Readers, Show Me Your Gardens!!!
Dear Readers, after a year of being forced to look at my flowers, you’re finally getting your turn. That’s right. Welcome to the entry announcement of The Renaissance Garden Guy’s first annual “Readers, Show Me Your Gardens!!!” feature. Check out the details here, and show me your gardens! (I am, however, still going to beset you today with more pics from my garden. Who said life was fair?)
By John G. Stamos
Alright gang, here’s the deal. The first 100 readers to submit three of their favorite garden pics are going to have them published right here on The Renaissance Garden Guy by yours truly. Yep, your favorite flowers will be on display for everyone to see and love. And the best part? I get to see ’em! I admit it – I’m totally stoked. I’ve been wondering about everyone’s flowers and gardens for over a year, and now, I FINALLY get to see them! Stoked, for sure.
Here’s how it’s going down:
- Send me three pictures of your garden(s) and/or your favorite flower(s). (Please don’t send more than three.)
- Email them to me at john@renaissancegardenguy.com
- The photos can be of your garden and/or your favorite flowers/plants/bushes/trees. Photos of indoor, balcony, container, rock, vegetable, fruit, and water gardens are also perfectly fine. Of course, potted plants are great, too.
- Include your first name and the first initial of your last name, (or your nickname or business name) and your city, state/province, and country. (Sorry, but I won’t publish any photos submitted without this info.)
- Please note the following: Your email address will never be shown or published. Your email address will not be saved or added to any mailing list. It will be discarded upon receipt of your submission. If you are a subscriber to The Renaissance Garden Guy, your email address will continue to be maintained in private fashion. Any photos you submit will become property of The Renaissance Garden Guy. They’ll only be used by The Renaissance Garden Guy for the purposes of this one particular feature. You will retain ownership of your original photos. Your submission of these photos and accompanying information as outlined above implies your consent to these terms.
- The first 100 submissions will be published on The Renaissance Garden Guy on July 12th. The whole feature will be dedicated to your flowers and gardens. No writing from me. Just your pics and the basic info you provide as described above, to go along with your shots. I will publish all three of your pics. Again, this feature is limited to the first 100 readers to submit their photos. The entry deadline is June 30th. If I don’t get 100 submissions, I’ll publish what I receive.
- Is 300 hundred pictures a lot? Are you kidding? When it comes to photos of beautiful flowers and gardens, it’s not nearly enough!
- So , be one of the first 100 readers to submit your pics, and see them published here on The Renaissance Garden Guy on July 12th!
For the rest of this particular feature, I’m submitting some shots of my garden from this spring. You can’t say I didn’t warn you. (If you’re interested in a more extensive pictorial tour of my garden, click here to check out this offering from last year.) I’m also throwing a few product recs your way. Stuff I use to keep my garden (and parts of my own body) in good working order.
Here you go.
The images above should give you a pretty good idea of the trajectory of growth and blooming in my garden. With a few exceptions (helleborus, and bellflower, for example), early bloomers have dropped their flowers, and late spring performers are starting to do their thing. Rhododendrons, pieris, and azalea are green as green can be. Hostas, elderberry, hydrangeas, lilies and daylilies are exploding with growth. There’s gonna be one hell of a color party going on out there real soon. And speaking of color…
The photos below show some of the current action in my wild and wooly rose bed. Ten sprawling bushes and a carpet of sedum make this a pretty cool, iconoclastic feature.
So how do I keep all of these guys green and growing, and beautiful and blooming? I use each and every one of the following gardening products on my plants. And I use the last three recommendations on myself. Check ’em out. Feel free to order any of them conveniently right here, directly from Amazon.
My miniature rose bushes are gigantic, and their blooms are almost huge enough to be considered standard sized. This is because I feed them Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Rose Plant Food. This product has got an N-P-K ratio of 18-24-16 and comes in a granular form which is dissolved in water and applied either from a hose feeder or a watering can. Because it’s in liquid form (after mixing the granules with water) when applied to the plant’s roots, it’s assimilated quickly. I feed my minis every two weeks with this product, starting at the beginning of April. They’re fed for the last time at the beginning of September. Click the #advertisement link to Buy this excellent product here, directly from Amazon.
I feed my standard-sized rose bushes Espoma Organic Rose-tone. It’s an organic granular with an N-P-K of 4-3-2 and it contains a whole bunch of beneficial microbe cultures. I feed this to my big guys once a month starting at the beginning of April, with the last feeding coming at the beginning of September. My big roses are monsters, and this stuff is the reason why. Click the #advertisement link to order it here, directly from Amazon.
I feed Espoma Plant-tone organic fertilizer to almost every plant in my garden that’s not a rose or an evergreen (there are a few additional exceptions). Plant-tone is a 5-3-3 granular food which, like Espoma Rose-tone, also contains massively beneficial microbe cultures. My plants rock thanks to this product. Click the #advertisement link and order it here, conveniently and directly from Amazon.
Espoma Organic Holly-tone is an incredible granular fertilizer for evergreens and other acid-loving plants. It’s an organic formulation with an N-P-K of 4-3-4, a multitude of beneficial microbes, and a respectable amount of sulfur (5%) on tap for performing its own bit of soil acidifying. Conveniently order it here, directly from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link.
Ohrstrom’s Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed Plus Iron is a remarkable source of iron for acid loving plants like rhodies, azaleas, and pieris. When used in conjunction with Espoma Holly-tone (and, if necessary, Espoma Soil Acidifier), it literally works miracles. It’s got an N-P-K of 0-0-1 and it contains 2% iron. It’s sourced from Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed harvested from the waters along Norway’s coastline. The beneficial effects of this product are noticeable almost immediately after its application. My rhodies, azalea, and pieris LOVE this product. Click the #advertisement link to learn more, or to order it here, from Amazon.
Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier is the perfect product for lowering the pH and increasing the acidity of your garden’s soil. It’s a fabulous organic product which I’ve used to lower soil pH for plants like my blue hydrangeas and my rhododendrons, azalea, and pieris. It’s very effective and allows acid-loving plants like these to properly access and utilize nutrients from fertilizing products. Order it here, from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link.
Espoma Organic Garden Lime is a great product for raising alkalinity levels in soil. It can be mixed with the bedding soil, or used to top dress soil around plants which are already in the ground. I use this to amend the soil for plants like my hellebores and creeping phlox. Click the #advertisement link to order this product here, from Amazon.
I’ve said it time and again: You’ve gotta take care of your hands. These Gloveworks HD Orange Nitrile Disposable Gloves are my own paws’ salvation. They’re comfortable, versatile, and remarkably durable. I have literally ripped only a few pair. Seriously. And I’ve put them through some pretty brutal paces. I give these gloves five stars out of five. I’ve used other disposable latex and nitrile gloves in the past, and none of them even came close to these Gloveworks HD Orange Nitriles in terms of durability and wearability. And, they’re touchscreen-friendly. Try ’em, you’ll love ’em! Click the #advertisement link to order them here, from Amazon.
Using Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Ultra-Moisturizing Hand Therapy on your hands is sort of like taking them out for dinner and the theater, then cocktails at an Upper East Side jazz club, followed up with a long weekend on the Côte d’Azur. Honestly, this stuff makes your hands feel great. Think of it as a much-deserved reward for all the hard work they do for you in the garden. Click the #advertisement link to learn more, or to buy it here, directly from Amazon.
Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Ultra-Moisturizing Hand Therapy
Click here to learn more or to order
#advertisement
O’Keeffe’s Working Hands Hand Cream is THE go-to for healing up your seriously abused fingers and hands. It’s not fancy. It’s not exotic. It’s not gourmet. It’s not “handcrafted”. It is incredibly effective. It does everything it’s supposed to do – it repairs the badly damaged skin on your overworked hands. O’Keeffe’s guarantees it. This is an incredible product. I absolutely can’t, and won’t, do without it. Order it here, from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this photographic sampling of what’s happening in my garden – it’s literally on the brink of a color explosion. I’ll make sure to feature some pics of the action from early, mid, and late summer. And speaking of pics… Make sure to get your photos and info submitted for The Renaissance Garden Guy’s First Annual “Show Me Your Gardens!!!” feature. The entry deadline is June 30th, and its first come, first served. So get your favorite shots together, and show me your gardens!
Cheers, and Happy Gardening!
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The pictures of your garden are beautiful. I look forward to seeing pictures from the gardens of your readers.
Thank you, Kevin. I appreciate that. And I do, too. I’m really looking forward to seeing all those beautiful gardens and flowers!
You are full of knowledge 🙏
Amazing images, your garden in full bloom must be outstanding 🙏🌸❤️
Thank you so much, Roxxy! I’m so glad you like the garden. I truly appreciate your incredible kindness and interest in my efforts. Once again, thank you!
It is exciting to see the development of your garden. Your hard work is paying off
Thank you, Rick – much appreciated! I’m so glad you appreciate my garden.
Oh boy!! Sending photos soon.
Wonderful! I’m looking forward to seeing which photos you decide to use!