Is Your Poinsettia an Annual or Perennial?

  • Post published:01/13/2015
  • Post comments:4 Comments

Do you treat your Christmas Poinsettia as an annual, and throw it way when it finally loses all those beautiful bracts, or do you care for it, baby it, and suffer its dormancy in order to bring it back into glorious bloom next December? Can you guess which approach I take with a Christmas poinsettia? I'll give you a hint. This is my second poinsettia, a gift from my husband. I left my first one in the car.…

Mary Gardens for Meditation

  • Post published:12/08/2014
  • Post comments:5 Comments

Mary Gardens do not bloom in December, but since the liturgical season of Advent is a time of waiting for the momentous birth of the Christ Child I cannot help but think about what a confusing time it must have been for Mary. All mothers waiting for the arrival of their first child often feel confused because emotions can range from frightened to joyous. What will the birth be like? What will the baby be like? What will…

Surprises on Wordless Wednesday

  • Post published:11/12/2014
  • Post comments:2 Comments

This pot of pansies was all but forgotten until the sun shone on it this afternoon. This large clump of chrysanthemums is still blooming so energetically that it refuses to be forgotten. For more Wordlessnes this Wednesday click here.

Fall Clean Up in the Garden

  • Post published:10/26/2014
  • Post comments:3 Comments

  The weather has been kind to those of us who procrastinate and go about fall clean up in the garden with a little less energy than we once had. Right now I am buckling down and in the midst of working through my to-do list. I got an early start in the vegetable garden in late September. I pulled out finished squash and bean plants and put all that biomass in the compost bin. All the empty…

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day – October 2014

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day arrives this October after two hard freezes. The trees are richly adorned adding most of the garden color at this time of the year. The roses are very nearly done, but Thomas Affleck, right near the door, has nearly a dozen blossoms left. In the rest of the garden there are a few scattered rugosa blossoms, and The Fairy is still making a bit of magic. This is the second year for Sedum 'Neon."…

Asters and Mums – and Sheffies

  • Post published:10/10/2014
  • Post comments:1 Comment

Returning from a few days away I was happy to see that the asters are still blooming. These sunny quilled mums don't look like the cold and the rain bothered them at all. The Montauk daisies have started to bloom! Do think I can now say that the Sheffies, my late blooming Sheffield daisies, are finally blooming?  I leave it up to you.

When Will My Sheffield Daisies Bloom?!

  • Post published:10/04/2014
  • Post comments:3 Comments

It is hard to believe these are Sheffield daisies. They could be any chrysanthemum - except that my chrysanthemum is blooming. I look closely at the Sheffield daisy buds to see if they look like they might be ready to open, or at least to be showing color. Why are they so late to bloom?  The summer was very cool for the most part. And dry in late August and all through September, but I did occasionally give…

Dahlia Season on the Bridge of Flowers

  • Post published:09/30/2014
  • Post comments:2 Comments

As a member of the Bridge of Flowers committee I am always happy when a visitor eloquently admires dahlia season on the Bridge of Flowers. Or any bloom season. Recently the Fine Gardening Magazine website featured a number of photos of the Bridge, and comments by Andy Engel of Fine Homebuilding Magazine - who finally followed the signs to the Bridge. To see his photos click here. I have taken my own photos of the Bridge this season.…

Birds and Blooms for Every Gardener

  • Post published:09/26/2014
  • Post comments:0 Comments

In spite of its name, Birds AND Blooms, I always thought of this magazine as concentrating on Birds. However, I've been looking at it from time to time and have come to  realize that it has lots of  good information for gardeners, too. In fact, as we all become more aware of  the pressures on our environment, climate change, depredations of host environments for migrating birds,  and a  simple desire to attract those 'flowers of the air" birds…

What’s Blooming on September 1 at the End of the Road

  • Post published:09/01/2014
  • Post comments:2 Comments

What's blooming on September 1? As we acknowledge that even though it isn't officially autumn, we notice the days are shorter, and a maple or sumac branch here and there has begun waving scarlet in the sunlight, the bloom goes on.  Thomas Affleck is the only rose, as usual, that has much to show at this time of the year, although there is a stray blossom here and there on the Rose Walk. The ruogosa hips are ripening.…