Can roses, Knock Out Roses kill butterflies? That is the question asked by a reader in Colrain. Knock Outs are a fairly new hybrid family of roses bred to be disease and insect resistant. I had never heard that Knock-Outs had this potential for killing butterflies so I set out to do some research. I was quickly reminded that butterflies are not much interested in roses of any sort because they supply nothing they need, not a site…
The Annual Rose Viewing was a success! The weather was perfect. The roses were in uproarious bloom. The guests were entranced. I got to speak to many of the guests, and then they got to wander down the Rose Walk by themselves. All the roses are labelled. The air was filled with fragrance. Adrienne, an old friend, took this great photo. I think Rachel was possibly the biggest attraction this year, blooming at the top of the Rose…
The rugosa rose may strike many New Englanders as the quintessential American rose, hardy and trouble free, but this rose is a native of Asia. Long before it made its way halfway around the world it grew and bloomed on the coasts of northeastern China and Japan. It had to make its way to Europe first, and did not arrive in the United States until the mid-1800s when it was imported for the nutritional value of the hips.…
The Annual Rose Viewing is almost upon us. The roses have held up in the heat pretty well. So have the weeds, unfortunately. But the roses don't care and neither do I. From 1-4 pm we will be enjoying rosy visions and the Heath zephyrs carrying their perfume. Cookies and lemonade in the Cottage Ornee to restore the tissues. Come up Route 2 to Charlemont, take 8A north to Rowe Road where you will see a ROSES sign,…
The preschool kids from Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School came to the Bridge of Flowers yesterday morning to drop off the 21 dahlia tubers they planted and have been tending for the past weeks. Head Gardener Carol DeLorenzo and I greeted them and thanked them for their patient work in caring for the 'China Doll' dahlias that will bloom in all the shades of the sunset later in the season. Everyone loves dahlia season. After several days of excitement in…
End of the Road Farm is now officially Zone 5b, with winter temperatures down to -15 degrees. I think that is pretty accurate. When we first moved here I put us in Zone 4b, with temperatures down to -25 degrees. Thirty years ago we would have those bitter temperatures for days at a time, not just a day or two. Even allowing that winters are generally milder, we had a very early spring, after a mild winter. The…
Weeds or wildflowers? What do you think? For more wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
The hardy rugosas are so cheering, blooming early and beautifully as they do. Belle Poitvine suffered a lot of winter damage as did several of the other rugosas. I don't think it was simply the weather which was very mild, but the age of the shrub. Like any living creature a rugosa has a life span, but it also has babies. More on that later. Like Belle Poitvine, Blanc Double de Coubert, is only about two feet tall…
As we slip into June I also slip into high gear preparing for the Annual Rose Viewing at the End of the Road which is always held the last Sunday in June, this year June 24 from 1- 4 pm. Roses, with cookies and lemonade in the Cottage Ornee. It looks like a good year for the roses, but even when the winter has taken a toll, I love welcoming people to the garden because sharing the garden…
Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) was a painter who gained great fame. He lived in the time when French artists were inventing Impressionism, but his own work is representative. American-born James Abbott McNeill Whistler introduced him to England where his still lifes became very popular. He spent many summers in Normandy with his wife, Victoria Dubourg who was also an artist. They tended a garden, growing many flowers, including roses ,that found their way into his paintings. He was so…