Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento

Return to the Garden

October 1, 2017 by Ogee

“Where will you begin?” she asked. “At the beginning, I guess.” This sign was posted over our shed door. The weeds are indeed laughing. Two hours after the last puppy of Irish’s litter was adopted, in rolled the van with six more! I can’t show them to you due to a promise we made to the kind human who brought them to us. She saw that they were in need and intervened. We won’t give her up as she may […]

Categories: Gardening, Nature Photography, Photography • Tags: Bulbine, Dahlias, Fall Garden, Garden Photography, Gardens Golden Retrievers, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Weeds Laughing

Beckoning Fall’s Glory

September 17, 2017 by Ogee

The Delta Breeze finally blew in off the Bay, bringing an end to the stifling heat and still air while providing welcome relief to the parched garden. The days are still warm, but the cool nights provide a long-awaited respite after the months long scorching summer sun. The ground holds its drink better; the wind breathes life back into exhausted plants. Fall is my favorite season. Here, it is a second spring extending our flowering season from September through Thanksgiving. […]

Categories: Gardening, Nature Photography, Photography • Tags: Asters, blue sage, Dahlia, Delta Breeze Sacramento, Fall aseason, Fall Garden, Flowering Onion, Frog in Rose Petal, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Russian Sage

Late Summer’s Tiny Gems

August 13, 2017 by Ogee

After a blazing hot summer, the garden is in that in-between moment when the summer riot turns tiny and quiet until the fall steps forward in all its glory. You have to look closely in a sea of green for the garden’s little gems. Hummingbird-loving Cuphea ignea. Butterfly favorites Jupiter’s Beard, Lantana, and Butterfly Bush. The purples and pinks of Pentas, Penstemon, Chives, And Cosmos bespeckle the beds – their large drifts long gone. Dainty Veronica tries to stand tall, […]

Categories: Gardening, Nature, Nature Photography, Puppies • Tags: Cuphea ignea, Dahlia, Gardens Golden Retriever, Golden Retriever Puppy, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Jupiter's Beard, Late Summer Garden, Monarch Butterflies, Pentas, Puppy, Rudbeckia

Rescue is Only The Start

April 9, 2017 by Ogee

When we set out to save this Memorial Garden from returning to the earth, we had no idea where the journey would lead. It was a mission of rescue, re-creation, and re-envisioning. Today – it is this. But a garden is a living, breathing thing. It changes over time; plants grow and morph; and once-happy companions need to find new homes. Like our Dahlias – recently relocated – because their once-full-sun setting… has been cloaked in shade. Or this graceful […]

Categories: Dog Rescue, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue • Tags: Climbing Rose, Dahlias, dog rescue, garden redesign, Gardens Golden Retrievers, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Labrador Retriever Rescue

Of Gardens and Rescue Dogs

March 5, 2017 by Ogee

What a garden needs is time, patience, love, nurturing, hope, and room to grow. What a rescue dog needs… time, patience, nurturing, hope, and room to grow. “One of the greatest virtues of gardening is this perpetual renewal of youth and spring, of promise of flower and fruit that can always be read in the open book of the garden, by those with an eye to see, and a mind to understand.” ~ E.A. Bowles The greatest virtues of rescue […]

Categories: Dog Rescue, Gardening, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue • Tags: Animal Rescue, Gardens Golden Retrievers, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Photography, Spring Garden, Tulips

In Its Season

December 4, 2016 by Ogee

I have reclaimed my refrigerator. As any West Coast gardener knows – this is not about household tips. It’s about spring bulb planting. Daffodil bulbs can safely go into the ground in November at the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden. Many even return when left to “over-summer.” But tulips, hyacinths, and others require special treatment. In our warm Valley, there is no such thing as cold storage. So the bulbs are lifted in very late spring and stored in the refrigerator […]

Categories: Gardening, Nature Photography • Tags: Fall Garden, Gardens Golden Retrievers, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Spring bulb planting

Finally Fall

October 16, 2016 by Ogee

The rain came – and with it fall. Finally, fall. Signaled by merry frogs, and colored by asters, sage, and Maria’s festive decorations. We caught the tail end of the horrible storm wrecking havoc in the Pacific Northwest. The best part. Even the poppies are reborn with cooler weather and a fresh drink. I’ve been hard at work on the creation of a new bed: an extension of our entry way gardens to replace a section of weedy grass and […]

Categories: Dog Rescue, Gardening, Nature • Tags: CNM Labrador Retriever, dog rescue, Fall Garden, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Megaesophagus

October Surprise

October 5, 2016 by Ogee

October began with an incredible surprise: rain! Something we have not seen in a very, very long time. And absolutely no one seemed to mind. 🙂

Categories: Nature, Photography • Tags: Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Nature Photography, Tiny Frog in flower

Wind in the Willow

July 24, 2016 by Ogee

The Willow garden bed has always been a magical place. In the heat of summer, light north breezes blow in off the rice fields and into its deep shade, creating an outsize cool and dark refuge in an otherwise blazing landscape. Countless secrets have passed between dog and human on its bench, and a myriad of “going homes” celebrated under its canopy. Over the past few years, its mighty branches spread beyond their natural border, blocking the light and turning […]

Categories: Gardening • Tags: Belladonna Lily, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden Sacramento, Wadsworth Trees, Willow Tree