heavy in the trees but blowing out quickly
Back home

 

We hurried up and cleaned off the cars and shoveled out the drive then spent the rest of the afternoon in the warm house
after a slice down the drive with the snow blower

Yep, the snow was pretty, but I’m soooo ready for spring, especially when the forecast calls for -10 for the high tomorrow!
Happy winter everyone and I hope your new year is a good one!

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas Everyone from Lil’s Garden!