Featuring creative inspiration from my 1865 Missouri farmhouse. - Part 2

Pile on the pillows

If you, like me, love the smell, texture and look of Sweet Annie, then you can never have enough! Which is why I grow my own. Sweet Annie is easy to grow and can get very tall. I harvest mine when the seeds form, the leaves will appear to be replaced with tiny golden balls. I've cut a huge bunch this morning, it is now all in containers filled with glycerin and water. If you choose to air dry your Sweet Annie, it will eventually fade to a brownish color and will be dry and shatter easily....making a nice mess. By preserving in the glycerin, it retains a green color and a "softness". And best part is, it still smells wonderful! I mix 3 parts of water with 1 part of glycerin in a glass container and immerse the freshly cut stems. Don't overcrowd the stems. In approx. 1 week, I remove the sweet annie and if there is anymore water in the container, I allow the cut ends to dry. Purchasing glycerin can be costly if you are not drying ALOT of sweet annie. However, if you want to give it a whirl, you can purchase a small bottle in Walmart for under $5.00 in the first aid section. Right now, I have many glass containers of sweet annie scattered around my house, preserving away!! October 2013 update: I found this site with info on preserving so check this out as well!!!!!: http://www.gardenguides.com/100493-preserve-sweet-annie.html

Az ősz néha nyirkos, sokszor vizes, sőt, olykor bizony még hűvös is, egyvalamiben mégis verhetetlen....

So much for chronicling my progress. I have actually been busy with creations. Now that life has slowed down and is in hibernation mode fo...

For the 30 days of gratitude group. Day three: I'm grateful for how my children have made the holidays (and every day) so much more fun. I couldn't imagine life without them now.

Welcome Fall with a 'Festival of Pumpkins' in your garden. Every year I design and decorate my garden for the seasons. Please check out my blog post for a tour…