Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Driving north on Highway 14, one may be inclined to stop and smell the roses. Rylee Wagner, proprietor of Wild Arrow Farms, hopes you stop to smell the zinnias, sunflowers, snapdragons and other floral varieties at her you-pick flower farm, located at 87544 Highway 14 near Winnetoon. For $20, visitors to the not-so-secret garden can cut stems and fill a 20-ounce cup, creating their own bouquet. Wagner also offers made-for-you bouquets. She recently organized a you-pick fundraiser for a family...
It’s that time of year when looking out my kitchen window, the blooming plants have likely reached their peak growth. Things are gorgeous. Of course there are a few plants that are either stressing from the intense heat a few weeks ago or are just bloomed out. You have to overlook these plants and enjoy what you have. In my garden, it’s fun to clip bouquets using the multi-colored zinnias, delicate cosmos and annual asters that are blooming. I’m lucky that friends gifted me with garlic chive...
When it's hotter than blazes and mosquitoes are a biting, do you question just why you are gardening? I do. Then the next day, the morning is cool, a breeze comes up and as I look at my flowers out my kitchen window or prepare a pitcher of cucumber water, it's all worth the sweating and bites. Well, the bites are questionable. Looking at the flowers out the window and mornings on the patio are my favorite. The morning light just seems to make the flowers show off. We all enjoy our flowers and ve...
As perennial flowers bloom out during their season and others wait their turn, there are blooming annuals for a quick glimpse of color. Even then, there are times when looking out my kitchen window that the greens in the garden take front stage. I’ve just trimmed the spent iris and peony pods. Looking out my window the hostas are well leafed out. I’m a hosta fan and I’m fortunate I have shade for them. There is a variety of them in the flower garden and they put on quite a show. I don’t know th...
We've all heard it, April showers bring May flowers. For Nebraskans it's May showers that have helped kick in the May flowers and we hope this just continues. We sure don't want more storms. We've lucked out where I live that iris stems stand tall and the winds haven't caused any damage. Others haven't been so fortunate. I guess that is why when a flower bud opens, we better enjoy the show. I look out my kitchen window and realize what a blessing it is to be able to view the flowers. Not only...
I was busy this spring morning clipping little stems of grape hyacinth in my garden which is out my kitchen window. Containers, including a small glass cream pitcher and a tiny crystal cordial glass, are now filled with the pretty purple flowers. I just can’t resist clipping the flowers when they bloom in my garden. They remind me of what I think were gentler days, or perhaps a slower-paced lifestyle. My mother-in-law had grape hyacinth in her country garden and had shared the bulbs with me. I enjoy sharing them too. I’m not sure of the pro...
It still looks like winter out my kitchen window but I’m totally admiring pastel colors and cute little bunnies on everything I seem to look at the past week. Is this just because I’m tired of the gray winter scene outside, or is it because we are in Lent? I’m researching plants for the garden, shuffling my seed packages and asking friend gardeners if they have started seeds indoors. With another birthday being marked off, I find myself thinking of my garden bucket list. The bucket list chang...
I’m anxious these days to get in my vehicle and drive. It’s time to stop looking out my kitchen window and look upwards at all the beautiful fall trees with leaves of golds and reds. Taking a drive with my husband, I was treated to a spectacular show of Mother Nature’s painting skills. In my area of Northeast Nebraska the trees are dotting the landscape in gold, burgundy and deep red. Along a mile stretch of a country road, three acreage driveways and groves are filled with trees that are flood...
It’s “peek time” in the garden. I don’t mean peak time which is the finalization of time in the garden when everything is at its best. It’s time to take a sneak look at what is happening with some of the produce in the vegetable garden. I’ve been scouting the pumpkin patch for well over two months but suddenly the vegetation is so thick that I can’t see the pumpkins that are buried in the patch. So I wait. It’s the same with potatoes. Especially sweet potatoes. Their crop is underground and it isn’t time to harvest them. So I wait. As August is...
A memorial service for Lillian “Lil” Serna, 85, of Gainseville, Texas, will be held Friday, July 21, at 2 p.m., at the United Methodist Church, in Orchard. Refreshments will be served following the service. Everyone is invited to share stories about Lil with her family and friends. ~~~ Lil Serna, 85, of Gainesville, Texas, died May 24, in Gainesville. Lil was born Aug. 7, 1937, in Walnut. She spent 25 years as a farm wife in Nebraska before moving to Rock Springs, Wyoming. She became a resident of Gainesville in 1985. She had a long career in...
July in the garden brings on another pace for me. I sort of slow down and look at what is blooming out my kitchen window. I've hustled through the previous months planting, watering and weeding. The weeding and watering doesn't stop, but on this particular morning, the chores don't seem as demanding. Sitting under the patio awning I'm placing flower blooms on the paper of phone books. It's time to preserve some of those special blossoms. Pressing flowers is an old art and I'm hoping an...
Lil Serna, 85, of Gainesville, Texas, died May 24, in Gainesville. Lil was born Aug. 7, 1937, in Walnut. She spent 25 years as a farm wife in Nebraska before moving to Rock Springs, Wyoming. She became a resident of Gainesville in 1985. She had a long career in the auto parts industry, where she developed many fond relationships. In her retirement, Lil spent several years working at Abigail's Arms. She enjoyed tending her flower and vegetable garden, dancing, fishing and spending time outdoors....
“Patience is a flower which doesn’t grow in everybody’s garden.” I wonder if the originator of the aforementioned quote ever went through hip replacement surgery. At this point, this patient is becoming impatient. I’m ready to ditch the walker but, after 15 or so steps, I realize I need it for stability. I’m ready to go upstairs, but the 15-step trip down to the landing worries me. I’m ready to sleep in my own bed because, even though I complain to Scott it’s time for a new bed, our memory foam...
It seems like I've been waiting for months for this. Now it feels so good as I open my front door and feel the heat of the spring sun on my skin. I know that the soil in my garden, too, is feeling that warm touch of sunshine. May, I welcome you into my world. So this week I celebrated May Day with not only my great-grandchildren but also friends. Small containers were filled with treats and, out of tradition, taken to their houses. The original tradition I learned, leaving the treats on a door s...
It's February and to no one's surprise, I have a severe case of spring fever. It didn't help that the Cuming County 4-H Extension assistant presented on the topic of basil at our recent garden club meeting. I can hardly wait to watch basil seeds sprout in my new seed-starting system and then to smell the fragrant leaves of the plant. There are so many ways to use basil. The herb isn't just for adding flavor. It can be used as medicine, an aromatic, spicing up food and yes, even for it's...
As I look out my kitchen window, I’m not only day dreaming in color for spring and summer, I’m also enjoying the fluffy capping of white as the recent snow covers the landscape. What a fun site as birds are fluttering around the bird feeders and winging their way to the bird bath. Mother Nature gave us this beautiful winter setting, although I know it also makes for a lot of extra work for farmers and road crews. My visions and dreams of color have been spurred by the seed catalogs that hav...
Christmas can be many colors and styles. There is traditional red and green, then comes gold and silver. There’s a plethora of color schemes to decorate your tree. I change mine out every now and then and this year is red and gold with traditional ornaments. Ninety-five percent of the ornaments have been gifts. I recently had surgery and knew I wouldn’t be able to decorate the Christmas tree as easily. One of my daughters and a granddaughter helped me with the project three years ago and off...
In the midst of drought, during the state's driest year on record, homeowners struggle to maintain the ideal image of the impeccably manicured, emerald-green front yard. As the weather turns to fall and Nebraskans finish up summer's final yard work and prepare their lawns for cold weather, many may find themselves frustrated with brown, patchy grass or struggling garden beds. An alternative landscape is growing in popularity among those who find themselves tired of grass upkeep and hesitant of h...
Looking out the kitchen window, there is still a lot of color in the flower garden. Flowers just aren't as vigorous as they were a few months ago. I was fortunate to recently view some wonderful flowers that were still in their prime as I traveled on a bus trip to Mackinac Island in Michigan. Located in Lake Huron, the trip didn't disappoint with eye candy for flower lovers. I'm thinking the waves of humidity from the water is a breath of moisture each day for the flowering plants. Never have I...
Lantanas are blooming their little hearts out. They love the hot, humid days of July in Nebraska. Humidity occasionally fogs over the view out my kitchen window but, as it slides off, we are delighted to again see mama turkey by the flower garden. She was standing as if on guard this wet morning. On guard she was, as to our delight, we spotted a young turkey nearby, busily pecking away for bugs in the grass. Summer out the kitchen window includes, not only the turkeys, but also bright bursts of...
I love the sound of a sprinkler on the garden. The spit, spit, spit of water lets me know the day will warm up, corn will continue to grow in the fields and my garden will also thrive and surprise me with new blooms. It’s summer in Nebraska. Looking out my kitchen window, I can’t help but gaze a bit longer at some head turners. Pops of flowers, when in full bloom, are head turners. As the month of June unfolds, there were not enough peonies in my life. The early head turners are done and it’s ti...
I started my day looking out the kitchen window at the spring green of grass, iris, peony plants and the leaves on trees. May offers such a pretty green in the landscape. The early iris are blooming including an orange toned flag iris and a light peach iris. Buds have formed on others and the peonies are budded too. Two little bushes, little Henry sweetspire, haven't shown their leaves yet. If they don't soon, they will have to go. That will mean back to a nursery to find something to fill in th...
The sun is shining and the temperature is above freezing. As I look out the kitchen window things are slowly greening up. A pot full of happy little pansies were added recently and they are showing off their faces on purple toned petals. A variety of birds are fluttering about the garden, traveling from feeder to feeder and landing on the bird bath for a quick drink. Oh, spring in the garden. I'm watching the garden as tulips and daffodils sprout up and shoot blooms. I'm anxious to hit the garde...
March can be a gray month. The grass is still brown and crunchy. No flowers sprouting. Occasional sunless days. When the sun does shine through my kitchen window, I get anxious for spring planting. The realization of how March affects the garden world brought to mind that the month definitely spurs the love affair we have with pansies. I can hardly wait to shop for pansies. Years earlier I would love shopping for the early blooming plant as a gift for my mother’s March birthday. I wanted the b...
As I look out the kitchen window I can't get excited about a Ground Hog's prediction. It is February in the Nebraska garden and it is cold and, except for birds at the feeders and cats playing in the backyard, it's pretty bleak in the garden. Despite the lack of color, I did get my fix of fresh flowers on Valentine's Day. I was asked to be the driver of a fresh flower delivery van. The day started early and when I entered the flower shop, it was a blur of activity. The three flower designers...
