Finding a space where life and garden intersect.
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What’s New in My Garden at Oldmeadow
Choosing To Be Curious in The Garden
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” asked the poet, Mary Oliver in her 1990 poem “The Summer Day” “Catastrophizing.” Says the Modern, looking up from [...]
The Garden in September
Mid-September and I am home to a very dry late summer garden -- but my attitude towards the brown and the leggy and the slumped plants around me has changed dramatically after three weeks travelling the UK and sharing it with fellow gardeners and tour guests in the last week and a half. Brits have been experiencing their driest summer on record (some parts drier [...]
Opportunity or Erasure? Navigating 20 Years of Hyper-Novelty as a Writer.
This month, I'm honored to be profiled in Horticulture magazine as part of Scott Beuerlein's long running column on people in the horticultural industry. Scott chose to aim his questions at what a garden writer's life looks like, and did a tremendous job pulling out my thoughts on independence in journalism, the digital marketplace, and moving forward into an AI world. After the interview (and [...]
Gardening is Connection.
To the soil. To the wild creatures of our world. To others.
And that’s what this site is all about.
Oldmeadow
My husband, two children and I had been hunting for a rural way of life for years, and the first few weeks at Oldmeadow felt like a vacation. Reality kicked in a few months later when the furniture was moved, boxes were finally unpacked and we started to realize what Jeanne had told us with a grin at the closing table: “Nature wants it back.”
Gardening in the
Mid-Atlantic?
THIS MONTH’S GARDEN
The Garden in March
Spring or Winter? March is of two minds. I understand completely. Although this month marks a significant change in the weather going forward, that change brings with it many tasks for the gardener. Sometimes we feel up to hitting them hard and sometimes we could use a few more weeks of winter to prepare for them. Winter has given us more snow and ice in the Mid-Atlantic than we have [...]
More Conversations in the Garden …
Seed Starting: Plan and Organize Now for a Calm Season Later
For gardeners who grow few plants from seed, or who only grow the seeds that they can [...]
Down with Distraction. At Least The Non-Joyful Kind: A New Year Brings New Choices for Us All.
Yesterday morning – the last of 2024 – I had a phone conversation with Scott Beuerlein, my [...]
The Year (What a Year!) In Review – Well, The UK Garden Adventure Part Anyway
It’s the last day of 2024, and I’ve given myself one job. This post. In two parts. [...]
The Garden in December
December is a resting month in my Mid-Atlantic garden, which is convenient as it is not a [...]
Nine Good Reasons to Let That Plant Go
The frost has come or is soon coming to a garden near you – and yet I [...]
Everyone Needs a Vacation. Even Gardeners.
Many years ago I wrote an article entitled “Beans or Beach?” – bemoaning the difficulty that serious [...]
The Why Winter Garden Challenge. Join Me?
The day before Christmas, I was gathering colorful ‘Arctic Fire’ cornus twigs in the garden, and was [...]
Book Marianne
for Your Next Event
Whether it’s in-person or through the magic of virtual platforms, Marianne has spoken to hundreds of domestic and international audiences.
Her informative, motivational presentations on a wide range of topics both educate and energize gardeners — leaving them with fresh ideas and a fresh perspective to apply to their home gardens.
“Marianne Willburn’s talk was inspirational with practical advice on how to achieve the look you want by honing in on the qualities of what you love about a certain look, and then figuring out how to achieve that vibe while remaining within your budget or smaller space.”
Ruth G. – WNC Gardening Symposium
Flat Rock, NC
BUY BOOKS!
“We need more authors who meet gardeners squarely where they garden. Marianne’s honesty and conversational style don’t undermine her expertise – they enhance it.”
-Melissa A., St. Louis
“This playfully and passionately written book is filled with fresh ideas, not only for enhancing your garden and home with tropical plants, but for helping you adapt your own mindset so you can experience much more enjoyment from this exciting corner of the botanical world.”
―Viveka Neveln, Garden Editor
Better Homes and Gardens
But really, who is she kidding?
This site is about ME.
Mungo’s Journal
Mungo : Diary of a Garden Dog
Some of Us Can Handle Middle Age
So I was reading over Her shoulder the other night by covertly inserting my small, flexible body onto the back of the couch (Bite it, Nessa), and instead of finding 101 Ways to Be a Better Dog Owner, or What Your Jack Russell Wants, or [...]
I’m Still Her Favorite
I bet you’ve been wondering. Nessa being a girl, and Her being a girl and the Girl being a girl and what with the way that kind all sticks together – Hell, I was wondering too. Top. Dog. But glad to say, I’m [...]
Nessa the Usurper
She got home this week. And if it hadn’t been for this 826-pound, six foot, hairy Muppet sucking up all the attention, I might have enjoyed three beautiful She-free weeks with Him. On the bed. In the bed. On Her pillow now that I think [...]
The Why Winter Garden Challenge. Join Me?
The day before Christmas, I was gathering colorful ‘Arctic Fire’ cornus twigs in the garden, and was feeling content about the fact that the surrounding scene wasn’t the winter wasteland [...]
Go Foraged. And Take the Fear Out of Formal Tablescapes.
I'm into table decorating. Always have been. If you give me a table and an hour, and put someone else in charge of stirring the balsamic reduction, I am in [...]
No Way Is There One Way to Garden
There’s more than one way to do everything. In gardening. In life. In planting an apple tree, or peeling apples over the sink. Certainly there are rules that guide us [...]
If it means I don’t have to water, I’m good with the deck falling down.
It’s so dry right now in my little part of Rain Shadow, Virginia that even the blades of Japanese stilt grass are curling. When, last night, my husband decided, mid-sip, [...]
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