Who Makes the Bridge of Flowers Bloom? Carol DeLorenzo

The Bridge of Flowers in May

For the past 12 years Carol DeLorenzo has been the guiding vision behind the changing bloom seasons on the Bridge of Flowers. However, she didn’t start her professional life thinking about flowers.

“After I graduated from the College of the Atlantic, I got a fellowship that allowed me to spend a year traveling around the world, focusing on agricultural issues. When I returned to the United States I got a job as co-manager of a community based farm. I was all about turnips and rutabagas, “ she said. But the farm included a pick-your-own flowers operation. “It was there I learned the value of flowers in people’s lives. I also saw that a flower garden draws people’s attention to the plants.”

After five years she left the farm and worked for landscapers in the Boston suburbs and eventually began her own landscaping company. When she was pregnant with her first child they moved to Shelburne Falls where friends rented them a house. “We never looked back after we got to the Falls,” she said. “It seemed like a natural progression that led me to a town with a Bridge of Flowers.”

Of course DeLorenzo was busy for a while with that new baby, and settling into a new town. Then, after about two years, she saw a notice that the Bridge of Flowers was looking for a new head gardener and applied for the 20 hour a week position. Soon she saw there was too much work for 20 hours and asked for an assistant. With an assistant hired the schedule was altered so that they both work 15 hours a week, more or less, depending  on the season. “It is a great way to be in the community and very satisfying to garden for thousands of people,” she said. She also stressed that it takes the work of the volunteers of the Flower Brigade to keep the Bridge looking so fine.

What impresses me about the Bridge of Flowers is the number of plants that come into bloom between April and through October. First there are bulbs, blooming trees, and bunches of pansies and Johnny jump ups. There are also native wildflowers like bloodroot, and trillium. Flowering shrubs like azaleas, fothergilla and viburnam take their turn. By the end of May the Bridge is a miracle of bloom with dozens of perennials and roses, right through to dahlia and chrysanthemum season.

Carol DeLorenzo

“Keeping the garden in full bloom is an ongoing journey and puzzle,” DeLorenzo said. “That’s where I get my satisfaction. I get to make art with plants. I’m out on the Bridge, looking at the plants, and wonder what it would be like to do this or that. And then I try it. When it works it is very satisfying.  Nothing is permanent. If a particular vignette isn’t working I change it.”

I asked DeLorenzo how she managed to fit all those plants in such a limited space. “Bulbs are planted usually 2–4 inches down all through the length of the borders, into the roots of other plants. I am always root pruning shrubs so I have soil space for bulbs and other plants, but root pruning also controls the size of the shrub,” she said.

She added that “Possibly as much of 40 percent of the flowers are annuals. That is the only way to have constant bloom. The annuals provide insurance, in case some  of the perennials have a bad year.  But not every inch has to be in bloom every minute. If there is a short green section the eye moves on to the next colorful feature.,” she said.

DeLorenzo said her interest is in organic gardening, but the Bridge is not totally organic. She spreads an organic fertilizer in the spring and top dresses with compost. Annuals are very heavy feeders. I fertilize annuals about twice over the course of the season and use seaweed, fish emulsion and water soluble fertilizers like Peter’s.

“This garden doesn’t feed anyone, the emphasis is on bloom so I  do use slug bait and neem soil and Pyola, a pyrethrum oil. We have lots of bugs that want to eat our plants, including rose chafers, but not too many Japanese beetles.  We’ve put out praying mantis cases, but that is mostly for the fun,” she said.

Visitors to the Bridge this year will notice the absence of the four big crabapples. They have been replaced with new trees, a Cherokee Princess dogwood, Prairie Fire crabapple, golden chain tree, Seven Sons tree and a Chinese fringe tree, joining the many other blooming trees and shrubs.

When I asked for advice for the new gardener she was quick to say, “Start small. Let your garden grow naturally. Start at your doorstep and have fun. Too big a garden can be overwhelming and discouraging. Remember, gardening is just one way of interacting with nature.”

Between the Rows   May 12,2013

Awesome Annuals for the Garden

Angelonia Serenita Mix courtesy of National Garden Bureau

If you have a flower garden, chances are you grow a few annuals. For a while perennials were the fashionable family and annuals were almost forgotten. At least they were forgotten in conversation and garden articles, but to keep a garden in bloom from spring into fall annuals are essential. Each perennial will bloom for its three or four week period, but an annual will bloom all summer.

It is no wonder that some of our favorite plants are annuals: marigolds, zinnias, nasturtiums, cosmos, lobelia, lantana and verbena and calendula as well as vining plants like sweet peas and morning glories. These plants are all familiar, and yet there are new forms and colors almost every year.

Recently I visited LaSalle’s Florist in Whately and saw that the beautiful bright blue lobelia that I love is also available in a raspberry pink, white, and a pale, delicate blue.  How to choose?

Renee’s Garden Seeds are sold locally and this company is especially known for its sweet peas. ‘April in Paris’ is a modern sweet pea but old fashioned fragrance has been wed to the large creamy yellow flowers, while ‘Color Palette Cupid’ is a mixture of pale pastel flowers borne on short vining stems that make it perfect for a container. Among the 27 varieties are “Royal Wedding’ an antique white sweet pea, and the pink and red ‘Painted Lady’ which was the first named sweet pea cultivar.

I love zinnias. There are short Tom Thumb zinnias with neat little blossoms, and tall shaggy ‘Raggedy Ann’ zinnias, both in a paintbox full of colors. There are also two unique zinnias ‘Green Envy’ which provides the pale green flower that flower arrangers love, and “Polar Bear’ a white zinnia. White is a very unusual color for zinnias and marigolds.

Three of the newer annuals, at least new to me, are the calibrachoa or million bells, angelonias and gomphrenas. Most familiar may be the calibrachoas which have been very popular for hanging baskets and containers because of the interesting colors of the flowers and their graceful habit. Proven Winners has a whole garden full of color in their Superbells series. Among others there is a trailing white, trailing deep blue and a trailing rose. I particularly like ‘Blackberry Punch’ with rich purple/magenta petals around a golden heart.  You will find a large array of Superbells, and millions bells plants in local garden centers and they are great container plants.

Last year I grew angelonia for the first time, but it will not be the last time. I grew a fragrant purple variety, but it also comes in pink and white. It is sometimes called a summer snapdragon, but the flowers are smaller on a one to two foot spire and the bloom period is much longer. No deadheading required. It looks delicate, but loves hot sunny locations, attracts butterflies and is drought tolerant.

I also grew gomphrena or globe amaranth last year. This is another easy annual with clover-like flowers, actually bracts surrounding insignificant flowers , that attracts butterflies and is also drought tolerant once it is established. It can grow to 24 inches and is available in pink, purple and a bright red. It blooms all summer and then dries well for autumnal flower arrangements.

Petunias are a standard summer annual that have been hybridized in wonderful new ways. There are double flowers, and stripey flowers and flowers that are ‘self-cleaning; which means they don’t have to be deadheaded to remain in bloom. ‘Wave’ and ‘Supertunia’ are petunias that are self-cleaning which makes them especially useful for locations where they can’t easily be deadheaded, or for gardeners who really don’t understand deadheading

All blooming annuals need full sun. I find I am paying attention to whether a plant is drought tolerant because I cannot water my ornamental gardens. Since I have a well, the water is too precious during a dry period to spend it on flowers, although I water my vegetables as well as I can.

If you use containers for your annual plantings, as many do, you must remember to water them regularly. Containers dry out very quickly. Terra cotta pots dry out most quickly, but even plastic and resin containers dry out because the plants are always breathing and lose moisture through their respiration, not to mention hot summer breezes blowing across the container. Don’t forget a regular fertilizing schedule to keep them nourished.

As suitable as they are for containers, alone or in combination with other plants, annuals also have an important place in the flower border. They can even be used as a border. Low growing zinnias, marigolds, gomphrena or petunias can provide a wonderfully floriferous edging.

Annuals can also be used among perennials and shrubs for color. Tall cosmos are really wonderful in the garden, and have plenty of blossoms to spare for cutting.

Some people have room to plant a couple of rows of annuals to be used specifically for cutting and bouquet making. This way they don’t have to worry about denuding the garden in order to have flowers for the house, or to for gifts.

As many of you know, impatiens plants have been struck by a persistent downy mildew fungus, and will be hard to find at garden centers. Other annuals that can take their place in the shade include New Guinea impatiens, Sunpatiens, torenia, angelonia, and ivy geraniums,

Between the Rows  May 4, 2012

My Essential Garden Tools

My essential tools

When faced with the array of garden tools at the garden center, a new gardener can be forgiven for being confused and unsure of how to decide what is needed. There are all manner of shovels and rakes, trowels, cultivators, and weeders, as well as grass clippers, pruning shears and loppers. Where to begin? How much of an investment will be required?

In fact, very few tools are absolutely necessary, as any experienced gardener who finds herself using the same handful of tools, will tell you. Over the years I have accumulated a number of tools, some of which are very useful, but are rarely called into action. The tools I use most often are a heavy duty red handled trowel that has inch measurements on the blade; a Korean hand hoe; a cultivator claw; a Cobrahead weeder; and a pruning shears. The Korean hand hoe (or plow) is my very favorite, useful for digging, cultivating, weeding, and making furrows. I’ve gotten many of my tools from a wonderful local company, OESCO in Conway. They do mail order, too.

What this collection of favorites tells you about my garden technique is that I like to work on my hands and knees. I even usually wash my floors on my hands and knees. I have a regular spade and a short handled garden spade which are necessary when breaking sod or turning over a garden bed, or digging out a perennial for division, but after that rough work is done I am on my knees.

Other gardeners like to do as much as possible standing up. One day I was talking to Ev Hatch, an experienced farmer and gardener, and he said his favorite tool was the hoe. A hoe is a basic tool and like all basic tools it comes in a variety of forms. The Johnny’s Selected Seeds catalog shows several types. The hoe that I have used most successfully is what Johnny’s calls a stirrup hoe.

One thing my five favorite tools have in common is that they are all very sturdy and of good quality. A first time gardener may wince at the cost of a $20 trowel, but mine has served me well for some years. It is possible to buy less expensive tools, and they may last for long enough for the gardener to learn how he works, and what he likes or dislikes in a hand tool.

One drawback to many hand tools is that they have green or wooden handles. This makes them very easy to lose in the garden. In earlier years my husband ran over a number of my tools with the lawn mower turning them into fascinating little sculptures, and doing the mower no good at all. I have one friend who always wraps his tool handles with orange tape. He says this has saved him a lot of money over the years. I like my red handled tools, but I painted the wooden handle of my Korean hoe yellow, about as bright as orange..

Of course, over the course of a few years, a collection of garden tools can grow substantially. Sometimes you find you need a special tool, like a dandelion digger which is very efficient for digging out dandelions and other weeds. Sometimes you are given a tool as a gift, or can’t resist a good tool at a tag sale. And sometimes you inherit tools and these can be very special because they bring not only utility, but fond memories.

I confess that when I was at a garden talk recently I bought a little bright red shrub rake which has a short and narrow fan of teeth. I love all things red, but it is also similar to the little rakes that the Blossom Brigade uses on the Bridge of Flowers. Maybe if I have a rake like theirs, I will also acquire some of their skill and discipline.

Because I have roses growing in grass, shrubs and small trees I have a small array of tools to handle some special chores. I have grass clippers to trim the grass around the roses which is a big job. Good quality clippers help make it go more easily. I have my Felco #8 pruner which is all I need for pruning the roses. I have even learned how to sharpen them with a file.

Other pruning tasks in my garden take only long handled loppers and my small saw which was (amazingly) bought at the Museum of Modern Art in New York many years ago.

Once you have your tools, you need to organize them. I hang my spades and rakes on the wall of my little garden shed, and keep my hand tools in a trug, a wooden basket made for tool carrying. This tool-filled trug lives right by our main door, where it is always handy. I am ready for the real start of the growing season.

Today the Greenfield Farmers Market Season begins, too. The Farmers Market on Court Square will open at 8 am and close at 12:30. Cooks and gardeners will be able to find fresh greens, cheese, bread, honey, maple syrup and vegetable starts and perennial plants. There will be the music of Co-op Jazz from 10 til noon! For full details about the Farmers Market check their website http://greenfieldfarmersmarket.com. Farmers Markets in Ashfield, Bernardston, Charlemont, Conway and Shelburne Falls will be starting soon.

Between the Rows  April 27, 2013

Spring Chores in the Garden

It is time to begin spring chores. But exactly how do we know when spring is beginning? A tough question. The only sure answer is that it did not begin on March 20 this year when the temperature was 16 degrees at 7 in the morning and remained cold and cloudy all day.

It was a very different story last year when the snowdrops were in full bloom and my first temperature record was 54 degrees with sun. The first day of spring 2012 led us into several warm days that had me planting lettuce, radishes and beets in the Early Garden in front of the house. I also started working in the main fenced garden, but this year I hadn’t even tried trudging through the snow to the main garden until April 7^th..

As far as I can tell from my records the last frost last year was April 6. Amazing. There were cold and chilly days after that, to be sure, but my temperature readings, usually taken around 7 a.m., do not go below 30 and I do not note frost. Actually all of us can remember what an early spring we had with a fair amount of rain.

So how do we try to figure out a planting schedule based on estimated number of weeks from last frost?  Memorial Day weekend seems too timid, but this year I am starting to feel timid again.

What spring chores can we do? I finally got out and did some clean-up raking, because the snow had melted on the south slope in front of the house. However, I know spring raking and clean up is well begun in the lower elevations.

The calendar says seeds can be started in Heath, and I do have a few seedlings sprouted. I bought more peat pots, and more seeds are being planted, parsley, basil, and broccolini.  At the same time, I am hoping that I can plant peas in the ground within a week or two. Last year at this time I was planting seeds and seedlings in the Front Garden, and in the main garden. I did not trust the warm weather and covered all plantings with floating row covers. They protected tender seedling from the cold and from the rabbits that have been such a problem.

A walk in the main garden on Wednesday showed me that the melting snow is sending little streams of water here and there, occasionally making a little waterfall into a mole hole. There will be no planting here for a while.

It’s time to get out the pruners to thin out red and black raspberry canes.  My husband just took the loppers and a saw to do a major pruning of the Sargent crabapple. It is now much more horizontal and architectural. I still have to do some of the finer pruning. Sargent crabs love to be pruned.

Any perennials that were left to provide winter interest or food for the birds can be cut back in preparation for the new growth. I am always surprised at how early and how quickly perennials grow in the spring. This is a time when I can also start thinking about which perennials can be divided  and shared with the Bridge of Flowers plant sale in May.

To make sure I am not forgetting some of the obvious garden tasks that can be done in this early season I have been reviewing  the Week by Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook written by Ron Kujawski and Jennifer Kujawski.  Ron was an Extension Educator at the University of Massachusetts for 25 years and I know I can always look to him for good advice and information.

The Kujawski’s Handbook is useful not only because it gives you practical information about every aspect of vegetable gardening from soil building, starting seedlings, container plantings and controlling insects, and on through the harvest, the book is arranged like a three year garden journal so you can put in your own weather and planting records that will help you with your own garden planning.

Father and daughter Kujawski give tips about “petting” vegetable seedlings to help them be sturdier, the value of vinegar and clove oil to kill weeds, how to handle squash borers,  and a whole list of trouble-shooting to handle plant symptoms.

They also describe a slightly different technique of sheet composting. In the fall they dig a foot deep trench, fill it with six inches of kitchen waste (vegetable matter only) and then top it with soil. It will rot over the winter and in the spring you will have a rich fertile planting bed.

This is a technique that I have also heard referred to as ‘trench’ composting. One friend told me she essentially used this method, but she dug large round holes, and filled them halfway with kitchen waste, then soil. She marked each hole with a stake and planted her squash and pumpkins there in the spring.

Please let me know how far have you gotten with your spring chores. Once spring takes hold, the race is on.

Between the Rows  April 6,2013

Hydrangea – A Beautiful Blooming Shrub

Hydrangea in full bloom

My life with hydrangeas did not begin well. When I moved to Grinnell Street in 1971 several tortured and overgrown white hydrangeas grew in front of the porch. I don’t know what kind they were but they did not please me. I cut them down, and ultimately planted three dwarf apple trees in the narrow space between the sidewalk and the porch. This was probably not a good idea, but we moved to Maine in 1974 so the problem was not mine, and the new owner did remove those trees.

It was not until about 15 years ago that I noticed and fell in love with the virburnams with their early spring lacecap blossoms. I did plant a viburnam, or highbush cranberry, to get bigger lacecap blossoms, but I also saw that some hydrangeas had airier blossoms than those on the dense mopheads.

Then, while visiting Nasami Farm one day I saw a very airy hydrangea there named Mothlight,  and because it was hardy to Zone 3, I bought it and planted it in my new Lawn Bed. I soon realized that I made the mistake that so many gardeners make and did not picture my Mothlight as a mature plant.

Mothlight is planted on the east side of the Lawn Bed and only about 6 feet away from the west side of the bed where I planted a weeping birch. It seemed like a lot of space at the time, but it is not. I am happy to say they are both doing very well, but the weeping birch is weeping towards the east, and I had not envisioned the Mothlight achieving a height of over eight feet.

Hydrangea “Mothlight”

Mothlight blossoms are not lacecaps, but they are more airy than mopheads. It is the stature of the shrub itself that I had not planned for. Fortunately the Mothlight hydrangea belongs to the Hydrangea paniculata family. The word paniculata refers to the shape of the blossom which is kind of cone shaped. One trait of this group of hydrangeas is their tolerance of pruning. They can be pruned in the fall or the spring. They are the only hydrangeas that can be pruned into a tree shape.

So I have pruned the ‘backside’ of Mothlight to keep it somewhat out of the way of the weeping birch and so they march on together.

Needless to say, these hydrangeas do not need to be pruned every year, especially when they are young. Dead or crossing branches can be taken out at any time. Much of the pruning I have done on Mothlight is to control the size and shape.

I have also planted other hydrangeas. After coming to the realization of how big and dense the shrubs can be, I planted three at the eastern edge of the lawn where I imagined they would form a hedge and would eliminate another bit of lawn. Two of them, Quick Fire and Limelight also belong to the hardy paniculata family. Limelight blooms in a shade of pale green in summer, turning to pink in the fall. Quick Fire buds open white then change to a gentle pink and then to a deep pink in the fall. It blooms a full month earlier than Limelight so a very long season of bloom is promised for the planned hedge.

The third member of the hedge is our native hydrangea, H. quercifolia, or the oakleaf hydrangea. The leaves are indeed large and oakleaf shaped. They will turn beautiful shades of orange, red and burgundy in the fall. Unlike the paniculatas, the oakleaf hydrangea can only be pruned before August, before the shrub sets its buds for the following year. This is what is meant by a shrub that blooms on ‘old wood.’ Because the bush will still be blooming, not every blooming branch should be cut back at the same time.

The mophead hydrangeas, H. macrophylla, is a more tender family that includes the pink or blue Endless Summer series. They bloom on old wood, and like the oakleaf hydrangea must be pruned before August.

Hydrangea macrophylla normalis is the lacecap hydrangea and also blooms in shades of pink and blue as well as white.

The final family of hydrangeas is the H. arborescens which includes the popular, low growing white Annabelle. Invincibelle is the deep pink form of Annabelle.

Hydrangeas can take some afternoon shade, but here in Heath I do not need to worry about their getting too hot. Choose a spot where there will be plenty of room to grow and spread. They need the sun to thrive and bloom. They need to be well watered, especially in the first year or two. At the same time, they cannot be planted where they will have wet feet. The soil must drain well.

Do not plant hydrangea too deeply. Dig a generous hole. Loosen the roots after taking it out of the pot and set it on the bottom of the planting hole so that it is just at soil level. Mix compost to the soil that is returned to the planting hole. Water well.

Fertilizing should be done in the spring and in July. Do not fertilize any later in the year. I spread compost and composted manure around my hydrangeas.

Hydrangeas have become very popular and your garden center is likely to have many varieties and you are sure to find one that will suit.

Between the Rows   April 6, 2013

Kiss My Aster by Amanda Thomsen

Kiss My Aster by Amanda Thomsen

With snow on the ground in Heath it is hard to believe that spring is here and gardening season has begun. I have seedlings planted and sitting on my new heat mat in the guest room, but not a shoot in sight. Yet.

Since this spring is somewhat delayed there is still time to think about planting a small vegetable garden, even if you have never had one before. Or maybe you wish you had a flowery place to sit outside. 0r maybe you wish you had shade and a cool place to relax. The wild and witty Amanda Thomsen of the famous Kiss My Aster blog has just given us Kiss My Aster: A Graphic Guide to Creating a Fantastic Yard Totally Tailored to You. This book for the beginning gardener with it jolly cartoon-ish illustrations will help you sort out what kind of gardener you might be to garden design.

Thomsen has real insight into the mind and psyche of the new gardener. You can tell because on Page 14 she asks, “Overwhelmed? Don’t be. You’re just reading a book. Wait until you’re knee deep in quick set concrete before you freak out.” Does that tell you what kind of gardener she is?

For all her smart aleck frivolity and word play, Thomsen walks you through figuring out what can grow in your area, including taking a camera tour through your neighborhood to see what other people are growing This tour will give you inspiration and information Then you can show the photos of the plants you like to the people at the garden center, get them identified and buy them. She is full of slick tips like this.

Kiss My Aster is helpful to the gardener when she is planning to make her yard more beautiful and/or needs more information about starting a vegetable garden. In either case Thomsen gives brief information about individual plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals for sun or shade. Herbs, too.

Thomsen doesn’t think you necessarily have to read this book from beginning to end. She even encourages you to look here and there. “To create the privacy of a hermit, turn to What Neighbors? Page 75” or “For a new and improved be, border or berm, turn to Soil Yourself page 62” or “Got a problem? Consult Weeds Happen page 154.” She includes a sustainability quiz. You get the idea.

Amanda Thomsen is great fun, but she gives good information and advice. She doesn’t think you have to do everything yourself. She is happy to suggest getting in some temporary help to do heavy jobs. She pays attention to the limits of resources, human and natural. She is even willing to hire a professional gardener or a garden coach. Sometimes the garden coach can be a good friend, or a good friend who knows a good gardener. That’s my additional advice.

When I have talked to people about starting a garden, or wanting to ‘do something’ with their yard, I always start out by asking what they want. Do they want a vegetable garden? Keep the first one small, I always say. Think about what you like to eat and plant that. Dig in compost before planting. And then I tell them they can get good compost locally from Martin’s Farm or Bear Path Farm. They don’t have to wait until they have made their own.

If they want to do something with their yard I ask what they like to do in their yard? Or what would they like to do? Do they want a patio where they can barbecue and visit with friends? Do they want a privacy barrier between them and their neighbor? Do they want flowers but don’t know a daisy from a phlox?

After identifying what they want in their yard, patio, vine covered fence, or a flower garden, I usually ask how much time they have to garden. Couples with children at home usually have less time than couples whose children are grown, although they may have responsibilities to older parents. What are your family responsibilities? Community responsibilities?

After you consider your desires and your constraints, it is time to begin. I recently came across a quote from the avant-garde composer. John Cage (1912-1992). He said “Begin anywhere.”  I liked that. We might hesitate, but begin. What’s the worst that can happen? Change is the nature of a garden. It will change itself. Or you can make changes. Either way, change in the garden is inevitable. Begin and learn. Begin and embrace change.

Between the Rows  March 30, 2013

Jono Neiger – Mimic Nature in Your Garden

Jono Neiger of Regenerative Design Group

Jono Neiger of the Regenerative Design Group which has its office in Greenfield, spoke to the Greenfield Garden Club a couple of weeks ago. His inspiring talk explained how gardeners could mimic nature, and require less work and inputs to create a garden that would give us what we desire out of our garden and what wildlife and pollinators require.

He gave some very specific advice beginning with the suggestion that vegetable gardens, and gardens that need substantial cultivating be sited near the house where their needs will not be forgotten. I can tell you how valuable this advice is from my own experience. The Herb Bed, the Front Garden, the Daylily and Rose Banks, all of which are right in front of the house get more attention because those south gardens warm up first in the spring and because it is easy to do a small job or two as I come and go, in and out of the house.

It is easy to remember to spread compost and other organic fertilizers on our vegetable and flower beds wherever they are, but remembering to weed or watch for problems is easier when the garden is right in front of us.

Water is becoming more of a concern as we often seem to have too much or too little. This has inspired many people to invest in rain barrels which collect rain off our roofs to use later in the garden when there is a dry spell. Those who have used 50 gallon barrels quickly learn that they don’t hold much of the roof run-off and add more barrels.

Neiger himself has arranged it so that the runoff from his roof runs into a small artificial pond that he has created below the house. The pond holds about 300 gallons of water. When the pond is full, there is an overflow pipe that takes water to a small bog garden that he planted when his son was young featuring pitcher plants. When that area is full water runs down to the vegetable garden. His goal is to get as much use out of all the water he can collect and keep it usefully on the site.

Those of us who don’t have enough room to move rainwater across our property could buy a larger water tank to collect more water off our roof. We can count on that tank costing about a dollar a gallon, so a 400 gallon tank would cost about $400. We can also plant a rain garden that will keep rain on our site and out of storm drains.

He also told us that gray water is now legal in Massachusetts. If we can separate out our sink and bath water that gray water can be drained into our gardens. We would have to pay attention to the type of soaps and detergents we use. His passion is to produce no waste and to recycle any waste elements of our house and garden as much as possible. Compost!

He is a proponent of permaculture, growing perennial plants for food, as well as for ornament. He explained the Edible Forest Garden in terms that I could finally understand. The idea is to mimic nature in the way the forest grows with tall trees, then understory shrubs and then groundcovers. An edible forest in my garden simply means to include a fruit tree or two, some berry bushes and then ground covers. Rhubarb and asparagus are familiar perennial edible ‘ground covers.’ How simple.

If you are interested in perennial crops Eric Toensmeier’s excellent book Perennial Vegetables: From Artichoke to Zuiki Taro, a Gardeners Guide to Over 100 Delicious, Easy-to-Grow Edibles will give you full information about familiar and unfamiliar crops, many of which are hardy in our area.

Those of us who live in town will not be able to, or need to, include the food, fuel, fiber, fodder, farmeceuticals, fertilizer and fun that make up Neiger’s productive landscape, but all of us can include several of these elements. In the acre surrounding my house I have food in my vegetable gardens, some fodder for my chickens who then supply some fertilizer, compost for fertilizer, an herb garden for farmeceuticals and fun in the Lawn Beds that include small trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and even some groundcovers. I want to point out bee balm, mint, yarrow and other pollinator magnets are among the perennials in the herb and flower gardens.

How many of these elements do you have in your garden. Begin with fun.

Achillea, yarrow, attracts pollinators

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While Jono Neiger gave us some new ecological ways to think about managing our domestic landscapes, Emily Monosson, PhD, teacher and environmental toxicologist at the University of Massachusetts will be leading a discussion at the Greenfield Library with those who have read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson on Saturday, February 2. This talk, The Relevance of Silent Spring after 50 Years, is scheduled from 11 am – 1 pm and is sponsored by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of this book which could be said to have started the whole environmental movement and new ways of. “No book since then has had the impact of Silent Spring. Carson saw an acute toxic change . . . and synthesized an immense amount of research. The changes in our environment today are more insidious,” Monosson said.

Between the Rows  January 26, 2013

More Christmas Gifts for the Gardener

Red pots at Shelburne Farm and Garden

I’m not saying gardeners are greedy, but it is true that it is easy to choose Christimas gifts for gardeners. When I wander through Shelburne Farm and Garden or Greenfield Farmers Coop I have all I can do hold myself in check. There are so many bright and sturdy items that will please and be useful to both novice and expert gardeners.

The Shelburne Farm and Garden Center has a wonderful collection of pots. So many of us are growing flowers and other plants in pots that a handsome pot is almost always a good choice. Two matching Christmas red pots, different sizes, really caught my eye, priced at $20 and $30.

The glove rack is a temptation. Gloves are always wearing out. MUD gloves are a particular favorite, some made with the wonderfully flexible nitrile, while others are heavier for jobs that require greater protection. Both types cost $10.

There are so many great gift choices from an array of bird baths, ceramic and metal, in the $70 t0 $90 range as well as a great collection of bird feeders and sacks of bird seed from $22 to $60. I was particularly struck by the  Bird Nester ($19), a wire cage filled with cottony fibers that is available for birds when they are building their nests. It made me think of Patricia Machlachlan’s tender children’s book, Sarah, Plain and Tall, where older sister Anna is cutting young Caleb’s hair, and sets out his curls for the birds to use in their nests.

On my way out of the store I couldn’t help picking up a few bulbs that were on sale and will be used for forcing. The Greenfield Farmers Coop also has bags of bulbs for sale right as you talk into the store. It might be too late to get bulbs in the ground, but there is plenty of time to force them. A great gift would be bulbs for forcing along with a bag of soil mix and a handsome pot. You could plant the bulbs yourself, or pass it on as a DIY project.

The Coop has a large array of tools. Good quality pruners like the Corona bypass pruner for $30 and the Corona needle nose thinning shears at $24 would make any gardener happy – though I hope that experienced gardeners long ago learned the benefits of quality tools and already have their own favorites. Although, if they had a second good tool they might be able to work with a companion.

I was particularly taken with the small, bright red, fixed tine shrub rake at $13. I have seen the Flower Brigade ladies using similar little rakes as they tended to their clean up chores on the Bridge of Flowers and saw how efficiently and gently they worked in the borders.

Tubtrugs at Farmers Cooperative in Greenfield

I loved the display of colorful Tubtrugs in sizes of three and a half to ten gallons. These light, strong flexible containers will hold a lot of weeds, or compost, or what you will, in the garden and around the house. I can imagine a wonderful gift of a bright Tubtrug filled with bags of Espoma fertilizer, seed starting mix, twine, Bag Balm and other small necessary and consumable garden items. Prices range from $9-$27 depending on size.

Compost makings are the result of every meal preparation. A bowl by the sink will serve, but not as handsomely as the lidded one, or one and a half gallon Compost Keepers ($27-$39), in stainless steel or ceramic.

As useful as these practical items are and as welcome as they will be, one could take a different tack to gift buying for the gardener. Luxury!

J.H. Sherburne has a new wing to her portraiture and frame shop in Shelburne Falls called Serious Whimsies for the Garden and Home. I do buy my own tools and consumables when necessary, but I never buy luxurious gifts for my garden like the stone rabbit and hedgehog sculptures for $80 and $30.  There is a wonderful big dancing angel planter for $90, but many more modestly priced planters like the stone bowl ($29) with a frog sitting on the edge. This could be planted with a bit of sedum or succulents for a really carefree bit of elegant whimsy.

Birch Bark Baskets at J H Sherburne’s Serious Whimsies

I also liked the birchbark baskets and containers that are perfect for holding holiday greens and decorations. The large flat basket ($30) would work as a handsome wreath substitute on the front door filled with greens. Smaller baskets, round and square, cost $9-$19. You can even buy silk flowers and greenery to fill them if you wish.

Siver jewelry at J H Sherburne’s Serious Whimsies

Of course, some of us might like to luxuriate in our gardens by wearing beautiful garden inspired jewelry. Sherburne has a small curated collection of delicate silver pins, a dragonfly ($50), a fern frond ($36) and a gold and silver sunflower bracelet ($100).

Though small, the shop is a treasure trove of whimsical delights. A fancy soap is shaped like a heavily frosted cupcake and the scented candles come in little milkbottles.

There are many ways to shop for gifts. Sometimes you know just what that special person in your life wants or needs. Sometimes you just want to surprise and delight which can take thought. Sometimes you have no clue. All these shops can provide you with a gift certificate – and gift certificates always make my eyes light up.

A final note – J H Sherburne is also noted for her portraiture including portraits of pets, or of pets with their owners.

Portrait by J H Sherburne

Between the Rows     December 8, 2012

Cynthia Boettner and the Silvio O. Conte Fish and Wildlife Refuge

Cynthia Boettner

The first thing Cynthia Boettner had to explain to me about the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is that the Refuge consists of  the 7.2 million acres of the Connecticut River Watershed that runs from the far reaches of New Hampshire, through Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut before it exits in Long Island Sound. That is an enormous charge and responsibility. As Boettner explained how she works to monitor, control and eradicate invasive plant species, it was clear that no one person can even coordinate such an effort and that it takes many other groups like  the Massachusetts Nature Conservancy to enable the Refuge to carry out its mission.

The Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge was established in 1997 and named in honor of Congressman Conte who felt strongly about the importance of conservation. The purpose of the Refuge is  to conserve the abundance and diversity of native plants and animals and their habitats in the Connecticut River Watershed. Boettner joined the Refuge staff 13 years ago when her group was deciding to focus on raising awareness of the importance of eradicating invasive plants

One way they are creating  awareness is through the Invasive Plant Newsbriefs that she sends out through email which include information about workshops, training sessions and conferences as well as information about invasive plant sitings and eradication efforts.

Boettner explained that the Refuge works with many other groups. One result is an Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE) that was created in cooperation with the University of Connecticut. Over 900 trained volunteers surveyed given areas and collected information about the invasive plants they found. That information is turned over to the national database called EDDMapS (early Detection and Distribution Mapping System) which now includes access through an iPhone app. Any of us with skill in identifying invasives and an iPhone can confidently add to this Atlas and know that our information will be verified.

One eradication effort that many local people are familiar with is the removal of patches of Japanese silt grass in Conway. This plant has been identified fairly recently and the hope is that with early attempts at eradication they can really prevent further spread. Boettner has a fact sheet with colored photos of the plant at various stages. She welcomes information about sightings that include clear digital photos with full location information.

Individuals can also get in touch with Ted Elliman at the New England Wildflower Society, another one of the organizations the Refuge works with.

Once you have identified the silt grass you can pull it up by hand or cut it down with a string trimmer in mid-to late August. This is before seeds have set, and late enough in the season so that it will not have time to regrow and still set seeds. You can also watch for notice of Community Workdays in August to pull up patches. Pulled plants need to be bagged and placed in the sun to rot. Boettner explained that it is vital for landowners to survey their own land and watch for infestation of invasives.

She also reminded me that “ínvasive plant removal is just one component of trying to revive a habitat to bring the balance back and improve it for wildlife. Sometimes we get so caught up in removing the invasives that we forget the bigger picture of what we are trying to achieve. That’s something that I want to be more aware of and focus on in my work. A lot is about setting priorities. For example, one of our refuge properties in Hadley, the Fort River Division, is covered with multiflora rose and Oriental bittersweet. We will be focusing our immediate attention on controlling the bittersweet because we are managing the floodplain forest for migrating birds. As Christian Marks from The Nature Conservancy points out, the bittersweet is bringing down the large canopy trees which the birds need as stopover habitat on their journey. These vines are also overpowering the young saplings that would be the forest of tomorrow. So, it’s the migrating birds we have on our minds as we prioritize work on the forest. In the fields where we want to manage for grassland birds, the multiflora rose may be more of a threat to the establishment of that habitat.”

Education is a very important part of the Refuge’s mission. I have often taken my grandchildren to the Great Falls Discovery Center in Turners Falls without totally realizing this wonderful, fascinating and informative place was connected with the Refuge. It is one of several education centers operating in the Watershed.

I was also fascinated to learn that there is a US Youth Conservation Corps that provides an opportunity for teenagers to work (for pay) as conservationists on several sites over a four to six week summer session, the closest being at Fort River in Hadley. This program is overseen by the North Woods Stewardship Center in Vermont.

Boettner has always loved the outdoors, camping as a Girl Scout and vacationing in northern Michigan as a child. Still, she said it was a Field Biology class she took and loved while studying at the University of Michigan-Dearborn that set her on the road to the work she does at the Refuge. “I love to link people up with the information they are seeking in their quest to do good things for the environment. I find that so satisfying, especially when I ultimately get to see the resulting fruits of their labor!” she said.

Between the Rows  November 10, 2012

Taking Stock of Experiments and Projects

The Roses had a successful year

Every spring we begin the gardening season with new energy and new plans. After a winter of reading and thinking we stride out into the spring sun to build and dig, to add and subtract with confidence and high hopes.

In the fall, while we are hoping we still have time to plant some bulbs (we do) it is time to review and see how our projects and experiments turned out.

Our big project this year was really big – an eight foot fence around the vegetable garden to keep out the deer. The fence protects the vegetables, peas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and lettuce that the deer really decimated last year, but it also encircles the red raspberry patch, and the row of black raspberries.

The fence is successful in that it does keep out the deer, and seemed to be keeping out the rabbits so we were happy. The crop rotation put the Brussels sprouts in a new bed where they did not do well so that bed got an extra helping of compost this fall. It is newly planted to garlic which will be harvested in July.

Garlic Harvest 2012

The garlic crop, my second, was a big success, and I give a lot of the credit to seed garlic that I got from my neighbor Rol Hesselbart. Huge cloves!

Floating Row Cover on planting bed

My first experiment in the spring was using floating row covers in the Early Garden right in front of the house. This protected spot was created by the lasagna method in 2010, an experiment that was wonderfully successful. The soil is fertile, well drained and gets sun all day long. It is a great place to plant greens early in the season. Last year the rabbits thought so, too.

I thought that the floating row covers which are designed to get crops off to an early start would also protect them from the rabbits because the covers are pinned down. I was right and I was able to harvest lettuces and other greens for my own meals. The rabbits had to make do with nibbling the lawn.

Apparently by August the rabbits had found a way into the fenced vegetable garden so the late planting of greens was attacked. It took me a while to remember that floating row covers work as protection. Better late than never. The row covers were arranged and I was able to get a small harvest there.

Some may remember the great Tomatoes in a Strawbale experiment that left my husband wounded and bloody. This experiment was not very successful. The hole in the strawbale to hold compost was so difficult to create that we did not make it very big. I did not think this was too important. I thought the roots would grow into the wet and rotting straw and get sufficient nutrition. I was wrong.

The strawbale was placed at the end of the Herb Bed where it was regularly watered. The two cherry tomato plants I inserted into the compost and straw grew and produced fruit, but without the vigor they had in the vegetable garden. When I recently pulled the frosted plants out of the strawbale I saw that the roots were stunted. They had not been able to grow strongly through the bale as I expected.

What could I have done differently? When I saw that the young plants were not really thriving I could have begun a fertilization schedule as I do with my potted annuals.

If I want to try this next year, what can I do that will bring more success? I can make a larger planting hole.

If I want to change the experiment slightly what can I do? Instead of using a strawbale, which has the advantage of being weed free, but is very dense and not as I nutritious as I thought, I could use a haybale. Daniel Botkin of Laughing Dog Farm in Gill told me that if I leave a haybale out in the weather all winter any weed seeds will rot and the hay can be used as a planting site or as mulch with no danger of importing seeds.

Because the point of an experiment is to learn, no experiment can ever be called a total failure. A hypothesis, such as tomatoes can grow well in a strawbale, is tested. The results of the hypothesis are evaluated and examined. The tomatoes did not grow well because the root system did not develop properly. Then a new hypothesis can be considered, and tested next year.

As a gardener I sometimes feel I am perpetually in a high school science class. And that is a good thing. Therefore, I have already picked up four haybales and stationed them in the garden for further experiments next spring.

What experiments did you try this year? Did you get the results you desired or expected? Did you learn enough to formulate a new hypothesis? Please let me hear from you by emailing commonweeder@gmail.com and we can compare notes in a future column. ###

Between the Rows  November 3, 2012

The chickens had a happy year, too.