Qu'est-ce que j'ai fait this summer?? Ben,, I went to Montréal to take part in the première of the 2nd documentary about me, "Au Pied du Mur" !! Quelle aventure!! Exciting time! And then we went climbing in Les Laurentides, north of Montréal! And made new friends. Life doesn't get much better than that! :-)
Bienvenue a l'automne! I live in upstate New York where we have four seasons. The typical hydrangea for some reason doesn't flourish here; however, there is a variant that is white and seems to last from August into September. I love iris that bloom early spring, but unfortunately don't last long. Tiger lilies are nice and bloom mid summer.
You asked for feedback on what to write. I like to hear about your experiences and French culture. Love the way you intersperse French phrases in your messages. Actually, I like the substack just the way it is. Bonne Continuation! Debbie
Merci ! You too! Oh tiger lilies might be really nice. We do have spring Irises and they are gorgeous. Thanks also for your feedback on the newsletter itself. It really means a lot to hear from you. If you ever think of any subjects you'd like me to talk about, let me know 💐
As I was practicing piano, I (for some reason) was thinking about the donuts that are made at our Cider Mill. I believe the equivalent in France or at least the closest to our donuts are beignets. (yummy) At the Cider Mill we can watch them making the donuts with their machine from start to finish.
Maybe I missed it, but… France, while not being a very big country, has many gardening regions (zones) where certain plants & flowers thrive and others fail, and many limp along for years. In order to have a fab garden, you need to know your zone and the plants that do particularly well there. The Grande Surface (big box) nurseries will be of no use in that regard. But your neighbors’ thriving garden might. Also, soil needs tending & renewing. Not just the hole you’re planting in, but the entire bed surrounding it. New dirt, loads of compost, plant food… blisters & a sore back! lol.
Re: the worms. My DIL just was telling me about a global invasion of “Asian jumping worms” that cause massive soil degradation. (!!!) which kills plants. Maybe that’s what got your boxwoods!
Coucou ma belle ! Thank you so much for this amazing advice--I appreciate it so much and I am going to read it out loud to my French hubs who is shall we say less ceremonious with the replanting 🤭 And yes, I did get some tips from our neighbor and he's going to help us dig up all the old buis end of September so we can do the big replant in Oct before it gets cold. Thanks for the worm link too--just what we don't need. Worms that jump. Bon week-end et bisous 😘
Coucou - Beautiful garden and I wish I could help with it! As for what I’d love to see in your newsletter, favorite activities/ food products in France, how to advance learning French, and def all about the publishing process and any writer’s groups in Paris. 💕
Awww, merci ! I love l'art de la table and I could play around with flowers and tablecloths and plates for hours. I really appreciate that you took the time to write me. It's that spirit of connection that means everything, now more than ever. Bon dimanche (happy Sunday) from the French countryside 💐
Hello Karen. Have a peek at Substack The Gardening Mind. On Sunday they do “show us your plots”. Lots of advisors there.
London has strange weather this year and I suspect Paris suffered too? Fontanay-aux-roses is a Paris suburb I know well so there is a hint right there in its name as to what to grow. Your box probably got box blight and was then attacked by the pernicious box caterpillar. Mist of England has lost its box hedges to these. Try Pittisporum in its place. I grow geraniums (pelargonium) of all kinds and they seem to tolerate heat. Most plants are at the seed stage by late August so collect hollyhock cornflower and poppy seeds from kind neighbours and scatter them in September into roughly scraped soil for next year. Plant bare root roses in February so for now research the nurseries to buy them from. A toughie is Rosa Gallica a joy is Albertine. There are loads of fabulous French old rose varieties, I grow Japanese anemones like the mauve Honoré Joubert as they flower now and through September. Maple trees that are small with delicate leaves go lovely colours in autumn. Dalias give flowers with lovely colours at this time of year. Lots to think about. There is an internationally famous garden festival at Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire. See domaine-chaumont.fr
Chère Liz, thank you so very much for all this amazing advice. I plan to study all this and implement accordingly. First stop: The Gardening Mind!
I truly appreciate your thoughtful ideas and thanks to you I must now revise my “worm” slandering bc I asked my husband and he confirmed it was caterpillars 🐛😱 They were green come to think of it.
As to the weather here, this summer has indeed been odd, mostly just rolling intolerable heatwaves followed by torrential rains
We do have a very pretty Japanese maple who seems to be enjoying life à la campagne! I’m going to look into the anemones and I love dahlias as well. Someone else suggested I find out what zone we’re in so will do that, too.
I never thought I’d be a gardener 🪴but I’m hooked
Your garden is beautiful Karen! Thank you for sharing a snippet of your end of summer with us. I'm more of an Autumn girl myself too. Looking forward to seeing what's in store this autumn!
I will sadly admit my summer was a bit of a disappointment, however, I have high hopes for this fall. And I believe that Tarte aux Pommes recipe would be a perfect way to kick off autumn as orchard and cider mill season will soon be upon us! Merci!
Cet été, buah. Lost 3 kilos to a pernicious stomach virus in early July, but found them again during two weeks in the US in August. That was the “Unconditional Love and Acceptance Tour” with my depressed and demotivated 18yo son: family, art, swimming in bays and lakes and the Atlantic, friends old and new, horses, road tripping, more family. Did us both a world of good. Gardening: I second the writer who suggested old roses, which are scented and hardy. Also in my Swiss garden: tiger lilies, and malva, of which there are many sorts and colors (including the hollyhock, as I just learned!).
Oh wow. Is it bad to say that while I feel for you on some of these summer elements, your comment in all its descriptive glory is a gem?!
First off, don't get me started on kilos lost and found, or viruses for that matter 🤢
Next, I adore the Unconditional Love and Acceptance Tour, and I hope your son is now feeling much better.
Thank you kindly for the gardening advice--I hadn't heard of "malva" so will check it out. We're taking the next two weeks to get our plan together (my husband made a Powerpoint and a satellite map of the target spots ha!) and then we'll get ready to implement! That's what it's like living with an engineer 😆
I'm wishing you a wonderful new season and thank you again for sharing this poetic and inspiring realness. Sending love from France 💕
Cet été nous avons visiter Bretagne pour sept semaines, pour les randonées, et le cidre, bien sûr. Mais parce-que j'habite dans Portugal et j'apprends Portugais, j'ai oublier beaucoup de Français! Je manquerai les baguettes avec beurre Breton, mais j'aime plus le café de Portugal. Por le jardin, est-ce qu'il ya un association comme les "Master Gardeners" en France? Je pense que vous avez besoin d'infos locaux. (Excusez-moi les erreurs, je n'utilise pas Deepl, Google Translate, etc.)
This summer was mainly about family, with a trip up to Paris to meet our grandson in June, and three weeks of our daughters, son-in-law, and grandson here in late July through mid August. Time flew with all of that going on, and I just took one other trip -- the first post about it will be going up this weekend!
We took all of August off but next year I would like to make that 6 weeks starting on July 14th. C'est raisonnable, n'est-ce pas?
Sounds wonderful, except I agree--you need 6 weeks au minimum -- c'est tout à fait raisonnable selon moi ! By the way, I only met my French husband because I was planning a 4-week trip to Paris in 2021 and a girlfriend in New York convinced me to expand that to 6 weeks to really have time to settle in.
And wouldn't you know it--I met Monsieur B at the beginning of week 5 🥰
Look forward to reading about your latest travels!
I'm thrilled to be featured in your beautiful newsletter! And icing on the cake is now I will think of you each time I think of summer romances....not the four cadavers part =)
hahaha this Note just made my whole week thanks to you! And yes, we are now forever linked by a much-needed summer love reality check, and absolutely NOT by dead folks in the river near Paris 😂 💕
Ah-hah, no we did not see any worms, so maybe it was something different. We had a shrub, 'un gênet', that ended up loosing half and then all it's leaves. When we finally decided to take it out, we discovered that the roots were gone! Something ate them as far as we can figure... A new gênet planted next to the spot seems to be doing alright.
Do lilacs grow in France? There were many lilac bushes in the Midwest neighborhood I grew up in. They do need sun, summer rain, and winter cold, which is why I cannot grow them in California, so maybe they will work for you. So fragrant in the spring! Or maybe roses? In particular, old rose varieties tend to be quite well perfumed. I like to plant mine in multiples, to get a solid block or color and fragrance.
I do love summer as we can spend lazy afternoons reading in le jardin, but fall is my favorite season. Here in Northern CA sweaters are not strictly needed until November (maybe) but any day with a high temp below 70 is an excuse for me to put one on!
Hello!! Thank you for this—we actually have a small lilac but it only ever blooms in spring but I agree they’re one of my absolute favorites!! And we do have pretty roses, but only in our front garden and nowhere to let them climb in the back. Northen CA sounds so good and I agree, I’m already wearing a fall raincoat even though it’s still over 79 hee hee ❣️
After I left my comment I thought about your mention that the garden belonged to your mother-in-law, who you never got to meet. I came back to add that I’m sorry about that; I learned to garden from my mother-in-law and that hand-me-down knowledge is invaluable. Maybe you can meet a French gardening friend who will pass down their wisdom to you?
In any case, as you work in your garden I hope you can feel a sense of connection to the woman who once tended it.
Oh thank you so much, this is such a kind comment. Yes, in the apartment complexes where I grew up in Ohio, there wasn't a whole lotta jardinage happening, nor in NYC where I lived for so many years.
Now I do have my sister-in-law, but she lives in Germany so I can't talk to her everyday about my plant questions. But I do mine her expertise whenever I can.
Also my husband is great about trying things and helping me find out things. He's adorably working in the garden right now as a matter of fact!
And yes, I do feel that connection to her. She was a very talented designer and DIY-er and a great gourmet as well. When she planted this garden there was NOTHING but a big rock. I wish she could see how high the roses have climbed and how big the trees are now. 🌳🌸🙏🏼🌸🌳
I'm delighted that our neighbor is going to help us this fall--I'm gonna pump him for info but I also like his attitude which is pretty chill!! I just don't want to miss a deadline 🤷♀️ 😂
Qu'est-ce que j'ai fait this summer?? Ben,, I went to Montréal to take part in the première of the 2nd documentary about me, "Au Pied du Mur" !! Quelle aventure!! Exciting time! And then we went climbing in Les Laurentides, north of Montréal! And made new friends. Life doesn't get much better than that! :-)
Félicitations pour le film, c’est vraiment super ! Et je suis d’accord—c’est une belle vie 😊
Bienvenue a l'automne! I live in upstate New York where we have four seasons. The typical hydrangea for some reason doesn't flourish here; however, there is a variant that is white and seems to last from August into September. I love iris that bloom early spring, but unfortunately don't last long. Tiger lilies are nice and bloom mid summer.
You asked for feedback on what to write. I like to hear about your experiences and French culture. Love the way you intersperse French phrases in your messages. Actually, I like the substack just the way it is. Bonne Continuation! Debbie
Merci ! You too! Oh tiger lilies might be really nice. We do have spring Irises and they are gorgeous. Thanks also for your feedback on the newsletter itself. It really means a lot to hear from you. If you ever think of any subjects you'd like me to talk about, let me know 💐
As I was practicing piano, I (for some reason) was thinking about the donuts that are made at our Cider Mill. I believe the equivalent in France or at least the closest to our donuts are beignets. (yummy) At the Cider Mill we can watch them making the donuts with their machine from start to finish.
Cider donuts!! I have yet to see them in France but maybe en Normandie ? Dee-lish and so autumnal 🍂💕
Salut copine!
Maybe I missed it, but… France, while not being a very big country, has many gardening regions (zones) where certain plants & flowers thrive and others fail, and many limp along for years. In order to have a fab garden, you need to know your zone and the plants that do particularly well there. The Grande Surface (big box) nurseries will be of no use in that regard. But your neighbors’ thriving garden might. Also, soil needs tending & renewing. Not just the hole you’re planting in, but the entire bed surrounding it. New dirt, loads of compost, plant food… blisters & a sore back! lol.
Re: the worms. My DIL just was telling me about a global invasion of “Asian jumping worms” that cause massive soil degradation. (!!!) which kills plants. Maybe that’s what got your boxwoods!
Read about them here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Asian+jumping+worms&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
Wishing you beaucoup de courage et bonne chance!
Marie
Coucou ma belle ! Thank you so much for this amazing advice--I appreciate it so much and I am going to read it out loud to my French hubs who is shall we say less ceremonious with the replanting 🤭 And yes, I did get some tips from our neighbor and he's going to help us dig up all the old buis end of September so we can do the big replant in Oct before it gets cold. Thanks for the worm link too--just what we don't need. Worms that jump. Bon week-end et bisous 😘
Coucou - Beautiful garden and I wish I could help with it! As for what I’d love to see in your newsletter, favorite activities/ food products in France, how to advance learning French, and def all about the publishing process and any writer’s groups in Paris. 💕
Coucou Sam 😊 ! Thanks so much for this feedback. I love talking about all the things you mentioned so will work on it :-)
Bonne continuation 💐
I’m not a gardener but I wanted to say how gorgeous yours is! I especially liked the table setting in the garden.
Awww, merci ! I love l'art de la table and I could play around with flowers and tablecloths and plates for hours. I really appreciate that you took the time to write me. It's that spirit of connection that means everything, now more than ever. Bon dimanche (happy Sunday) from the French countryside 💐
Hello Karen. Have a peek at Substack The Gardening Mind. On Sunday they do “show us your plots”. Lots of advisors there.
London has strange weather this year and I suspect Paris suffered too? Fontanay-aux-roses is a Paris suburb I know well so there is a hint right there in its name as to what to grow. Your box probably got box blight and was then attacked by the pernicious box caterpillar. Mist of England has lost its box hedges to these. Try Pittisporum in its place. I grow geraniums (pelargonium) of all kinds and they seem to tolerate heat. Most plants are at the seed stage by late August so collect hollyhock cornflower and poppy seeds from kind neighbours and scatter them in September into roughly scraped soil for next year. Plant bare root roses in February so for now research the nurseries to buy them from. A toughie is Rosa Gallica a joy is Albertine. There are loads of fabulous French old rose varieties, I grow Japanese anemones like the mauve Honoré Joubert as they flower now and through September. Maple trees that are small with delicate leaves go lovely colours in autumn. Dalias give flowers with lovely colours at this time of year. Lots to think about. There is an internationally famous garden festival at Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire. See domaine-chaumont.fr
Good luck Bonne chance
Till we meet again on S a la prochaine.
OK everyone, 🌸 Liz 🌺wins the garden comments!!
Chère Liz, thank you so very much for all this amazing advice. I plan to study all this and implement accordingly. First stop: The Gardening Mind!
I truly appreciate your thoughtful ideas and thanks to you I must now revise my “worm” slandering bc I asked my husband and he confirmed it was caterpillars 🐛😱 They were green come to think of it.
As to the weather here, this summer has indeed been odd, mostly just rolling intolerable heatwaves followed by torrential rains
We do have a very pretty Japanese maple who seems to be enjoying life à la campagne! I’m going to look into the anemones and I love dahlias as well. Someone else suggested I find out what zone we’re in so will do that, too.
I never thought I’d be a gardener 🪴but I’m hooked
Encore merci et à très bientôt 😘
Your garden is beautiful Karen! Thank you for sharing a snippet of your end of summer with us. I'm more of an Autumn girl myself too. Looking forward to seeing what's in store this autumn!
C’est gentil, merci ❣️Yesterday it was a bit “frais” so I wore a long dress with a jean jacket and it was heavenly 😂
Yay to les filles d’automne 🍁et Vivement Septembre !!
I will sadly admit my summer was a bit of a disappointment, however, I have high hopes for this fall. And I believe that Tarte aux Pommes recipe would be a perfect way to kick off autumn as orchard and cider mill season will soon be upon us! Merci!
Although I’m sorry to hear that, I completely relate and share both sentiments 😊
Sending 💕💕💕
I’ll post the tarte recipe today and send you the link.
And you know what? Sweaters ready—we’re going to own fall this year❣️😘
Cet été, buah. Lost 3 kilos to a pernicious stomach virus in early July, but found them again during two weeks in the US in August. That was the “Unconditional Love and Acceptance Tour” with my depressed and demotivated 18yo son: family, art, swimming in bays and lakes and the Atlantic, friends old and new, horses, road tripping, more family. Did us both a world of good. Gardening: I second the writer who suggested old roses, which are scented and hardy. Also in my Swiss garden: tiger lilies, and malva, of which there are many sorts and colors (including the hollyhock, as I just learned!).
Oh wow. Is it bad to say that while I feel for you on some of these summer elements, your comment in all its descriptive glory is a gem?!
First off, don't get me started on kilos lost and found, or viruses for that matter 🤢
Next, I adore the Unconditional Love and Acceptance Tour, and I hope your son is now feeling much better.
Thank you kindly for the gardening advice--I hadn't heard of "malva" so will check it out. We're taking the next two weeks to get our plan together (my husband made a Powerpoint and a satellite map of the target spots ha!) and then we'll get ready to implement! That's what it's like living with an engineer 😆
I'm wishing you a wonderful new season and thank you again for sharing this poetic and inspiring realness. Sending love from France 💕
Cet été nous avons visiter Bretagne pour sept semaines, pour les randonées, et le cidre, bien sûr. Mais parce-que j'habite dans Portugal et j'apprends Portugais, j'ai oublier beaucoup de Français! Je manquerai les baguettes avec beurre Breton, mais j'aime plus le café de Portugal. Por le jardin, est-ce qu'il ya un association comme les "Master Gardeners" en France? Je pense que vous avez besoin d'infos locaux. (Excusez-moi les erreurs, je n'utilise pas Deepl, Google Translate, etc.)
Merci beaucoup pour ce commentaire gentil ❣️ et c’est en français en plus 😊
Waouh ! 7 semaines en Bretagne. Vous avez de la chance
Oui je dois me renseigner un peu plus en tant que jardinière débutante—merci pour l’idée de chercher une association
Moi j’adore le Portugal. On y était cet été et j’ai bu un Porto Tonico et on a bien mangé partout 🌞
This summer was mainly about family, with a trip up to Paris to meet our grandson in June, and three weeks of our daughters, son-in-law, and grandson here in late July through mid August. Time flew with all of that going on, and I just took one other trip -- the first post about it will be going up this weekend!
We took all of August off but next year I would like to make that 6 weeks starting on July 14th. C'est raisonnable, n'est-ce pas?
Sounds wonderful, except I agree--you need 6 weeks au minimum -- c'est tout à fait raisonnable selon moi ! By the way, I only met my French husband because I was planning a 4-week trip to Paris in 2021 and a girlfriend in New York convinced me to expand that to 6 weeks to really have time to settle in.
And wouldn't you know it--I met Monsieur B at the beginning of week 5 🥰
Look forward to reading about your latest travels!
I'm thrilled to be featured in your beautiful newsletter! And icing on the cake is now I will think of you each time I think of summer romances....not the four cadavers part =)
hahaha this Note just made my whole week thanks to you! And yes, we are now forever linked by a much-needed summer love reality check, and absolutely NOT by dead folks in the river near Paris 😂 💕
I can’t wait for sweater weather as well! 🍁🍂🍁
Yuupiiii ❣️
Jumping worms - maybe that's what killed two of our bushes - one end of last fall and one this summer...
I'd love your tart recipe!
I will post it and send you a link 💕and yes, as to the worms, were they green ? Ours were and they appeared everywhere overnight—YUCK
Thanks in advance for the link 🙂
Ah-hah, no we did not see any worms, so maybe it was something different. We had a shrub, 'un gênet', that ended up loosing half and then all it's leaves. When we finally decided to take it out, we discovered that the roots were gone! Something ate them as far as we can figure... A new gênet planted next to the spot seems to be doing alright.
The Cider Mill also makes cider (obviously). Here is a link to the site.
https://cidermillendicott.com/
Merci ! I will check it out—cheers 💕
Do lilacs grow in France? There were many lilac bushes in the Midwest neighborhood I grew up in. They do need sun, summer rain, and winter cold, which is why I cannot grow them in California, so maybe they will work for you. So fragrant in the spring! Or maybe roses? In particular, old rose varieties tend to be quite well perfumed. I like to plant mine in multiples, to get a solid block or color and fragrance.
I do love summer as we can spend lazy afternoons reading in le jardin, but fall is my favorite season. Here in Northern CA sweaters are not strictly needed until November (maybe) but any day with a high temp below 70 is an excuse for me to put one on!
Hello!! Thank you for this—we actually have a small lilac but it only ever blooms in spring but I agree they’re one of my absolute favorites!! And we do have pretty roses, but only in our front garden and nowhere to let them climb in the back. Northen CA sounds so good and I agree, I’m already wearing a fall raincoat even though it’s still over 79 hee hee ❣️
After I left my comment I thought about your mention that the garden belonged to your mother-in-law, who you never got to meet. I came back to add that I’m sorry about that; I learned to garden from my mother-in-law and that hand-me-down knowledge is invaluable. Maybe you can meet a French gardening friend who will pass down their wisdom to you?
In any case, as you work in your garden I hope you can feel a sense of connection to the woman who once tended it.
Oh thank you so much, this is such a kind comment. Yes, in the apartment complexes where I grew up in Ohio, there wasn't a whole lotta jardinage happening, nor in NYC where I lived for so many years.
Now I do have my sister-in-law, but she lives in Germany so I can't talk to her everyday about my plant questions. But I do mine her expertise whenever I can.
Also my husband is great about trying things and helping me find out things. He's adorably working in the garden right now as a matter of fact!
And yes, I do feel that connection to her. She was a very talented designer and DIY-er and a great gourmet as well. When she planted this garden there was NOTHING but a big rock. I wish she could see how high the roses have climbed and how big the trees are now. 🌳🌸🙏🏼🌸🌳
I'm delighted that our neighbor is going to help us this fall--I'm gonna pump him for info but I also like his attitude which is pretty chill!! I just don't want to miss a deadline 🤷♀️ 😂