Before You Garden...

Nasturtium seeds coming out of a seed packet

2025-02-28

4 Easy to Grow Cutting Flowers from Seeds

Grow these four easy cutting flowers from seeds. Sweet peas, nasturtiums, marigolds, and cornflowers are so simple to grow at home from a packet of seeds. They produce plenty of flowers that you can cut for arrangements in your home. All are great for pollinators too.

2025-02-12

5 Plants with Heart-shaped Leaves for Your Garden-Loving Valentine

Jenny Rose Carey, garden author, loves plants with heart-shaped leaves. She selects five plants with the heart-shaped theme to give to your valentine.

2025-01-05

A Quartet of Flower Histories for Winter Reading

Four books about flowers and their histories that are so different. Some are more about illustrations and others are language of flowers, or the historical stories. Read one or all to learn more about the flowers that you grow and love

2024-12-10

Munstead Wood – Gertrude Jekyll’s House and Garden

Munstead Wood – a horticultural and architectural treasure Gertrude Jekyll was an amazing gardener, garden writer, photographer, and garden designer who lived in England from the 1840s to the 1930s. She is a personal garden mentor for me especially for the way that she combined the artistic and practical approaches to gardening. Gertrude’s gardens at…

2024-11-05

Minneapolis Seedswomen of the early 1900’s

Seed catalogs of early seedswomen in Minneapolis in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s

2024-09-30

Upper Midwest Roadtrip: Six States in Six Days Garden Tour

Jenny Rose Carey is an avid garden traveller. In this blog she visits American Gardens in the Upper Midwest, WI, MN, ND, SD, IO, NE

2024-08-25

A Rain Garden for Every Garden

Learn why having a rain garden benefits you, your neighbors and wildlife

2024-08-03

Northview Dry Garden – 20 Years and Growing

Inspiration for starting your own dry garden.

Featured 2024-07-09

Munstead Wood – Gertrude Jekyll’s Garden

Munstead Wood, Godalming, Surrey, England, was the house and garden of the well-known artist, gardener, and writer – Gertrude Jekyll. Join Jenny Rose Carey as she explore the timeless elegance and future possibilities of this amazing place.

2024-06-07

Chelsea Flower Show 2024 – Observations

Jenny Rose Carey visited the Chelsea Flower Show in London England in May 2024. Here are some of her observations of the trends and popular plants that she observed. The Main Show Gardens were as stunning as ever and there was plenty see in the smaller gardens and Great Pavillion.