Exploring the Hawley Bog: Lilies, Orchids, and Pitcher Plants

  • Post published:07/26/2019
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Years ago I tried visiting the Hawley bog, but gave up when the walkway gave out.  I had to wait to really see the bog until Sue Draxler offered to be my guide. Sue Draxler was my neighbor when we lived in Heath. She was a very special neighbor because she loved the natural world and generously shared her knowledge of the world around us. Her love of nature showed itself in many ways, in her art works,…

Perennials and Annuals Make the Cutting Garden

  • Post published:07/19/2019
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The rains started last August. The rains continued during our long cold spring. The effect on my garden was that a number of plants drowned including my beautiful double weeping cherry. The view from my kitchen window was now bleak and empty. To remedy the situation now and for the future we first needed to raise our already raised planting beds. Spring rains kept us from beginning this project.  To raise the height of the beds we needed…

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day July 15, 2019

  • Post published:07/14/2019
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I DON'T KNOW WHY THIS DIDN'T GET POSTED ON THE 15th - BUT I'M HERE NOW. The climate is much on my mind as I celebrate Garden Blogger's Bloom Day here in western Massachusetts. Last summer was very wet, and the wet continued this spring. I lost many plants and I am in the process of re-designing (and I use the term loosely) and replanting. The last three weeks have been very hot (high 80's and 90) and…

Cocktail Hour in the Garden with a Neighbor and Barbecue

  • Post published:07/12/2019
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Gardening in the summer can be hot and dirty. But a reprieve is the reward. It’s time to put away our tools and wash up. It’s time for a tranquil cocktail hour in the garden. Time to sit with a spouse, and time to sit with a friend in the midst of your garden beauty. The ideal place for the cocktail hour is in the shade with birds chirping, and floral fragrances carried by the breeze. When I…

Desirable Groundcovers Mean Less Weeding

  • Post published:07/05/2019
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We all know that groundcovers cover the ground.  However,the problem is that there are good groundcovers and bad groundcovers. If you are like me you spend a bit of time cursing the weedy plants sneaking over our ground. I have two responses to the problem. Sometimes I weed casually, then put down paper or cardboard topped with bark mulch. Sometimes I cover the ground with good low growing plants that do a good job of holding weeds at…