The Mt Holyoke College Flower Show, with its theme The Emerald Isle includes the fragrant spring flowers that we can enjoy in our own New England spring. The fresh fragrance that meets you as you enter the Flower Show greenhouse is the perfume of spring. I wonder why more of us, including me, don't think how easy it would be to enjoy that scent in our own houses. A few pots of hyacinths, and may a couple of…
The first dandelion seems early this year, an indication that spring has arrived almost all in an instant after our very long and very frigid winter. The grass is suddenly green and the green veil across the trees at the edges of our field is becoming more opaque. The lilac leaf buds seem to double in size every day. Violets are blooming in the hots spots along the house foundation, too thick with weeds to make a good…
A cutting garden needs annuals to give you a particular blossom for your bouquets all season long, but it also needs perennials to give you blossoms in their season - and more new plants next year. In my garden the first perennials that make a big splash are the peonies. They bloom in June. I began growing early season peonies, but soon added late season peonies. My reasoning was that visitors to the Annual Rose Viewing, held…
The first garden day came on Sunday when temperatures rose to 60 degrees. The Herb Garden in front of the house has been clear of snow for about a week but there has been no sun, only grey skies and lots of wind. You can see that I did not cut everything back in the fall. I only made the first pass, so it doesn't look new garden bed neat, but everything is cut down, raked out, and…
The view from the bedroom window shows a world iced with crystal and shrouded in mist. I love taking photos of this yellow birch in the west field. So mysterious shrouded in fog. I didn't worry about all the perennials buried under three feet of snow all during the frigid month of February, but ice on the weeping cherry is definitely a worry. I wonder how the wisteria feels about all the ice. Probably not happy.
The Little Bubs are the earliest to bloom. This collection is crocus and Glory-of-the-Snow, otherwise know as Chionodoxa will be blooming on the Bridge of Flowers any minute. I have Glory-of-the-Snow down by the vegetable garden, still covered by snow. Crocus and Chionodoxa and deer and rodent resistant, and both will increase over time. Most of my snowdrops are also still under the snow, but temperatures got to 50 degrees today, so I think they will emerge from…
The theme of the Smith College Bulb Show is Giverny, Monet's famous French garden. Today I was satisfied to be in the Lyman Plant House in Northampton and dream of Giverny. A better close up of Giverny colors. A different view of Room One. An overview of Room Two. Note the water lily pillars and backdrops. The scent of spring in every room. The Smith College Bulb Show at Lyman Plant House will continue daily, from 10-…
As I look out at the newly white fields, I cannot help but think about the white flowers that bloom in the spring. There are so many, from shrubs, tall perennials, and low blooming groundcovers. White flowers bring a cool serenity to the garden and they are visible after sunset in the gloaming. Many of us have a desk or a favorite chair by a window where we read or do other close work like quilting. When we…
On Thursday the snow stopped long enough for me to make my escape from Heath, onward to Cambridge, MA for a visit with my son and a writer's workshop organized by the Garden Writer's Association. And what did I see when I got to Cambridge, MA? Snow. And ice. And icy icy sidewalks. I should have brought my YakTrax. I think snow is more of a problem in a city, but the trip was more than worth it.…
The view from the bedroom window on May 5 shows that the grass is greening up, but it is cold, 46 degrees, cloudy and windy. I dug up plants for the Bridge of Flowers plant sale, but then went back in the house to work in front of the woodstove. Now it is hot! 80 degrees. What a difference a week makes. We had a little rain and warmer days - although with strong breezes it has still felt…