Good Morning,

My very first book Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up, is part of a week long big KINDLE Summer sale from June 16th Through June 24, 2012. For one week it will have a special Kindle price of $2.99. So go snag a copy for you Kindle now and take advantage of the sale!

Garden Witchery will always hold a special place in my heart. It was my very first book and a whole series of Witchery Books was born from it. First we had Garden Witchery... then came Cottage Witchery, Natural Witchery, Book of Witchery and just this year Seasons of Witchery!  Also I should point out the Garden Witch's Herbal is a sequel of sorts to Garden Witchery...
I pulled out a clump of old purple cone flowers from the front gardens yesterday, as they had stopped producing petals and had weird shaped cones... not too sure what happened to them but I replaced them with a fun perennial Black-eyed Susans (Rudebeckia).
 
 This is drought tolerant perennial, makes a nice cut flower, and it can handle the heat and full sun of the front gardens. I actually found a picture of the variety I purchased and here they are. These Black-eyed Susans will grow to be 18-24 inches tall.

I thought these were bright and cheerful- just the thing for summer.     I hope you will enjoy your weekend in the garden, and when you are done working, grab your Kindle- take advantage of the special sale and read or re-read Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up.

There is plenty there to inspire you. With flower folklore, spells and charms, and of course garden plans and ideas for gardens of witchery for sun, shade, faeries or moonlight.

Blessed be, Ellen

Container with accessories

Flowers before planting

Setting the flowers out

Finished Window box

And I promised myself I would plant with abandon, and mix things up. I chose my flowers and ended up with cool colors- which I think "Pops" against the white siding and blue trim of the house. I set them (still in their pots) inside the window box to get a feel for them-- and then I planted away.  
 Here is a picture of one of the boxes all finished and hung on the house. So it was a nice morning's work. Because I was feeling industrious I swept up the patios and tidied up a bit. The  I walked around the yard and took more pictures of the gardens. 

Ellen's perennial garden 4-2012

I hope you will take some time this weekend and get outside and plant something! Even a container on your porch can add magick to your world. 
Blessed be, Ellen

Good Morning,

Garden sign in the lavender

My garden is blooming about a month ahead of schedule, thanks to the very warm and early spring we are experiencing this year. My lilac is finished its bloom cycle and my snowball bush is blooming now and so are my roses. Wow, this is early. About a month early.

Snowball bush April1, 2012

And I have to say, my garden has been a comfort to me in these last few weeks. When the stress and pressure have gotten to me, I head out to the garden.
There is always work to be done. Staking the peonies- I use round tomato cages- works like a charm. Just train the sprouts up inside of those concentric rings.
I ruthlessly pull weeds, lay down more mulch, and since the weather has been so warm I started planting new hanging baskets and containers. Geraniums and petunias can take a little chill. So when the weather swings cooler (and it will) the flowers will be fine.

New container in Ellen's garden

For the past few days I have been sitting outside in the afternoon and evenings with the proof pages for Seasons of Witchery, and have worked my way carefully through them. There are many illustrations in this new book and the artist, Wen Hsu did a phenomenal job. In just two months the book will be out and in your hot little hands. I can hardly wait!

Seasons of Witchery was a fun book to write as I wrote it in real time. The Midsummer chapter was written in- wait for it... June. The Samhain chapter was written during October, and so on.
I wanted this book on the sabbats to be personal and relaxing. Not to just trot out the old Eggs are for Ostara, schtick. This is a book you can read all year long, and it will give you plenty of seasonal spells, garden witchery, witchy arts and crafts, faerie magick, and even some recipes to try out. I am very happy with it.

2012 Faerie Garden in old Birdbath

 Yesterday my coven sister and fellow Llewellyn author, Ember came over, and I had her take a look at a few questions I had marked in the proof pages. While she was visiting my acquisitions editor Elysia called to check in and since Ember was with me, she scared the crap out us both with an April Fools joke. She got us good too.

After that my friend and I blew through my questions in less than an hour, and then of course we headed out to the gardens. Ember and I talked about the next coven get-together, our book projects- she has her second book on crystal magick coming out next year, and of course we discussed our gardens.

Perennial garden April-1-2012

I loaded her up with some 25 pound bags of organic potting soil- courtesy of my husband's job- he gets to bring home samples... and she headed home- with a gleam in her eye and plans for new container gardens. 

Later in the evening my sons Kraig and Kyle came over and we barbequed and relaxed.
All in all it was a great way to start out the month of April. I hope that you spruce up your gardens, plant some containers and spend some time in your gardens this week. They truly are magickal places.
Blessed be, Ellen

PS. Don't forget that my books; Garden Witchery, Garden Witch's Herbal and Herb Magic for Beginners, are filled with magick and practical gardening information, garden plans, container gardening, flower folklore, spells and rituals that you can use. No matter where you live- there is always a way to add some of the garden's enchantment to your life.

Good Morning,
I am getting itchy for spring to arrive, which is why I updated the blog design to a cheerful springy/ vintage  theme. 
That, and birds, nests, babies and kids have been on my mind a lot lately. 

Part of that is due to the fact that I was assigned to write the Ostara ritual and article for the 2013 Sabbat Annual. The ritual I came up with incorporates birds, eggs and tiny bird's nests for symbolic props  in the Vernal Equinox ritual.
It was different and fun to conjure up that new sabbat ritual and those types of images and themes are always very season appropriate .

Perhaps it's the baby quilt that I just finished last night for a coven sister who is due in a couple of weeks... Maybe its the fact that my empty nest here at home- which my husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed for the past year- is about to fill back up as one of our chicks will be moving back home in late March.

Our daughter is moving back home to save up for graduate school. She wants to get a better car and put some money away before she takes the big leap and goes to get her Master's degree. Her father and I both support this decision and she will move the bulk of her items into storage and then move back home with her personal items and so forth. 

She is excited and is raring to go, so I imagine by this fall our nest will be empty again as she is looking at universities that are all out of state. We are happy to help her out while she saves up, gets a better car, and prepares for the next chapter in her life.
The girl is a hard worker, she was an RA in college and also held down a part time job off campus. She's been working full time since she graduated with her Bachelor's degree, and I have no doubt that her goals will be achieved.

This morning when I woke up I heard birds singing outside the windows. My daffodils and hyacinths are getting taller every day, and just yesterday when I was gathering some herbs I noticed my butterfly bush is covered in bright green leaves.
Seems to me that the Goddess of Spring is making an early appearance this year.

I imagine I will be running outside a lot in the next few weeks and covering up my plants with buckets to protect them while the temperatures swing back and forth. The perennials are pushing through the ground and the spring birds have returned. At this point I can only hustle and get ready for the new gardening season and all of the projects that are about to come to fruition.

I will be getting the proof pages for Seasons of Witchery, in a couple of weeks, (It will be released in June), the Witches Tarot deck is in its final stages, and I have started yet another new magickal manuscript. Why? because I had an idea and I wanted to explore it. So far while it has been a lot of work, it has also been fun.
No doubt about it, this spring is going to be busy on many levels.

No matter how you look at it spring is always a busy time. So my friends, brace yourself. Because spring and all of its changes and opportunity for growth- is just around the corner. Enjoy them all.
Blessed be, Ellen

Seasons of Witchery: Celebrating the Sabbats with the Garden Witch

Good Morning,
Tomorrow is my second class in my practical magick series and it is on Green Magick. This classed is based on my book Garden Witch's Herbal: Green Magick, Herbalism & Spirituality. This a topic near and dear to my heart. It is also one of my favorite touring lectures. I am looking forward to Sunday, as this will be the first time I have taught this class here in Missouri. Here is the class description. 

Garden Witch's Herbal by Ellen Dugan

Green Magick and Herbalism-
This class will be held on Sunday, February 26. 
Join award winning author and Master Gardener Ellen Dugan for a lecture on Green Magick & Herbalism. Ellen will discuss the fundamentals of the green path, and the magickal tools of the green trade- which may surprise you. Discover the magick of plants, trees, flowers and herbs that can be easily incorporated into your own style of witchery, in practical and profound ways. This class will inspire, and motivate you to take your magick to the next level. A group green magick ritual will close out the 2 hour class. 
Class Date: Sunday- February 26
Time:  2:00pm
Class fee: $30.00
Place: Wellness Center (Chapel of Love & Light)
1600 Boone's Lick Road
St. Charles, MO. 63301
Ages 18 and up are welcome. 

Snow on dogwood blossoms

Honestly, green magick is a style of magick that works well with any tradition or personal eclectic practice. It is so much more than just gardening and herbs. This is a mind set and it teaches you how to work in harmony with your own flora, fauna, and the seasons. No matter what part of the world you happen to live in. Or what time of year it happens to be. Especially at this time of year when we are hovering between winter and the beginning of spring. Green Magick is indeed all around you.

I always get a kick out of my student's reactions when they discover the truth about green magick. It is extremely gratifying to see them have their ah-ha! moment. For once they make that connection to the natural world, they never look at magick the same way again. They learn to tap into the rhythms of the seasons. To flow with the cycles of nature and to appreciate the magick that is found in the part of the world that they call home. 
Which makes green magick intensely personal and unique for each individual practitioner. For folks who hate the "cookie cutter Wicca stuff", green magick is your answer. Embrace the idea and bring something personal and different into your Craft.

Here in Missouri, spring has been flirting with us and giving us a hint of what is to come for the past few days... I was able to get out and take my walks enjoying the sunshine, and the 60 degree temperatures for a couple of days this week.  Just before the big cold front came through. We have had high winds for the past couple of days, and it is damp and chilly- more like February again. But, I think we are supposed to get some mild warmer weather this coming week! 


While I was out on my walks I saw patches of bright yellow crocus blooming around the neighborhood. It was so cheerful.  Especially against all that brown winter grass. 
I also noticed a lot of buds swelling on trees. I hope they hold off for a while... Winter is not done with us yet. While we are enjoying the classic "February Thaw", we still have about a month to go before spring officially arrives. 

However, the wheel of the year is turning! Celebrate the seasons and their magick, however they manifest in your neck of the woods. Explore green magick, open your heart to nature, and see where it leads you.
Blessed be, 
Ellen