We are supposed to ‘live in the moment,” but that can very hard for a gardener to do as the seasons shift. I am putting the vegetable garden to bed and dividing and cutting back perennials, but I am also thinking about spring. I’m thinking about how long and dark the winter can seem and how hungry for color I get by the time March draws to a close. If you are hungry for early spring color you…
Governor Deval Patrick visited the Heath Elementary School today. He met the staff and students for a brief All School Meeting before he went to the gym to meet with various officials and townspeople. School Superintendent Buonicanti gave a short civics lesson and asked the students if they knew who Deval Patrick was. One boy instantly piped up, "He's going to be elected next week!" The Governor said he certainly hoped so. A sixth grader wanted to know…
I planted this redvein Enkianthus because the description promised pendulous clusters of bell shaped yellowish flowers. I imagined a graceful plant with graceful flowers, but this is what mine looks like at this time of year. It is so upright - as it was described - that it is almost corseted, it is so rigid looking. I am disappointed in the shape of the shrub which can reach up to 12 feet, but it is growing slowly. The…
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Late June is rose season, but a few roses refuse to give up. 'The Fairy' is a familiar stalwart from June through October. That is five months of bloom high on our windy hill. Pink Grootendorst, an old rugosa, is almost as dependable. This bush has several little sprays of blossom. I love the frilly, pinked edged flowers. The new family of Knockout roses are proving to be equally hardy and determined. Notice the two buds at the…
Saturday afternoon was perfect for a golden drive to the new Bullitt Reservation for its grand opening. This is the newest project of the Trustees of Reservations, preserving 262 acres of meadow and woodland, and retrofitting the old caretakers cottage to meet Gold Leed standards. This building will soon be finished and will serve as the new offices of the Hilltown Communities Initiative and the Hilltown Land Trust. The soon-to-be office building is super insulated, and yet breathable,…
When I was a child being driven from New York City to my uncle’s dairy farm in Charlotte, Vermont, I was sure I knew the minute we crossed the state line because I could smell the scent of manure in the air. For me, Vermont meant a perfumed cow barn and manured fields; I could think of no lovelier fragrance. I still feel that way. Gene Logsdon, farmer, anthropologist, cultural critic and author of Holy Shit: Managing Manure…
I'm not sure if this really counts as the First Snowfall for Garden Bloggers, but snow surely did fall out of the sky last night. Yesterday around noon - all of a sudden - the sky turned black and the wind whipped up the leaves to such an extent that I could hardly see across the drive. Then slush fell out of the sky for five minutes. The weatherman called it hail, but it didn't do the kind…
Driving around town I spotted a group of shrubs with brilliant red berries growing by the road. In the warm autumnal sun the berries were really beautiful. The shrubs are about five feet tall. Could these be Ilex verticillata, winterberry? Another view. What do you think?
Thick frost on the ground this morning at 7:30. And yet, The cosmos still blooms exuberantly, but the morning glory may have seen its last morning.