Vignettes of Greenfield Garden Tour Gardens

  • Post published:06/27/2016
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The Annual Greenfield Garden Club Tour gives us the opportunity to see many styles of garden to inspire us, and give our imaginations something new to consider. This serene front yard planting belongs to Andrea Hall. Andrea also set up a handsome fountain in a backyard nook by the back door that follows through  on a circular/curving theme in other sections of the garden. Notice all the hostas which she loves. Of course, some gardeners take a very…

Greenfield Garden Club Tour June 25

  • Post published:06/24/2016
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  Elise Schlaijker’s extensive gardens will be a part of the Greenfield Garden Club’s annual garden tour which will be held on Saturday, June 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Schlaijker is one of those gardeners who loves food gardens and flower gardens equally, although she admits that the big 30 x 30 foot vegetable and fruit garden was her first priority when she moved to Greenfield eight years ago. I wrote about Schlaijker when her gardens…

Three Views of The Lion’s Fairy Tale Rose

  • Post published:06/23/2016
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I am so happy with my Lion's Fairy Tale Rose, one of Kordes Fairy Tale Series. I planted it last summer and did not expect nor get any flowers. Still, it took hold and came through our odd winter weather, mild until it got bitter cold very late in the season. One of the things I like is the way it produces clusters of bloom. I love the creaminess of this white rose as it begins to bloom.…

New Roses for a New Garden

  • Post published:06/18/2016
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Thirty-five years have passed since I planted my first rose bush in Heath. In the months before our move from New York City I read and re-read Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katharine White. It was her experience and thoughts about roses that particularly touched my dreams of a romantic garden in the country. I had never grown roses, and never even really paid much attention to roses. My dreams and limited experiences had been with…

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day – June 15, 2016

  • Post published:06/15/2016
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With my first Peach Drift roses I am celebrating my first real Garden Blogger's Bloom Day in the Greenfield, Massachusetts garden. Peach Drift is a fairly low growing, long blooming, disease resistant rose. Oso Easy  Paprika shares a small bed with Peach Drift. Paprika is a little outside my usual color palette, but when I saw it blooming at the nursery I could not resist. I am so excited to be able to add Kordes roses like Zaide…

The South Border One Year Later.

  • Post published:06/13/2016
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The South Border did not exist on the day we closed on the house. But we had ideas. On June 3 we planted three hydrangeas, Limelight, Angel's Blush and Firelight, as well as two lilacs, deep purple Yankee Doodle and double white Beauty of Moscow. Shrubs were planted in the ground with the the addition of Martin's compost. Once shrubs were in the ground we built the lasagna beds around them with cardboard and compost so  that we…

Forbes Library Garden Tour in Northampton

  • Post published:06/09/2016
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  The Forbes Library Garden Tour is this Saturday, an opportunity to see unique private gardens. If you are lucky retirement from the everyday world of work is an opportunity to make happy changes, and possibly even make a dream come true. This opportunity has been beautifully and artfully used by Paul Redstone, and Jesse and Jack Martin. They both gave up country homes and properties and moved to ‘the city,’ Northampton, where they now live next to…

Tovah Martin – Terrarium Expert Comes to Town

  • Post published:06/07/2016
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The Greenfield Garden Club brought Tovah Martin, author of The New Terrarium, and many other books, to town to not only talk about terrariums, but to hold a workshop. The site was the elegant Brandt House B&B, the weather was rainy, but the spirit was one of excitement and creativity. Many members of the Greenfield Garden Club, and other gardeners in the community filled all the Brandt House space to get  some preliminary instruction  about terrariums, and jolts…

Memorial Day – Green River Cemetery

  • Post published:06/05/2016
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  Memorial Day was created as a day to remember those who died in the service of our country, beginning right after our Civil War. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, a founder of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union army veterans, declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30 by decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers. There is some thought that the day was chosen because so many flowers are in bloom around…

Review of New Garden in May 2016

  • Post published:06/01/2016
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The view of the new garden from the office at the beginning of May shows a good recovery from April snow and frigid temperatures. You can see the nearly wood filled hugel at the back border. A big May project was collection logs for the hugel at the west end of the garden. This load came one of the two Hawley friends who donated logs to the project. We are so lucky to have good Hawley friends -…