Bringing Nature Home at the Master Gardener’s Spring Symposium

  • Post published:03/30/2013
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Dr. Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, was the keynote speaker at the Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners Spring Symposium last week. His talk focused on the need for more insects to make our gardens – and the world – healthier and more ecologically balanced. “A mere 1 % [of all insects] interact with humans in negative ways. The other 99 % pollinate plants, return the nutrients tied up in…

Tiny New Seedlings on Wordless Wednesday

  • Post published:03/27/2013
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I planted seeds on March 22 and now on March 27 the mesclun and lettuce seedlings have sprouted. Look close.  The heat mat helps a lot.  It almost feels like  spring. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.

Houston Gardens in March 2011

  • Post published:03/26/2013
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Two years ago this week we left the cold and muddy landscape of Heath to visit Houston and our daughter Kate and  her family. Because the landscape of Heath is currently cold and snowy I needed to revisit those sunny Houston days. One day we drove out to Cindy's Corner of Katy to visit her beautiful garden. Flowers everywhere. Cindy's corner  garden is not large, but it is colorful and filled with every kind of flowers. Roses too. So…

Bruce’s Homemade Potting Bench

  • Post published:03/25/2013
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Last summer I visited Bruce Cannon's fabulous garden. His potting bench is one of the elements that impressed me.  He took an old stainless steel sink and built his potting bench around it  in the shade. The faucet does work, but the water just drains out onto the ground. Yesterday I was talking to my friend Bob who is one of our town's volunteer fire fighters. Last fall the fire department  held a practice and burned down an old…

Small Flowering Trees for the Garden

  • Post published:03/23/2013
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  “I’m not old enough to have shrubs!” a friend wailed at me one day while we were looking at her garden and she was trying to figure out how to make it more manageable. Well, small blooming trees may be the answer for those of us who are getting older. We might realize that a mixed border that includes small trees and shrubs will demand less work. The ornamental small blooming tree I have in my garden…

Puccini’s Opera La Villi and Forget Me Nots

  • Post published:03/22/2013
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Yesterday I listened to bits of  Puccin's operas at our local Senior Symposium put on by Greenfield Community College. This is an engaging and enlightening  series of programs featuring wonderful scholars and speakers like William Fregosi, who was for many years the technical coordinator for Theater Arts at M.I.T. He talked about Giacomo Puccini's life and times. Work! Scandal! Fame! Passion! Incredible success! His estate is still collecting royalty payments for three of his operas including Turandot. Two…

Ready, Set, Grow! Timber Press Giveaway

  • Post published:03/18/2013
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With Ready, Set, Grow! Timber Press is giving away books, lots of books, and a Moleskine journal to record your success as you put all the inspiration and advice  to work in your garden for the next three months. Each month, March, April and May they will be giving a library of books away in a lottery. All you have to do is click here and enter.  Whether you win the library or not, by checking this website…

Lawn Gone! by Pam Penick

  • Post published:03/17/2013
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  Lawn Gone: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard by Pam Penick  (Ten Speed Press $19.99) will get you thinking about how to reduce or remove your lawn, not only because there are more sustainable alternatives, but because there are so many beautiful alternatives. A greensward of fine turf is a pleasant thing, but it is a lot of work! And, in the end, not all that interesting or useful. How much more pleasant are paved walkways…

The Little Cyclamen That Could on March Bloom Day

  • Post published:03/15/2013
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  This little white cyclamen on my bedroom windowsill has been blooming and blooming  for two months. At least. Our bedroom is very cool, down to 55 degrees at night so the cycalmen has been very happy here.  I really need a cold bedroom to sleep well. My husband tolerates it. I might turn the heat up during the day while I am working on the upstairs computer, otherwise I spend my of my day downstairs near the woodstove…