Autumn Crocus and Other September Surprises

  • Post published:09/30/2013
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I was surprised to find these autumn crocus in bloom right out in front of the house next to the wisteria trunk. And under overgrown lemon balm. I keep promising to move them to a better spot, but invisible as  they are in July when that move should occur it never happens. Maybe next year. Since I have not been out to weed or care for the garden in what seems like weeks, there were other surprises like…

The Monks Garden at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

  • Post published:09/28/2013
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Last week I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to meet the noted landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburg and hear him speak about how he approached the challenge of redesigning the Monks Garden. He said that Isabella Stewart Gardener herself acknowledged that she was never satisfied with the small walled garden she called the Monks Garden. “That gave me the confidence and courage . . . to make a garden for the future of the Museum.” Certainly the…

Autumnal Shades of Pink

  • Post published:09/25/2013
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  Even in the fall my garden is full of shades of pink. Japanese anemone robustissima. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.

Deadheading – Fall Maintenance for Hardy Roses

  • Post published:09/23/2013
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People often ask me when  do I cut back my hardy roses in the fall, do I protect them in the winter and what is the best way they can protect their own roses. I have simple answers. First, I remind people that I only grow hardy roses, that are trouble free. Of course, sometimes I only find out that I have  bought non-hardy roses when they die, but that's the way it goes. I do not cut back…

Beech and Hazel

  • Post published:09/21/2013
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  On a spring walk in the Betty Maitland Memorial Forest here in Heath we admired a tall beech tree (Fagus grandiflora) that is also known as the bear tree. The trunk is scarred with bear claw damage, climbing up into the foliage with its nuts, and going down again. Beechnuts are an important food for bears and other wildlife. They are high in fat, carbohydrates and protein. It is easy to imagine bears preparing for their winter…

Water – Utility and Beauty

  • Post published:09/20/2013
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Water is vital to a healthy productive garden. A friend, Marie Stella, has put gutters on her house that feed rainwater into this retention pond below the house which sits on a rise. Other gutters feed into a 550 gallon food grade plastic cistern in the little greenhouse she has added to the end of her house. The retention pond is not only utilitarian. She has turned it into a beautiful element, and introduction to her sustainable landscape when visitors drive…

Geese on Their Way to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

  • Post published:09/18/2013
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These geese were crossing the street, against the light, in their hurry to look at the newly redesigned and planted Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's Monks Garden. No luck yesterday. The Museum was closed, but the Monks garden is officially open today - a magical woodland stroll garden. Michael Van Valkenburgh, and his associates, are geniuses. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.

Bloom Day September 15, 2013

  • Post published:09/16/2013
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It has been quite a summer! Rain all through June. Drought all through July. And a very dry August, so you can imagine how I welcome the 2 inches of rain last week. The garden has been thirsty most of the season so some plants have really suffered, but bloom will entirely be denied.  Alma Potchke has just begun to bloom Right next to Alma Potchke is this sedum which I think is Neon.  It doesn't look that…

Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison

  • Post published:09/14/2013
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Deborah Madison is well known as a chef, and queen of vegetables. In Vegetable Literacy (Ten Speed Press $40) her new cookbook, I learned she had never been much of a gardener until her mid-thirties. I have always said that a walk down the garden path is a walk into the fields of history, literature, myth and science. In the beautifully illustrated Vegetable Literacy, Madison takes us along on her journey from the kitchen into the vegetable garden,…

All is revealed – Catalonia

  • Post published:09/13/2013
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When I visited the Boston Public Garden on September 2, I ran into this demonstration right under the magnificent statue of George Washington. It made sense to hold a demonstration for independence under the statue of one of our own founders of an independent nation, promising liberty to all, but I couldn't tell what the demonstration was all about. It was not until one woman held out this banner than I even knew the issue, but still I did…