AMERICA'S ROYAL GARDENER - MARIA ROCK

Last weekend our guests Karen and Phil Burdine took part in Rock Ranch duties with our daughter Alicia. The weather was perfect all weekend feeling more like summer than spring. My husband, Anna, Siggi, Aidan, our friend Nicole and I were in the Home and Garden Show selling my new children’s gardening book Mimi’s Garden It’s A Kid Thing! It was great fun getting to meet my readers and listeners as they shared their garden and family stories with me.

Those left back at the ranch were all thrilled to have the opportunity to greet our brand new Icelandic filly just minutes after her birth. They named her Solla which means a warm fiery sun in Icelandic. Solla is a blood bay filly with a beautiful red body adorned by a velvet black mane and tail. Minutes before they had just been looking at Harpa our 2 week old filly and then went to the barn to do chores. Grima the new mother of Solla was still very full with just a few signs of birthing. Foals can come quickly when all goes well for the mare and her new foal. The veterinarian came out to check Grima and Solla and all is well for this Rock Ranch birth.

Yesterday my daughter Anna and I were leaving when we looked out in the pasture to see both new fillies nursing off Grima. This is very unusual and something special in a mare. Little Solla was happily nursing and Harpa walked up to join her. Harpa is such a little piggy. She sucked away for a few minutes wiggled her little body like a dog shaking off water turning about giving Grima a little kick as she walked off. We both laughed as children can be that way.

Spring is here and there is no better time of the year to go garden shopping. Many of the plants that are seasonal bloomers are in full swing in garden shops during the spring months. Color in the garden can brighten any tired landscape.How do you pick a color or colors for your garden? What color do you like? Use it in your garden and have fun turning up the heat in your garden.

Color makes a garden sing as it invites the gardener to look just one more time. Have you ever noticed a garden that just draws your attention? The style has something to do with it. However, even a poorly designed garden can grab your attention when it is filled with color. Make the best of your color use by understanding the color chart. Buy an inexpensive color wheel or invest in a plastic one that you can take out in the garden. Color 101 is fun and easy. Remember color creates all sorts of emotions and can be a source of relaxation or excitement in your garden. Ask yourself what you want in your garden and what do you want to feel as you look at it? Calm feelings are brought about with blues and whites. Reds bring a feeling of excitement. Yellow can bring about a smile. Buy a pad of colored construction paper rip them off. Check out how you feel as you look at these different colors. Rip them off the pad and mix and match. It really works and it’s an inexpensive way to color test yourself for your garden color show.

Learn what colors create a monochromatic, polychromatic or complimentary garden theme. Monochromatic is easy to remember as these are colors in the same tones. Example: red to light pink. There are those that feel this is the most dramatic form of color use in the garden. Polychromatic uses all the colors and when used correctly in design can make a beautiful garden. Complimentary colors are the colors that are across from each other on the color wheel. Example: violet and yellow. There is much more to this and next week I will share more color ideas for your garden.