Quince, Of Course {+ Other Garden Developments}

In the last week, our garden has erupted in color as flowering bulbs, shrubs and trees awaken to the spring. I wish we could take credit for each one, but we are the lucky beneficiaries of a previous owner's choices, which include a mature pink magnolia, a star magnolia and two coral quince.

This weekend the quince buds opened and, despite their thorns, invited me to snip some for display around the house.

Our First Experience Planting Bulbs

It's about time I posted an update on our gardening progress! I shared our fall gardening goals back in September and, more recently, posted the new planters at our front door. With the days growing shorter and the temperatures dipping lower, it's come time to start bulb planting--a priority on our gardening goal list.

We planted our bulbs this past weekend. And while it will take months to enjoy the fruits of our labors, I wanted to share the process.

Fall Comes to Our Front Door (Thanks to Terrain)

Let me preface this post by stating that I never win any contest, giveaway or raffle I enter. Ever.

But about two weeks ago I got lucky...no, not like that. I'm talking about winning something.
I got an email from the über-popular Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo announcing that I had won her recent $200 Terrain gift card giveaway! What the what?!?

Needless to say, I was thrilled. Awestruck. Dumbfounded. Excited! My winnings went a long way to bringing fall to our front doorstep and, today, I'll tell you all about it.

Gardening Goals This Autumn

This is a banner day here on Meet Me in Philadelphia. For the first time I am delving into the topic of gardening, a topic that I've never known much about but always appreciated from the sidelines.

This is our first autumn as homeowners and--as any good gardener knows--this season is prime time for garden clean-up and the ideal time to prepare for beautiful results the following spring.

So, let's gab about the fall garden, shall we?