tracylive.com

Photo by Tracy DiSabato-Aust (c) 2009

Many people who visit this website do so because of my books and lectures.   This website has been a great way to stay in touch with the many wonderful friends I have made through those projects.  I greatly appreciate you reading this site.

One of my real joys is doing garden design work.   If you’d like to learn more about my activities in that area, click on the word DESIGN in the menu at the top of this page.    I’d love to design a garden for you!

Recently, I have become a guest contributor to the VibrantNation.com website.   You can read a brief profile they posted about me by clicking here. VibrantNation.com is an online destination for women 50+, a peer-to-peer information exchange populated by smart and passionate women, who are looking for tips and information, as well as important opinions and attitudes on culture, money, food, style, wellness, travel, gardening, politics, and more—the topics that interest WOMEN WHO KNOW. VibrantNation.com connects women who recognize the strength in each other and share each other’s desire to make the most of life every day.     My thanks to VibrantNation for giving me the opportunity to share my love of gardening with new friends  everywhere! Here is a direct link to my content on the Vibrant Nation site.

Tags: VIbrantNation.com

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Big Blend Radio‘s “Champagne Sunday” radio show on Sunday, March 15.   We talked about my trophy plant picks of resistant pants.These are trophy plants that are resistant to drought, deer, pests, & disease!!  Some of the plants  are:

Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum) which is also coverd in my books ” High Impact” and “Well-Designed”. Tumbleweed Onion (Allium Schubertii) as above,‘Jack Frost’ Siberian Bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’) which is covered  in “High Impact”,Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix),also in “High Impact” , and ‘Henry’s Garnet’ Virginia Sweet Spire (Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet), covered in “High Impact” and “Well-Designed Mixed Garden”.  Thanks again to the ladies at the Big Blend website. (www.bigblendmagazine.com).

If you are a new visitor to TracyLive.com, make sure you sign up for our email updates (see sign up area on the right hand side of the page.)

Tags: 50 High-Impact, Big Blend Magazine, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, Tracy DiSabato-Aust

As plant nerds we all go through different plant fetishes. I’ve been through numerous “species obsessions” including the Geraniums, the lilies, and the Dianthus just to name a few. And currently I’m into Carex in a big way. But I’ve been in love with poppies (both annual and perennial) for about as long as I can remember. I even have a history of “smuggling” poppy seeds into the USA in my “unmentionables”J when returning from a year and a half of work/study abroad 28 years ago. The best germination success of annual species, for the home gardener in colder climates, seems to occur when the seeds are sown directly in February or March when the ground is free of snow. Also to ensure success I’ve learned to order fairly large quantities of seeds—one small packet just doesn’t cut it. I’m talking about getting ¼ lb. or even 1 lb. of seeds when available. I sow seeds of California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Red Corn Poppy or Flanders Poppy (Papaver rhoeas), and Bread or Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) about the gardens in any available space. It is harder to find large quantities of opium poppy so it may require numerous smaller packets for best effect. A great source for seeds of poppies is Wildseed Farms www.wildseedfarms.com. Also remember to allow poppies to go to seed once you’ve got them established in the garden. You can even cut off the mature seed pods and spread them about in the desired location. Good luck with these gorgeous plants.

Tags: California poppy, garden, Opium poppy, Red Corn poppy, Seeds, spring planting, Tracy DiSabato-Aust

Are you staying fit this winter in preparation for all the hard work you’ll face this spring? How’s that 6-pack? And I’m not talking about a six pack of pansies or am I? Now is the time to be strengthening those abs, backs, arms, and legs to avoid aches and pains or worse an injury this spring. Consider working out with me and my triathlon coach Troy Jacobson on the “STRENDURANCE” DVD.  It’s an effective and fun progressive program that can be modified to fit any fitness ability. And the sessions are only 20-30 minutes so they will work into your busy life—no excuses—I even demonstrate proper technique at the beginning of the DVD. Go to www.spinervals.com and look for “Strendurance”. Also extremely useful in this arena is Bunny Guinness and Jacqueline Knox’s new book “Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness”. “Buff” gardeners rule!!!

A special bonus just for readers of tracylive.com: When you go to spinervals.com use coupon code CTA08 for $10.00 off Strendurance now through end of March.

Tags: exercise, Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness, Spinervals, Strendurance, Troy Jacobson

Want to save money in the garden? It is a hot topic right now. Click on the MEDIA tab to read some of the recent articles where I have shared a few ideas.

Over at the Garden Rant blog, they’ve launched their first ever “short fiction” contest….99 words or less.  (now that is really short!).   Click here to visit their site to enter. One of the prizes includes a free copy of “50 High Impact, Low Care Garden Plants”  Enjoy!

Tags: Garden Rant, short fiction contest

One of the great things about writing garden books is the opportunity to meet gardeners from all over the world as I travel to do lectures and book tours.  Although my books have been covered by media outlets in many different places, it is especially nice to pick up my hometown paper and read an article like the one that appeared today in the Columbus Dispatch. If you’d like to read it, here is the link.    My thanks to reporter Tim Feran.

Tags: Columbus Dispatch

Mike is the legendary voice of Chicago gardening and I will be on his radio show (820 on the AM dial)  at 1pm Central (2pm Eastern) Get details at  www.mikenowak.net and even if you’re not in Chicago, check out the WCPT internet stream at  www.chicagoprogressivetalk.com.

If you miss the broadcast, check out Mike’s podcasts by linking here

Tags: Chicago gardening, Mike Nowak

Let’s talk about “habitat gardens”.   There are so many outstanding plants that are not only beautiful and low care but they also attract songbirds, hummingbirds, butterflies, and perhaps even beneficial insects. These are wonderful additions to our backyard habitat gardens. Here are just a few of the ones I’ll talk about with Lisa Smith and Nancy Reid on Garden Gossip, Blend Radio, March 3, 2009 online at www.bigblendmagazine.com . Join us for this fun and informative program.

Photos by Tracy DiSabato-Aust (c) 2009

Giant Coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima) yellow flowers on 6’ stems followed by seedheads that are great for attracting various insects and Golden Finch (photo) ‘Blue Fortune’ anise hyssop (Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’) long lasting blue flowers on this “Trophy” plant act as a butterfly and bee haven!! ‘Gateway’ Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum ‘Gateway’) towering clouds of rose-colored flowers attract butterflies in the summer and then are great food/cover for the Juncos and Tufted Titmouse in winter. (photo) ‘Graham Thomas’ woodbine honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum ‘Graham Thomas’) lovely fragrant pure yellow flowers on this vining plant are hummingbird magnets!! Crocosmia (Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’) gorgeous bright red tubular flowers have hummingbirds and gardeners loving it!!  And here is just one more… Korean Angelica (Angelica gigas) this is a great habitat garden plant because it attracts beneficial parasitic wasps that feed on soft bodied “bad” insects like spider mites & aphids. It also attracts bees.

Tags: birds, butterflies, Habitat gardens, Honeysuckle, hummingbirds, Joe Pye Weed