It’s been over a year since I blogged about the Porch Dog and the Porch Frog.  The entire 2013 gardening season went by in a  flash.

Grace, the dog, is no longer physically with us.   She passed away about 10 days after my Porch Dog/Frog post in late summer 2012. As anyone who has ever loved a pet knows, it was very sad and the loss felt profound. Someone once said that dogs come into our lives when they need us most, and they leave us when we need them most. How true that is. I still miss her today.

Pixie Grace Phlox

While the physical presence of Grace the dog disappeared, the spirit of Grace in the garden never left.  A neighbor provided some beautiful Pixie Grace Phlox to forever honor her memory in the garden. A total of six plants were added to the garden in the autumn of 2012 (one to mark each of the years that Grace spent with us during the 2nd half of her life) .

This variety of phlox was beautiful in the late summer of 2013. It bloomed near the anniversary of Grace’s journey to the Rainbow Bridge.  It was such a fitting tribute since the flowers were planted where Grace, the dog, often rested nearby, in a shady spot between the hydrangea and lilies.

Gardening with Grace Continues

Some friends have asked me to share some various gardening experiences as they start to discover their own love of gardening.  Because of this, I’ve decided that there is a need to keep the ‘Gardening with Grace’ blog going and to provide periodic updates about my own gardening experiences in New Hampshire (I am far from being an expert, but am a third generation backyard gardener!). I also am doing this for personal reasons too, so that I can continue to improve my skills and expertise in the area of social media and expand on my own personal brand.

When I came up with the blog’s name it was about not just gardening with my dog, but gardening with the essence of the actual meaning of the word grace.  Stay tuned….even though we’re in the midst of a cold winter, getting sucked up in the early January ‘polar vortex’, I’m still tending to my indoor garden activities and will share those experiences as we look forward to all the 2014 has to offer.