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Create stunning landscapes with Dragon Wing Begonias!

Summer has officially started and we are loving all of the bright and beautiful annuals around our pond! Annuals plants, like their name implies, live only a year, but what a joy they are when they are in bloom. Dragon Wing Begonias are fantastic summer annuals because they mature quickly and will give your garden a nice splash of pink or red color. Dragon Wings fill in fast to form a lush garden bed or border that will last clear up to the first frost and always be full of breathtaking blooms! In the video below, Harris shares some more information about Dragon Wing Begonias and how to use them best. So plant some of these beauties and let us know what you think! Just a tip: Dragon Wings do best in areas of partial shade.

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Harris’ Tour of The Dads’ English Style Garden!

How have your gardens come together this spring? Harris shares with you some of his ideas for easy to care for English style gardens!

For inspiration, use of Hostas adds for gentle borders or a dramatic effect! Coralbells sport airy flower spikes on wiry stems above low-growing, often dramatic foliage. For us, we feel the use of topiaries is especially wonderful in our historic home, as the art of topiary gardens date back to Roman times.

We feel that our gardens are a reflection of us as yours should be of you. Bottom line, design and plant what makes you happy! But now’s the time to get it done so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor all summer!

 

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Peonies forever in our hearts!

For a lifetime of luxurious beauty, plant heirloom peonies in your garden! Give them a sunny spot and they’ll reward you with abundant blooms for a century or more! They are great for cut flowers to add into your home! We enjoy them every spring!

The Dads' Peonies

Peonies are now out of season, but we wanted to share with you how ours bloomed this spring. They are so fragrant, beautiful and romantic! If you would like more tips on growing your own, send us your questions!

 

 

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2 Days to Go!

Here we are, 2 more days to go until Thanksgiving!

Yesterday consisted of house cleaning, fixing antique dining room chairs, dropping off clothes to the homeless shelter, setting up a bookcase for the guests to have a place for their toiletries, running errands, and more. Was any cooking or baking done as hoped? Did we get to the Pumpkin Cheesecake yet? Nope!

Yesterday, Harris was able to pick up our kosher turkey. He also purchased some smoked white fish, lox, herring and bagels for a special breakfast while our guests are here.

Then, we were off to the butcher’s to grab a Prime Rib Roast for our Wednesday night dinner. We were also able to find some Kishka to serve up with Wednesday’s dinner. It’s hard to resist the urge to eat it before!

After all of that, our boy, Jacques, even made it to his groomer, Carissa, so that he is ready to greet our guests properly when they arrive!

Whew!

We had such a full day that we didn’t get to do any of our Thanksgiving cooking, but we’re hot on the trail today! As we write, it’s about 11:00 AM and we already have 2 pie crusts done! Oh, and we made the cornbread for the stuffing. It needs to be baked a couple of days ahead so it dries out a bit, making for much better stuffing!

Below is a photo of the flowers Harris picked up. He will be making our holiday centerpiece with these beauties!

Hope you’re preparations are coming along well!

All the best,
-The Dads: Harris & Dave

Harris' Flowers

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The Heart of Your Table

Centerpiece

Many people get their centerpieces at florists for dinner parties, but we like to make it personal by making it ourselves.

Making a big arrangement evenly spaced and full can be tough. To make it quick and easy, we always use a frog (a piece of glass with a bunch of holes).

Just place the ends of your stem in the holes in the frog. This allows your larger flowers to be evenly disbursed and held in place, while adding your filler flowers.

Check out our most recent arrangement which we used for our fall harvest dinner party!