Last post?

   It is likely I will have no more posts.  One reason is that no one offered to help me on my last post.  Plus, I receive virtually no responses to my other posts for the last four years.  That leads me to believe almost no one values what I do--all the work I've put into the gardens plus all the time it takes to do the posts.   

Blog expansion and travel book

I need help!  I am writing a travel book, so I appeal to you to give me some assistance.

     As many of my blog followers know, I travel a lot.  I plan to write a book on my favorite places in the world that I visited--50 natural places and 50 man-made places.  These appear on page three (second photo) below, and a map (still unfinished) on page 5 shows where many of them are located.  I might have a company publish the book--or I might publish it myself.  This blog entry is to help me gauge the market for such a book, so I am asking you some questions to help me determine if I have a viable product.  So, please help me determine that.  Incidentally, the title "Nines and Tens" refers to the ranking I give each of these hundred places, all ranking either a nine or ten on a scale of 1-10.  The book will be 10" high by 15" wide, and it will have 296 pages and 830 photos.  There will be a book version and an e-book version, which can be projected onto a TV screen as well as a desktop or laptop computer.  There will also be a webpage that will have up to 2000 additional photos of these hundred places plus many more that "didn't make the cut."  All the photos on this blog and others in the book are copyrighted by me. 

     Finally, the book includes 85 stories of experiences I had in my travels, some of which appear in the pages below.

     Questions:

     1. Would you be willing to pay $60 for the book version?

     2. Would you be willing to pay $30 for the e-book version?

     3. Would you like to see me expand my garden blog to include a travel blog?

     4. Do you have any comments?

  

   Thank you, in advance, for any help you can provide me.  Your comments and contact information will not be disclosed to any person or firm.

 

Texas time (Part 2)

        Here are the rest of the photos of the wildflowers of South Texas I took in April.  Again, I wish I knew the names of the beautiful flowers I saw.  I think the last photo is of bluebells.  If anyone can tell me the names of any of the flowers, I would appreciate contacting me.  

Texas time (Part 1)

Note: The Sievert Gardens will be open to the public from 8-4 on Saturday, July 31st.  The tour is sponsored by The Garden Conservancy.  To register, go to: www.gardenconservancy.org.

     In March I finally did what I wanted to do for a long, long time--see the famous Texas wildflowers of spring.  Quite a delight, it was.  I was primarily within a hundred miles from San Antonio.  The only flower I knew was Bluebonnets.  Now I wish I had along a guidebook to such flowers.

 

The cactus garden

     Note: The Sievert Gardens will be open to the public from 8-4 on Saturday, July 31st in 

Waukesha, Wisconsin.  Pre-registration is necessary through The Garden Conservancy and can be done by:

1.  www.thegardenconservancy.org

2.  Open Days

3.  Schedule

4.  5

5.  Saturday, July 31

6.  Sievert

7.  Register now

     This post is the last post of the tour of the Sievert Garden that began in 2019.  It ends in my cactus garden, which is on the north side of the front lawn.  All the cacti are in containers and are taken in my basement for the winter.

     The rocks came from central Wisconsin.  The skull is of a horse I found while hunting in Montana.

     The last photo shows Mulenbeckia axilarius, or Wire vine, on the left and an Arenaria species on the right.

 

East end of the Japanese Garden

Note: My gardens will be open to the public from 8-4 on Saturday, July 31st.  It is a fundraiser for The Garden Conservancy, and registration is required.  

To register: 

1. Go to: www.gardenconservancy.org

2. Click Open Days

3. Click Schedule

4. Click 5

5. Click Saturday, July 31st

6. Click Sievert

7. Click Register Now

     All these photos were taken on the east end of my Japanese-style garden.  The fence is made of ipe, a very dense wood from Brazil.  It gets oiled with rosewood oil once a year.

 

Yes, Spring is here!

      And it's about time.  This is the view of the south side of my back yard, an area that I largely redeveloped in 2019.  The "tombstone" is carved volcanic rock from near Mexico City.  The stones lining the walk are sandstone quarried for city streets in western Wisconsin in the 1880s. 

     The groundcover is Duchesnea indica, or Mock Strawberry, in the Rose family.  It is very aggressive and will tolerate some shade, but not deep shade.  The yellowish plant is Aralia cordata 'Sun King' or Spikenard.  The fern in the left center is Athyrium filix-femina or Lady Fern "Lady in Red."  The bush on the left is Stephanandra incisa "Crispa."

Note: My gardens will be open to the public on Saturday, July 31st, from 8-4.  The tour is sponsored by The Garden Conservancy, and it is a fundraiser, so the cost is $10.  Tickets must be reserved ahead, so to get one, follow these directions:

1. Go to: www.gardenconservancy.org

2. Click on Open Days

3. Click on Schedule

4. Click on 5

5. Click on Saturday, July 31st

6. Click on Sievert

7. Click on Register Now

 

The "sea"

     Almost all public Japanese gardens, in Japan and elsewhere, have a small area of raked gravel or sand.  Its purpose is to represent waves on a sea, with rocks and vegetation representing islands.  I used pea gravel when I constructed mine some 20 years ago.

 

Spring is here--I think.

Note: I would like to ask a favor of those who visit my blog.  Because I cannot tell how many of my "visits" are real people or "bots" (computer-driven searches), please leave me a comment (such as, "real person," also telling me what country you live in--no name required).  Thank you for your help.

   I must be careful.  On May 10, 1990 I had nine inches of heavy snow, which destroyed many of my trees, as their leaves were fully formed.  Fingers crossed!  I live in SE Wisconsin.  When living in Madison in 1966, the area had a hard frost in low spots--on July 2nd.  That was absurd!

   This area is on the back left side of my backyard.  In 2019 I reduced the size of the lawn by a third, allowing me to build perennial gardens on all sides.  I am still tweaking the plantings.  The main plant shown here, with yellow flowers, is Lamiastrum galebdolon, or Yellow Archangel.  It requires mostly shade to deep shade, and it vigorously spreads by stolons.  It takes diligence to keep it under control.

   The stones are quarried sandstones from the late 1800s that were used in the streets of Milwaukee.  I collected 3000 of them, free of charge (but lots of work and hauling!).