Monks Garden at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

  • Post published:05/12/2015
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On Mother's Day we went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum so I could revisit the Monks Garden , newly designed by Michael VanValkenburg in 2013. I wanted to see how it was filling out, and if it really went 'crazy with hellebores" in the spring. This is where we entered on the graceful curving path. Visitors to the Museum can also enter the Monks Garden from one of the galleries. The trees are indeed filling out. Hellebores…

Little Bulbs – Early Spring Bloomers

  • Post published:04/07/2015
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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…

Smith College Bulb Show a la Giverny

  • Post published:03/10/2015
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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-…

Shades of White for Winter, Spring and Summer

  • Post published:03/04/2015
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There are many shades of white in this world. Snow white is what I have been looking at for three frigid months now, but I dream of shades of white for spring and summer. First come the snowdrops - as white as snow. A very welcome white. Rhododendrons bloom towards the end of May, but 'Boule de Neige'  (Snowball) has a memory of the white winter. Somehow this pristine white seems prettier than the snow. High summer and…

Sampler of White Flowers for Summer and Fall

  • Post published:02/16/2015
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Last week I talked about some of the white spring flowers, but a whole array of white flowers bloom well into the fall. I can only mention a few. White Flowers for Summer One of the more unusual white flowers that grows in my garden is Artemesia lactiflora. Most of us think of artemesias as having silvery foliage and insignificant flowers. My Artemesia lactiflora grows in a very upright clump with reddish-maroon stems and very dark toothed foliage.…

White Flowers That Bloom in the Spring – Tra la

  • Post published:02/09/2015
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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…

My Amaryllis Mystery

  • Post published:01/19/2015
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I suppose my amaryllis mystery began on December 11, 2014 when I rather belatedly bought boxed amaryllis bulbs ready for planting and blooming. I knew they would not bloom in time for Christmas, but glamorous amaryllis flowers  are welcome in January and February as well. I potted all three bulbs up as directed. I did notice that the Athene white amaryllis seemed to have been pruned back more severely or more  recently than the other two. I kept…

Thinking About Our Gardens

  • Post published:11/22/2014
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  As I‘ve worked  to put my gardens to bed this fall I’ve also been thinking about gardens and how they came to take this form, and how any garden takes form. Some people plan a garden in one fell swoop. Or have someone do it for them. But I think for most of us we begin slowly and one step follows another. Which is a good thing because we learn about our site, and about ourselves as…

Spring Blooming Bulbs – Familiar and Unusual

  • Post published:09/20/2014
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  These chilly days and cool nights have got me thinking about spring. Or more specifically the need to plant spring blooming bulbs this fall. There is something about gardening that makes us gardeners keep one eye a season or two ahead, even as we work with the challenges and pleasures of the present. Catalogs for spring bloomers have already arrived. The Old House Gardens catalog is a favorite because I love thinking of the long history of…

Garlic Harvest Fresh Out of the Ground

  • Post published:07/22/2014
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This morning I dug up my 35 hard neck garlic bulbs. My garlic harvest is looking pretty good and I am looking forward to entering them in the Heath Fair next month. Garlic is a wonderful crop. So easy. You begin with good seed garlic which you can get from a friend as I did, or go to a garlic farm like Filaree where you will be amazed at how many kinds of garlic there are to sample…