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My Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens William Carlos Williams Here, I must begin with a confession. I did not actually plant the dahlias that we grew at our first home in Austin. Andrew and I moved into this home together in the summer of 2019. It was a cute house with basic landscaping, mostly tiny boxwoods, and I felt that left a lot to be desired. Piquing My Interest My husband likes to joke about my online shopping habits, how I’ll order something and forget about it by the time it arrives. The phenomenon seems to also occur at Costco……
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My Accidental Experiment – Comparing Indoor and Outdoor Zinnia Growth, Week 1
I feel a bit like I’m back in high school, doing a project for biology class. Initially, I had intended to do some succession planting, so I planted some seeds outside on January 16 and saved some to plant two weeks later. Well, Mother Nature heard that and laughed. The only seeds, as far as I can tell, that survived the direct sow are the zinnias. A week later, Andrew and I decided to start the plants inside– which had already been recommended by the seed packets and friends alike. Sometimes, I just insist on learn things the hard way. In this post, I will be comparing the progress of…
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La Vie en Rose
Imagine a backyard of beige concrete, some 1000 square feet, bordered by bone-dry clay soil. A productive Meyer lemon tree shades the right edge of the yard, and the back is covered by a small Japanese elm, a large, a rounded juniper, and a guava tree with fruit I’ve never tasted because the squirrels always beat me to it. In the stretches of soil between these trees, which more closely resembled decades old Play-Doh than any sort of fertile ground, my dad decided to plant a rose garden. We researched what types of roses we wanted, weighing what qualities we valued most – color, how it opens, stem length, and…
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Welcome to Benson’s Best Buds!
Why I Created Benson’s Best Buds Hi, I’m Elizabeth Budenholzer Benson, and I recently started gardening. I live in Central Texas with my husband, Andrew, and our dog, Shepard. Originally, I was posting pictures of my yard and seedlings to my Instagram stories, and I realized that a blog was a better medium for what I was trying to accomplish. So began the concept of this site, Benson’s Best Buds – a play on our last names that conveniently suits the topic of my blog. Here I will chronicle my efforts to grow my dream garden- my musings, the challenges I face, and, hopefully, the fruits of my labor. Because…
blogging about buds & blooms
