Oh how pretty! You really know how to place your plants according to height!!! They are just perfect.

~Deb

Is that a Brussels Griffon???

fairydancer --- thanks. we put a good deal of planning on positioniong plants according to their height. we made this garden a year ago, and were disappointed that some plants didn't come back. but after doing a bit of reading here (and i listen to a weekend garden program on the wkze radio station), it seems that last winter took a toll on a _lot_ of plants up there. i learned to look on the bright side and be thankful for what did return. when i put it in this perspective, i think our plants did ok.

husky004 --- the breed of our dog is called affenpinscher. he's a small dog (about 10 pounds). he loves to be at our home upstate. in the city, he hates going out in the slightest bit of rain/snow. but when we're upstate -- neither rain, nor snow, nor heat, nor gloom of night can stay this little guy from completion of his appointed rounds... he loves to run around the yard, even in the rain or snow -- i try to point this out to him when he gets stubborn during one of his walks in nyc rain/snow. but he refuses to listen to reason -- ha ha.

Beautiful garden, and adorable dog!

Are any of those plants deer-proof?

sue in nyc: i think some are. honestly when we started the garden, we didn't think much about that. we probably should have, though, because there are a LOT of deer in the fields around our yard. luckily for us, the deer keep our of our yard for some reason. so... i think we've just been lucky (so far). some of the ones that we have are: allium, echinops, lavender, monarda, peonies, poppies, yucca, coreopsis, digitalis, echinacea, artemesia (wormwood), helenium, lamb's ear. this is a quick list that i compiled from looking over the plants listed in the cornell cooperative extension resources (http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/deerdef/index.html) -- i just found this now. it looks like we (by chance) planted quite a few deer-resistant plants. so maybe it's working... also, our dog spends quite a bit of time "marking" our yard. maybe this also repells the deer? it's only speculation, though. and maybe it all just comes down to luck.

also, sue in nyc. i read in another post that you have a place in ticonderoga? i love the adirondacks. when i was a kid, we used to go to a place called indian lake every summer. the summer after i graduated from high school, i worked as a dish-washer at a summer place in blue mountain lake. i have a lot of fond memories of the adirondacks. about a year ago, we spent a week in a cabin on indian lake. we visited a few "great camps" and for a while we toyed with the idea of getting some property and building our own "great camp". we sketched out pages and pages of "blueprints" :-). right now, it wouldn't be practical --- just a bit too far for weekend excursions. and right now we have lots of plans for our house in columbia county. but maybe someday we'll get a place in the adirondacks...

robbieZone5: Where in the Hudson Valley do you live? I grew up in Dutchess County, but relocated to a few communities in upstate NY before I finally bought a house in Wilton (Saratoga County) two years ago. My parents still in Poughkeepsie (also in Dutchess County) so I visit often. I loved the picture of your garden (and your dog is cute, too!) and hope that after all of the work I did last year in rebuilding and planting new beds, I'll have a wonderful surprise this spring and summer when the plants start coming up. I also have a digital camera, but I haven't figured out yet how to download them onto my work computer. Oh, well...maybe some day...LOL

Bye for now.

adkmountaingirl

our house is in columbia county, about 15-20 minutes outside of hudson. hopefully your plants will make out ok. we were a little disappointed when some didn't come back after the first winter. but i've learned that last winter was very harsh. but i guess you don't really know. we just decided to go to our local nurseries, and try out the plants we like. i am, by no means, an expert -- but i think i've learned a lot. never thought of myself as having a green-thumb. never thought about it at all, really, until we started working on our garden. and now i'm hooked. i don't know wilton, but i do know saratoga springs -- nice victorian town.

Ooh, it's so nice to see all that color on a cold, drab January day. I'd forgotten what green looks like! lol

Thanks for sharing your pics.

ROBBIE,

I now live in Ticonderoga. Sue in NYC is the name I've had on here for years, so I haven't changed it. We moved here the end of October, and I love it. Cold, but wonderful.

:)

Yes, it is nice to see the green, but I have to tell you that I keep visiting this post just to see your dog...he cracks me up. I mean out loud. Every time. I LOVE that picture!

misstish64: glad you enjoy it. he gets that reaction from a lot of people -- i'm surprised he hasn't developed some sort of complex (ha ha). when the weather is nice, we sometimes go for our "long walk": over the brooklyn bridge, i put him in his bag, wander around j&r (i also like electronic gadgets), then back across the bridge. he looks so comical, tap-tap-tapping across the bridge. so many people look at him and laugh. he really is quite a character.

sueinnyc: good for you. i hope you can put some pictures up sometime. i really love that area. hopefully we can plan another trip up there sometime soon!

If wandering around J&R is your idea of a good time, we must meet! My husband misses only two things about NYC: Jewish deli and J&R.

I have to start bringing my camera with me on our walks in the woods - we have two huskies, and wouldn't ya know it, they like it here.

That dog is a funny sweetie.

I hope you guys are enjoying winter up there this weekend :)
I also grew up in Poughkeepsie..but..moved south to NYC..
We've got a pretty good storm coming in from the west this weekend. Not too bad down here tho.

we got a good deal of snow down here -- i think. i always like the frist snow storm best. it's funny how much i look into weather now, since we started our garden upstate. i'm sitting here in brooklyn looking at the snow, but my thoughts are on the garden upstate. and from what i understand the snow is good for the plants, right? it acts as a blanket to protect the plants from the chilly winds. is that correct? i hope it is... but i like the snow. wish i were upstate now, sitting by the fire. in a few more weeks, we'll have some free time again to resume our weekend sojourns. keep warm, guys & gals, and enjoy the snow!

It also means that I have to pay 'snowplow-Gene' fifty bucks to do my drive.. :(

robbie, the snow IS good for the plants, with the caveat that we don't get thaw/freeze cycles. If it stays cold and the plants are covered by the snow it acts as an insulator.

it's good to know the snow does some good when it's in the right place -- that is, covering your plants, and not your driveway!

Someone plowed our driveway for us last night!

Man, I so don't miss the city.

:)

Hey Sue?..The city has its good points. As you pointed out, jewish delis,ect. Altho I prefer italian delis' like DePaulos on Grand Street, best in the city.
Then again, my most recent discovery is Vietnamese sandwich shops...There is a great one on second street between A&B called Nickies. They make, for under four dollars, a 'Banh classic', Vietnamese ham pate', pickeled carrots,cucumber,cilantro,jalapeno and mayo on a toasted baquette...! Try getting that in Ticonaroga.. :)
Back on the topic of snow? Check out a book on tracking by a guy named Paul Rezendez. I like to go out in the woods, upstate where I have my weekend place, use a digatal cam and photo animal tracks in the snow. I bring them back in the warm, put them on the compy, and check them against the pics in Mr Rezendez' book. I actually found that I have Mink around my pond! Cool! I'm still looking for the elusive Stegosaurus tracks...oh well, I can dream.. :)
Well, the snow storm is over, the roads getting back to normal, it's late, work tomorrow...I bid you all a good night!

No question that food up here is, well, hot and a lot. That's the best descriptor.

;^)

Bee-yoo-tee-ful shot!

we seldom go out for dinner upstate. we have a real kitchen that actually has surfaces for preparing food -- and we make full use of it. our kitchen in the city is so ridiculously tiny. the quality of food they serve at the restaurants upstate doesn't bother us so much. for new year's eve dinner, we made a fantastic indian dinner, all from scratch. granted, i bought most of the ingredients in jackson heights to bring up with us --- but you don't need to have an east 6th street for indian when you're upstate. we've also made our own pizza. who needs patsy's (grimaldi's)? ok, maybe our pie wasn't _that_ good... but we certainly don't go upstate to eat out -- and we like it that way.

I knew when we moved upstate that food and nightlife would be problematical. But I did nightlife as a kid, when I was supposed to, and can get pretty much anything I want here. The Spanish brand is Mi Casa, and I can't find Sazon Goya, but there is nothing I need for cooking that I can't find. And I'm a good cook, if I do say so myself. And I do. :)

My kitchen here needs serious improvement. As with many huge, old kitchens, things went where they fit, not where they make sense. So when we get and extra 10k (hah!) we'll do some rearranging. For now, we picked up a portable kitchen island with a stainless top that gives me workspace and a semblance of the holy triangle.

And I'm sitting at the bird feeder watching sparrows, goldfinches, mourning doves, black capped chickadees, and a tufted titmouse merrily chowing. I'm about to grab my snowshoes and the dogs and go for a hike around the base of Mount Defiance.

It doesn't get much better than this.

Your Ticondaroga area has been in the news lately for historical reasons. There apparently was a little war waged up there a while ago.
"http://www.militaryheritage.com/7yrswar.htm";
Down by me, there are a lot of 're-enactment' peoples doing the revolutionary war kind-a thang'... Seems to be very popular revenue wise for tourists. The re-enactors dress up, parade around, fire muskets and prepare feasts of baked ground hogs and skunk bottoms(well sorta :).
Hmm?...Think they'll do that in the future with the Iraqi war? With car bombing insurgents, 1400 dead american soldiers, to date, ten times that wounded, not to mention iraqi civilians and oil interests being covered over instead of being the crux of the war?
Sorry...watching the news again............

Beats sh&t outta me, orcutt. I kinda doubt it, though.

Just cross your fingers that my brother comes home okay. He's due back April 5th, and I pray that he stays safe until then.

I hope your brother stays safe too...I've got a nineteen year old nephew doing recon for the marines in the caves of eastern afghanistan. Let's hope they all make it.

Sue, I just had to laugh at your post about someone doing your driveway and not missing the city. I laughed so hard that DH actually took his eyes off of the news to ask me what was so funny. Coming from the Bronx 7 years ago, I hear you 100 percent! My neighbor used his snowblower on our driveway on Sunday, without even us asking, knowing that my husband is disabled. You just made me laugh SO hard. I can't wait for this summer when I go even further north than where I am now. May God bless and safe home to both of your brothers, you and orcuttnyc.

Thanks for the good wishes, Giniene. At least Bob isn't a soldier - he's with USAID, working on rebuilding, in the north.

Glad I gave you a laugh.

Now, git on up here soon, girl!

:)

Sue, I'm trying to get up there! First we were going to have a house built on the property and leave the smaller existing home for my father-in-law. Then we found out that the road that leads up the hill to the property is too narrow to accommodate the trucks that would be bringing up the modular pieces. So now we have to add onto the existing house and put an apartment in the basement. I'm being told MAYBE by July. :(

Well, at least you'll get here in summer. We did it just as winter came.

:)