Columbine never ceases to amaze me, such colorful beauty in SHADE, no less.  The Yelton Manor Gardens have 6 different varieties and I am still lusting after more!!

  The Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast wouldn’t have spring without lots and lots and LOTS of pansies!!!

Mother Nature does the details!

A spring favorite, dazzling in a vase paired with bleeding hearts!

Mini Iris bloom early and today they are open everywhere!  Sweet, only about 6 inches high, very dainty and  detailed.

At Yelton Manor B&B, we are humming the great old tune by The Beatles!

In February, I fell on the ice and broke my shoulder and arm. After a successful surgery and a long 9 weeks of therapy, I am doing very well.  Last week my friends Mike and Marci came “in for the assist” from Indiana and put in 5 long hours of shoveling and spreading compost in the garden with me.

I am so grateful!!!!!

Gardens remind us of the fundamental truth: All things must change.  The burning bushes that separate  the Yelton Manor and The Manor Guest House, gorgeous and beloved for 25 years, now have an incurable disease PLUS are at the end of their lifespan. So they are dying off, one by one, sometimes two by two.  As they fall away, we drop what I have come to call “a couple of BIG ASS ROCKS” on their stumps, then I landscape around them.  The rocks are strong winter bones.  And we like the new look that visually connects the two inns. Plus we can see the span of the garden more fully from our inside vantage points.  It’s all good.  Thank you to the strong, willing and able friends from Huntree Nursery who did the chain saw massacre and the rock drop this morning. 

Robert always hoots out loud when the bill comes from Huntree, as the line item is actually “Big Ass Rocks” on the invoice.  Gotta love it.

I treated Matt and his great team to huge glasses of fresh fruit smoothie after the hard work.  Organic cherries, raspberries, black raspberries, blueberries, banana, pomegranate and a snidge of yogurt for creaminess.  Everyone was happy, the sun was shining and a good day was started perfectly!!!!

Many thanks to all our Yelton Manor B&B team who care deeply about making everything perfect!

Spring isn’t spring at Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast until the compost arrives!!!!  Some women like yellow gold on fingers and wrists, I love the black gold that tops off the perennial border each year!!!  Today we got the first 7 yards, there will be 40 more behind this one.  We fill over 300 pots, then there is 300 X 12 feet of garden to top off. The smell of it is heaven, we love being attached closely with the earth.  Time to put on my sh*t-kickin boots and start in!

Thank you Huntree Nursery for being our steady garden partner for the last 24 years!  Jan and Dave’s son Matt is stepping up bigtime into the business now, he’s the real deal and we love him!!!

COMPOST!!!!!  Aaaaaah, should be a scratch and sniff option here!!!!!

We are so proud to patronize and feature our local farmers who provide Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast with so much luscious, organic food!

Be sure to consider one of the coolest “things to do” this summer, a Farm Dinner at Seedling Farm!

The authors of the cookbook “Outstanding in the Field”, which I scarfed up and used repeatedly all last summer, are at it again in 2012.

Fresh gourmet food with wine pairings, a truly wonderful adventure, at Seedling Farm.