Garden

Hello and welcome to my garden blog. For those of you new to my site, my name is Kate and I’m a historical romance author and creative nonfiction essayist and I LOVE gardening. My husband and I moved to Williamsburg, Virginia in July 2019, where we bought our first home. We both originally hail from Western Pennsylvania, but have lived in New York, North Carolina, and across the pond in England, where we started our first small flower garden. This blog aims to capture our successes and failures as we navigate the world of gardening and landscaping in the tidewater of Virginia. It will also include inspiration from gardens we’ve toured abroad and the wonderful gardens here at Colonial Williamsburg.

Follow Our Garden on Instagram - June 22, 2023

This is a short update on the garden blog that I started two years ago. Documentation of our Williamsburg garden and gardening inspiration from Colonial Williamsburg continues on my Instagram account.

You say Tomato, I say Tomato - May 11, 2021

Another busy week is in the books. We did some plant shopping and got our tomatoes, so I can finally relax a bit. We also accomplished more in clearing sections of the weeping redbud bed (such a relief to have that started) and planted out lantana and red hot pokers. It’s starting to feel like summer in the tidewater.

It’s May! - May 4, 2021

More planting, more weeding, more sowing, and one more retaining wall. It’s officially May in the garden and we’re running out of time to get these projects knocked out before the heat and humidity take hold and the AC beckons.

Planting Up & Potting Out - April 27, 2021

This past week was all about planting out our bare root plants and potting up seedlings.

Engineering & Effort: Getting the Terraced Bed Built - April 20, 2021

This weekend we got our first terraced bed built on our backyard hillside and tackled some odd jobs.

Green Fog & Spring Green - April 13, 2021

Despite tree pollen season being upon us, we knocked some projects off the to-do list this week, while enjoying the bounty of spring green taking over Williamsburg’s forests and gardens.

Becoming Something - April 6, 2021

We put another productive week in the books. We tackled our big project of building a retaining wall for our Pear Tree Bed. I’m so happy we decided to use flagstone retaining wall blocks—it looks fantastic! We also got some seeds sown out, daffodils transplanted, supports hung for the sweet peas, and some perennials potted up and planted out. Let’s jump in!

The Author and the Engineer - March 30, 2021

What did we accomplish this past week? We tackled more spring maintenance, cut down an overgrown cypress tree, planted shrubs, potted bare root plants, and mulched a new bed. Let’s jump in!

Sowing Seeds & Gloucester’s Daffodil Festival - March 23, 2021

Today I’ll recap the projects we worked on last week through today and my driving tour of Gloucester County’s famous Daffodil Festival.

Digging In The Dirt - March 16, 2021

Hi, all! Welcome back to my gardening blog. Lots of great progress over the weekend to recap, so let’s get started.

Out With The Old, In With The New - March 9, 2021

Some exciting things happened this past week starting with a big delivery. On Friday we got our 50/50 topsoil compost mix! Three cubic yards of it. Then we headed to Lowe’s to buy untreated lumber for our raised beds and some new screen trees to add privacy to our side yard. Saturday, we accomplished our main goal of building our four raised beds in the vegetable garden and got in some other jobs from the to-do list.

It’s a Gardener’s World - March 2, 2021

I’m happy to begin sharing my journey as my husband and I work to make our blank slate of a yard into a four-season garden.

Travel

These blog posts are all about my travels around the US and abroad.

When in Windsor - March 14, 2020

This blog is a comprehensive guide to visiting Windsor, UK with a focus on Windsor Castle and Windsor Great Park. I lived near Windsor for two years (2013 to 2015) and I returned for a visit in the summer of 2018. This information is based on my knowledge and experience and I try to touch on important basics like parking and visiting for a day trip. I also go into detail about exploring Windsor Great Park, which wasn’t even on my radar when I visited England for the first time, but I wish it had been. These are economical tips and suggestions for travelers that like the great outdoors, nature, gardens, and history.

Thrifty, Fun Shopping at Tiger - March 15, 2020

This blog will overview an economical and quirky shop called Tiger. Tiger stores are all over the UK and they offer travelers some practical and whimsical goods at great prices.

A Note about Cast Courts - March 16, 2020

This blog will briefly overview the controversy and value of cast courts like the one in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Cast courts are collections of plaster cast replicas of art and architectural elements.

Churches

These blog posts are all about ecclesiastical sites, their history, architecture, treasures, and notable burials.

Miscellany Thoughts

These blog posts cover a selection of topics.

A Writer’s Tour of the UK - April 3, 2020

I am thrilled to finally have Part 1 of my UK Story Map complete, though it comes at a strange time to be sharing a travel guide. I want to preface this story map with a few thoughts about what this project means to me and the value I hope it brings to you.