Home & Garden
Living The Country Life
Spring/Summer 2019Whether you live on a small acreage or just dream of it, this magazine collects and celebrates everything you love about the lifestyle. Outdoor entertaining ideas, farm-to-table recipes, inspiring real gardens, and home decor ideas that showcase modern farmhouse style—Living the Country Life delivers inspiration for every aspect of your home and property.
In this issue
editor’s note
The first spring we lived on our farm, a gorgeous peony emerged to surprise me near the corner of the old storm cellar. In more than 30 years, I’ve done absolutely nothing to my stunning hot-pink peony, and it blooms huge and bright every summer. I’m told that peonies can live for more than 70 years, and there’s a chance mine has been blooming since shortly after the house was built 100 years ago. Based on my research, I think the variety is ‘Sparkling Star’, but I’ll bet the folks at Red Twig Farms could tell me for sure. The Ohio peony farm holds a big festival every May, celebrating the arrival of the amazing blooms. You can learn more about the growers and their gorgeous flowers beginning on page…
we’ve got spring fever!
On Location Writer and producer Lacey Howard of Goode Girl Media LLC (center) and photographer Jay Wilde of The Wilde Project (right) headed west to meet blogger Chloe Mackintosh (left) and take photos of her remodeled home. We’re envious of the wide-open spaces at her ranch—and the cozy rooms inside. (Take a look on page 50.) Radio Highlights Tune in to the Living the Country Life radio show to hear about these topics (and more): • Soil for Raised Beds • Choosing a Family Dog • The Living Fence Post • Weeding with Geese • Layering the Landscape for Wildlife Appeal • Pest Control on Fruit Trees • How to Choose a Sweet Corn Variety To find a station that broadcasts the show, visit LivingtheCountryLife.com/RadioShow Enjoy These Stories at LivingtheCountryLife.com Be sure to check out our website if you haven’t already. You’ll find…
life in full bloom
fresh-air fun
Photographers: Blaine Moats (tulip bouquet); Brie Passano (weeding set, bowls, boots, pillows, push garden packets, yard game)…
grow your own bouquet
Create a beautiful bouquet by pairing the best bloomers from your garden with landscape staples, such as hosta leaves and ornamental grasses. Prinzing suggests colorful combos you can grow this season. APRIL Prinzing’s early spring clipping suggestions include hyacinth, fritillaria, Muscari, ranunculus, peony, lilac, Iceland poppy, scilla, bleeding heart, and spirea. MAY Peony, parrot tulip, lily-of-the-valley, allium, foxtail lily, lupine, campanula, foxglove, mock orange, and flowering dogwood offer beautiful options for arrangements. JUNE Add fruit, such as apples, peaches, and berries on the vine, to bouquets with roses, sweet peas, calla lilies, delphinium, astilbe, hosta leaves, or various ornamental grasses. JULY Pluck perennials from the landscape to partner with oriental lilies, clematis, gladiolus, snapdragons, stephanotis, Echinops, Eupatorium, Queen Anne’s lace, and grapevine.…
seeds or six-packs?
START THESE FROM SEED Vegetables such as beans, peas, and pumpkins are among the easiest plants to grow from seed. Flowers such as zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, marigolds, and bachelor’s buttons promise to brighten flowerbeds without much effort. GET A SIX-PACK You may get a better crop of tomatoes, peppers, melons, and other long-season veggies if you start with plants rather than seeds. Coleus, snapdragon, impatiens, and salvia can also be more easily started as plants—or grown from seeds under indoor lights, starting in early spring. Photographers: Jacob Fox (waterproof notebook and notes); Brie Passano (book, bug repeller); Kritsada (gardener)…
