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Garden books always inspire and teach me. It was once a dream of mine to have a cutting garden. This would be a garden with lots of flowers from early spring to late fall. I would stroll amid these beauties every morning and pick a little bouquet, snowdrops or narcissus for my bedroom. I would wake every morning to the beauties of spring. In the summer and fall the house would be filled with my beautiful bouquets of roses, peonies, Mexican sunflowers and zinnias and endless other delicate and sturdy flowers. Need I tell you I never made such a cutting garden? However, at one point in my life I was quite pleased with my big bouquets of autumnal foliage and my favorite late blooming chrysanthemum called the Sheffield daisy.
 Mastering the Art of Flower Gardening by Matt Mattus Mastering the Art of Flower Gardening
I was just sent a beautiful garden book that has rekindled my desire to bring flowers into the house. Matt Mattus has written Mastering the Art of Flower Gardening: A Gardener’s Guide to Growing Flowers from Today’s Favorites to Unusual Varieties (Cool Springs Press $30.)
In his introduction Mattus tells us “Within these pages I touch on many of the lost 19th century horticultural crafts gardeners practiced, such as forcing lily of the valley pip into bloom or raising tuberoses and mignonette in the home garden.” I have no trouble with lily of the valley, but my attempt at growing a tuberose last summer was a total failure. And I’m not even sure I know what mignonette is. But this beautifully illustrated book gives me hope.
There is a brief beginning with basic information about Getting Started. Then we are on to gorgeous portraits of some spring bloomers like primulas and irises, but that is just a teaser. It is followed by page spreads of several flowers with very specific information about that one flower.
Certain flowers like primroses, Primula, which come in many forms, earn even more special attention. I have two types of primrose in my garden. Japanese primroses which are more than a foot tall love a swampy site that even has shade were given to me by a friend. My other old fashioned polyanthus is very small and sweet and makes me feel like I might bump into Shaskespeare any minute.
Then Mattus moves us into spring and information about 57 summer bloomers. Many of these will be familiar like lavender, petunias and zinnias. Some I never heard of like Bird’s Eye Gilia grown in cottage gardens in 1700, and Mignonette, also grown in the 1700s, and loved for its fragrance. It is just wonderful to find new plants that might feel like a necessary addition to your garden.
Mattus also has a wonderful blog. Gardening With Plants, has useful information about the world of plants, and how to combine plants in the garden and in a bouquet.
 The Earth in Her Hands by Jennifer Jewell THE EARTH IN HER HANDS
The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working the World of Plants by Jennifer Jewell (Timber Press $35) takes us on a tour of the work done by women in many fields, botany, environmental science, landscape design, agriculture, garden writing and photography and public garden administration and public police. And more.
Some of the women profiled will be familiar. There is Marta McDowell, author of Emily Dickinson’s Gardens, and Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life and more. July Moir Messervy is a garden designer with several excellent and useful books to her name. I have been reading Amy Stewart’s books for 15 years for their information and charm.
But there are other fascinating women I have never been introduced to. British Tessa Traeger is an amazing photographer; Hemlata Pradhan a Botanical artist in India; Mia Lehrer, a landscape architect at Studio-MLA in California whose concern is making cities more livable; Fionnulal Fallon writes a garden column for the Irish Tines and is also a flower farmer and florist in Ireland; and Cynthia Ann Brown is the Manager of Horticulture Collections and Education at the Smithsonian Gardens in Washington, D.C. There are many ways to go to work in the garden. All these women have included a note about other women who have inspired them. This is the kind of book that will lead you to finding other books and ‘gardeners.’
For the past three years I have been invited by a friend to read to her first grade every Friday afternoon. These first graders want to learn about everything, history, art, bad days, and learning about jobs they might do some day.
 The Seedling That Didn’t Want to Grow by Britta Teckentrup The Seedling That Didn’t Want to Grow
Garden books are for children too. The Seedling That Didn’t Want to Grow by Britta Teckentrup (Prestel $14.95) gives us a delightful story of how a seed was slow in sending up its first shoots, but accompanied and encouraged by a lady bird and an ant, did begin to grow among the forest trees. This unique seed grows and changes until finally its branches reach the sun. But that is not the end. There will be a lovely surprise in the spring.
The beautiful illustrations invite children to think about plants, other creatures and the environment. And we are all reminded that growth does not happen on a tight schedule. It has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as “delicate, complex, extravagant, beautiful and strong,”
Happy Reading!
Between the Rows March 21, 2020
 Clethra alnifolia, summrsweet or sweet pepperbush We have seen A and B. Now we are up to C – Clethra alnifolia, commonly called summersweet, is a deciduous shrub that is native to swampy woodlands, wet marshes, stream banks and seashores. Because of my wet garden, this fragrant shrub thrives. It is about four feet high. It gets lots of sun
The sweetly fragrant white flowers appear in narrow, upright panicles. It will bloom for a long season in mid to late summer. It attracts birds as well as butterflies.
 Cosmos, an annual The simple cosmos flowers provide easy access to nectar and pollen. They not only attract the familiar bees, cosmos attract other beneficial insects we rarely think about like lacewings, parasitic wasps, tachinid flies and hoverflies that feed on many pest insects.
I like them because they are easy to grow, and bloom late in summer and continue until late in the fall. How wonderful to be able to put together a bouquet so late in the year.
Like cosmos calendula flowers will attract benefiical insects like lacewings, hoverflies and ladybugs. They also attract the bees and butterflies that are so welcome in our garden.
 Calendula Calendula comes in various golden shades, sometimes daisy-like and sometimes like these lush calendulas. The flowers provide nectar and pollen that attract bees and butterflies. The nectar attracts other beneficial insects such as ladybugs, hoverflies, and lacewings.
While calendula attracts pollinators it is is also known to have medicinal powers. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial properties, and is often used to soothe a long list of skin ailments including—but not limited to—cuts, scrapes, bruises, bee stings, insect bites. It is nice to have a little calendula oil or salve around to sooth a minor cut or insect bite.
When I started to really think about it, I realized had a number of other C flowers in my garden: Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), chrysanthemum, columbine, coneflower (Echinacea), coreopsis, and crocosmia (Montbretia). Columbine blooms in the spring, while the others bloom in the summer, and even into the fall.
How many C flowers do you have in your garden?
 Melinda McCreven – founder of the Cabin Fever Seed Swap with her sunflower seeds Have you ever attended a seed swap? Thirteen years ago Melinda McCreven wanted to attend a seed swap. When she could not find one she put out the word that she was holding a seed swap. One of the responders said a seed swap was a great antidote to cabin fever. And so the Cabin Fever Seed Swap was launched.
All kinds of seeds for swapping are brought to this jolly event every year. Some seed swappers are also seed savers. They collect ripened seeds from some of the plants in the garden whether vegetables or flowers. Gardeners collect those seeds and put them in small labeled envelopes.
 Danny Botkin had lots of vegetable and bean seeds Some seed savers bring bowls of large saved seeds, like different beans and squashes.
Some gardeners have leftover seeds still in their packets that they did not plant. Some even bring old seed packets, full of unused seeds.
McCreven brought a tin of big sunflower seeds to the swap. When we talked about the swap she reminded me that I, in my person as a Recorder columnist, awarded her a First Prize Blue Ribbon for her Sunflower in the first Sunflower Contest held in the Energy Park many years ago. She also won second prize for her sunflower the following year. The sunflower contest only went on for one more year, and I no longer remember any of the winners but they taught me about the pride gardeners had in their beautiful sunflowers, on tall stems or in charming bouquets.
McCreven is a Horticultural Therapist. When not arranging the seed swap she works with children and flowers in many ways. Last year she made a sunflower house at Just Roots for children to play in. She also gets calls from nursing homes who want her to plant and arrange flowers for residents.
 New seed packets and some that are slightly outdated In addition to saving seeds, and creating art with sunflowers, she works with six varieties of willow to make sculptures. I am looking forward to a tour of those willow sculptures in her back yard once the season has progressed a bit more.
Andrea O’Brien has been a part of the Cabin Fever Seed Swap for three years now. She is a farmer and a wife to farmer Ed O’Brien. Their farm in Orange has 100 cows, but only 40 are milking at any one time. Andrea is up at four in the morning to help with the cows, but she also cares for her own two acres of mixed vegetables. “I sell butternut squash by the bushel,” she said. She also sells fresh eggs and offers 20 week CSA shares to her customers.
O’Brien offers a seed swap at the farm on September 20 this year. There is a Tomato Tasting and a tomato seed swap. That is another occasion that sounds like a lot of fun, and a chance to try out some interesting heirloom tomatoes.
This year she brought Frederick, one year old, to the swap along with bean and squash seeds. “I bring the seeds of large vegetables, because that is most of what I sell,” she said.
Danny Botkin of Laughing Dog Farm in Gill brought lots of unfamiliar heirloom bean seeds. Danny likes sharing his seeds, and his knowledge. For nearly 20 years Botkin has been teaching others about growing food. He sometimes works with WWOOFers, those who make use World Wide Opportunities for Organic Farming. He works with WWOOFers, but also occasionally holds work shops; he is always teaching others about gardening/farming techniques for the health of gardeners and the land.
 Some people brought seeds in their own envelops I was thrilled with my selection of unusual and familiar-to-me seeds. I have packets of lettuce, radishes, Ronde de Nice Zucchini, Captain Kopeykin tomato, scarlet runner beans, Sugar Magnolia peas with a purple pod, Blue Lake pole beans (it seems very hard to find pole beans these days) zinnias, fragrant sweet peas, calendula and cosmos!
This year I have chosen a garden space for companionable perennials and annuals that will attract pollinators. I am also counting on this arrangement to provide me with flowers for bouquets.
Two summers ago my husband and I visited the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. This organization, created in 1975 by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy, was to preserve heirloom seeds that would be available to everyone. Nowadays we see seed packets and plants that have been patented. All well and good, but we need to protect heirloom seeds. In fact, the Seed Savers Exchange has stored some seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway which is the ultimate protection of seeds in case of disaster.
I like to think positively about the future, but it is not a bad idea to hedge our bets and save seeds, have fun, and a beautiful and delicious gardens in the future.
Between the Rows March 14 2020
 Bloom Day begins with crocus Bloom Day here in western Massachusetts has been creeping in. The temperature this morning, as many mornings was 40 degrees with temperatures sometimes rising into the 50s.
These tiny yellow crocuses have been in bloom for over a month. Some days are sunny, some are cloudy. Some days are cold and some are unexpectedly warm. These little flowers surprise all the dog walkers who regularly walk past our house. I wish I knew their name. I should explain all that gravel in the lawn. That is what happens when shovelling snow when the muddy driveway is embellished with nice pea stone.
 Purple crocus These tiny purple crocus, tommasinianus, took longer to bloom, but they are beginning to wake up. My neighbor who has a sunnier yard has a large blanket of purple crocuses. I think I planted other crocus varieties, but no sign of them yet.
 Fringed bleeding hearts No other blooms on this Bloom Day, but these fringed bleeding hearts are making themselves known. They grow in a sunny spot up against our house foundation.
The temperature this morning, as many mornings, was 40 degrees with bright sun. It is time to finally start cleaning up the garden. I raked the leaves in front of the house and saw stalwart daffodil shoots. Underneath those leaves I found a few green leaves on the epimediums. I am celebrating Bloom Day with new energy, and thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
 Shrubs & Hedges by
Eva Monheim Two books came to me recently; the first Shrubs & Hedges and the other The Complete Book of Ferns. Good timing for me because all this mild weather (so far) has sent me daydreaming and planning spring projects. A garden is never-done. There are always changes to be made because of mistakes or because we just really need something different.
Shrubs & Hedges: Discover, Grow and Care for the World’s Most Popular Plants by Eva Monheim (Cool Springs Press paper $30) is a great book. My appreciation is easy to understand. Now that I am in my more mature years I welcome plants that take less work. In addition, when we moved to town my husband swore he would never mow a lawn ever again. In the spring and summer of 2015 we planted our first trees and shrubs and began our new grassless (mostly) garden. We have been blissfully happy every since.
Shrubs & Hedges is a comprehensive book, with advice about every aspect of designing, planting, pruning, rejuvenating, and propagation. There are many color photographs of different shrubs and ways they can be used. In addition there are plant lists complete with information about names, cold tolerance, size, season interest, sun or shade, color and bloom form. The chapter on classic and rising star shrubs provides more information about both familiar and new plants.
The chapter on pruning was particularly helpful to me because I am always timid about pruning. Drawings of different plants and the pruning techniques they require are very helpful. As are the drawings overlaid on real trees to illustrate common problems about where to trim and prune. Some pruning techniques will create an espalier.
Photographs and drawings are excellent and will make different tasks easier to act on.
Eve Monheim has thought of every aspect of working with shrubs, choosing shrubs for hedges, attracting wildlife into the garden including pollinators, and choosing shrubs for rain gardens, hillsides, and riversides.
Monheim has been teaching horticulture for over thirty years with numerous specialties. Currently she teaches at Longwood Gardens for the Professional Horticulture Program. I am a gardener with a wet garden, desirous of making it welcoming to all creatures and this book has really fired me up to do more and better – with her advice.
 The Complete Book of Ferns by Mobee Weinstein We gardeners tend to have specialties. Which is not to say we don’t have variety in our gardens, but we might have a lot of hydrangeas, or a lot of roses, or a lot of tomatoes. The Complete Book of Ferns by Mobee Weinstein will encourage any gardener to add some of the many varieties of ferns to their gardens, or even indoors.
Weinstein begins with the different types of fern from terrestrial ferns, those living in the ground; aquatic, those living in water; epiphytic, those living on tree branches; and epipetric and lithophytice which grow on the surfaces of rocks. Ferns on rocks! Amazing. That is just the beginning of information about the evolution of ferns, a fascinating section on fern botany that includes how to work with ferns.
Then there are three chapters on growing ferns indoors, growing ferns outdoors, and finally, do-it-yourself crafting with ferns. Weinstein is clear and articulate in every section.
I did plant some ferns in my new garden. I lost my plant list but I am pretty sure the ferns I planted in one of the wettest parts of my garden are Lady ferns (Athyrium filix-femina). According to the book Lady ferns are very adaptable and can tolerate a very wet spot and full shade. My ferns have survived, and thrived, in my very wet and shady garden. I bought a couple of Maidenhair ferns at Nasami but they did not survive winter in my wet garden. I will remember that the various Maidenhair ferns are more delicate.
This book includes beautiful photographs of ferns I have never seen. I’m surprised at how different some of the fern foliage is. The tropical Tongue fern has long single-strap fronds, Japanese Painted fern has silvery fronds and deep red stems, and the Southern Maidenhair fern has delicate leaflets on black stems. Some of the fern names are descriptive. There is Japanese Bird’s Nest Fern, Squirrel Foot Fern, Caterpillar Fern and many others.
One fern I know by name is the Equisetum hyemale. Equisetum grew by our roadside in Heath; I knew it as horsetail. Another name is scouring rush because of it high silica content. I did not use it for scouring, but I liked knowing it was a living fossil that originated about 350 million years ago!
Weinstein’s final section on crafting with ferns is inspiring. There are many ways to make fern terrariums; planting ferns in a vertical garden; building dish gardens, tabletop gardens and many other ways of using ferns in the house. For those who are artistic there are directions for making and framing fern prints.
Mobee Weinstein knows her stuff. She is the Foreman of Gardeners for Outdoor Gardens at the New York Botanical Garden, as well as a frequent lecturer.###
Between the Rows February 22, 2020
 Orange trees arranged as preparations for the Bulb Show begin Extra! Extra! Bulb Show Cancelled!
I visited the Lyman Plant House before the Covid-19-driven cancellation was announced. Now we will look forward to next year. In the meantime, you can still learn a bit about what it takes to put on the show. Keep Safe!
No matter the weather the Smith College Annual Bulb show sings out that Spring is here. For 100 years staff and students at Smith College have worked to present a blooming array of familiar daffodils, tulips, crocuses and more exotic plants from around the world.
I visited the Lyman Plant House on a sunny day last week and saw the bones of the show with golden orange trees in place. The corners were stuffed with silky pussy willows and cherry blossoms in bud. Ranks of tulips, not yet blooming, marched down one side of the room and some very mysterious plants were growing on the other side. The Chinese witch hazel with its twirly red flowers is stunning. The budded freesias promise delicious fragrance.
 Chinese Witch Hazel Jimmy Grogan, Conservatory Curator, met me and introduced me to Dan Babineau, and Steve Sojowski the current staff members who care for the Plant House all year. I was ready for a tour to learn what it takes to create the glorious Bulb Show.
My tour began with the Bunker, a controlled refrigerated room with ranks of shelves to hold and fool at least 5000 bulbs that it is winter. Potting up those bulbs is a lot of work, especially when you consider that different bulbs will need different soil mixtures.
Fortunately more than 30 horticulture students help pot up and store the bulbs in the Bunker in November. The temperature there is 42 degrees to begin. Temperatures are moderated as the winter wanes, and in January bulbs leave the Bunker. The bulbs then go to live in two cool rooms that are never open to the public. These rooms provide space and appropriate temperatures for the different tasks and plants that need care during the year.
 Daffodils and more in Lyman House cool room It is the ever warming temperatures and increasing sunlight that make the bulbs begin to grow. And grow. Every room in the greenhouse has sensors to keep temperatures and humidity at the proper level. All this care and work brings the plants into bloom exactly in time for the opening of the Bulb Show on the first Saturday in March. The Show is open every day until the third Sunday.
While I was being shown the Bunker, Babineau, who has worked in the green house for six years now, said “I enjoy working in the greenhouse. We’re laid back but we keep everything clean and there is no downtime. I also like getting to learn new things.”
 Anemones in the cool room of Lyman Plant House This is Sojowski’s 29th year of the 34 that he has been working in the Smith Gardens and greenhouse. “This will be the third show the two of us have worked on together. We keep learning more about the bulb seasons every year.”
Sojowski pointed to the potted narcissus and other blooming plants on the cement floor and explained that this is an additional way of keeping them cool.
Babineau and Sojowski are pretty cool about their work, but surrounded by beautiful and fragrant plants like the camellia corridor, it is clear there is no down time.
Neither are they the only people at work in the greenhouse. They showed me the classrooms for horticulture students, and the very sunny and green student greenhouse. I thought about the Long Green Line of Smith students who have been studying horticulture, experimenting and hybridizing plants in those rooms forbidden the public, for more than 100 years.
When Sojowski and Babineau said their good-byes and went back to work, I had time to wander through the rest of the greenhouse. I love to sit in the cool temperate house by the waterfall. It is a peaceful spot and while sitting there it is hard to remember that you are on a busy campus in a busy town.
There are other special rooms heated or cooled to the specific needs of ferns, palms, or succulents. There is a lot of beauty to take in.
 Linen, wool and silk textiles dyed by plants There is more to the greenhouse than plants. The entryway provides exhibition space. This year the exhibit is The Art and Science of Dyeing: A Collaboration between the Botanic Garden of Smith College and Textile Artist Michelle Parrish. Long dyed panels of silk, wool and linen are hung to show off a range of dye colors created by using plants like madder, marigolds, woad, and even parts of shellfish. You are invited to touch. Gently.
The Bulb Show is open every day from Saturday March 7 through Sunday, March 22. The Lyman Green House is open 9-10 am for Friends of the Botanic Garden only. Then it opens for the public from 10 am – 4 pm. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday there are extended hours until 8 pm. The Bulb Show has become so popular and such a loved precursor of spring that those extended hours are very welcome.
Between the Rows March 7, 2010
 Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis, loves the water.
It quickly became clear to us that our new Greenfield garden was very wet. In the western regions we might even say swampy for a good part of the year. I learned that Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis, is the perfect shrub for such a site. Indeed, it is sometimes used for riparian repair. Its roots at the edge of rivers and streams hold the edges in place. My buttonbush is happy in its swamp
Buttonbush has unusual spiky flowers that are fragrant. It is a native plant and attracts many species of birds and butterflies. Its needs some sun and blooms in mid-summer. A ball-like fruit will last over the winter. My beautiful buttonbush is a spready four feet tall.
 Buttonbush closeup in July Other familiar flowers begin with the letter B. There is baby’s breath, balloon flower, bellflower, black-eyed susan, blanket flower, blazing star, bachelor buttons, bleeding heart and more than I can count.
 Bee balm, otherwise known as bergamot or most scientifically Monarda How many B plants do you have in your garden? Bee balm/bergamot attracts bees of all sorts, butterflies and hummingbirds. In our old Heath house we could see our large stand of bee balm from the dining table. What did we see? Hummingbirds! And they were hungry, but satisfied by the bee balm.
 Heuchera ‘Marmalade’ a colorful shade plant Almost every garden has a shady spot and a shade loving plant or two is required. Last summer we put up a six foot fence. One side of that fence will be sunny for most of the day, but the other side will have shade for most of the day. I am planning a narrow bed along the shady side of the fence. Now I am deciding which shade loving plants would be useful and appealing.
Heucheras, coral bells, are beautiful flowers for a shady spot. Many varieties in stunning colors are available at most garden centers. I will definitely make a trip to Garden Supply at Hadley Garden Center this spring. I have a soft spot in my heart for Garden Supply because the Gardeners Supply Company was born in Burlington, Vermont – and I spent part of my childhood in Charlotte nearby. In addition I bought a Gardener’s Supply garden cart about 25 years ago and it is still in operation.
Terra Nova is a nursery that specializes in heucheras. I am sure Gardener’s Supply at Hadley Garden Center will have coral bells, although I don’t know which varieties. I have seen H. Electric Lime and think it would be a good choice because it is such a brilliant green and tolerates deep shade. It makes a healthy clump 12 inches high, 28 inches wide with white flowers on 16 inch stems.
Marmalade foliage is warm and shiny in shades of umber to deep sienna with pinky undersides and white flowers. It is slightly smaller than Electric Lime, but would still provide a warm brightness in the shade. Both of these heucheras will bloom in May into June.
 Lady’s Mantle, properly named Alchemilla mollis, a quiet shade plant for a quiet site Lady’s Mantle, otherwise known as Alchemillia mollis, is not as showy as coral bells. It is an energetic ground cover with beautiful scalloped foliage. I love this plant because of the slightly frilly foliage, but also because that foliage collects raindrops. Or hose-drops. I just recently learned that butterflies make use of those drops when they are thirsty. I confess I never gave much thought to butterflies needing water, but now I realize how important Lady’s Mantle is. It also produces languid green-gold flowers over a very long season. Usually I don’t pick the flowers but they do make good filler in bouquets.
 Tiarella – Foam Flower for the shade Tiarella cordifolia, foamflower, is another wonderful, but less showy groundcover with runners that will spread the plant rapidly. It can take full shade, but never minds some sun. It also welcomes a damp spot with rich humusy soil. In fact it is a dry spot that will cause hardship. The foliage stays close to the ground all season and with flower spikes in pink or white that will stand almost a foot tall in May. Some people deadhead tiarellas, but I have found that by the time the flowers are finished there is so much else going on in the garden that the dead spikes are not noticeable and they will eventually disappear. I think this a useful plant because it densely covers the ground and does a really good job keeping down the weeds.
 Hellebores, an exotic shade plant Hellebores that bloom in early spring are shade plants both exotic and shy at the same time. Its common name is Lenten Rose promising blooms in the very early spring. The flowers come in many shades from pale to dark, often single but sometimes double. They are shy because their blossoms, which are actually sepals surrounding the very shy real flowers, are always bowing their heads. Those sepals are what give hellbores a long bloom period.
Breeders are always trying to create hellebores that will look up at you. There has not been much success. Therefore some gardeners have found a slope is an ideal place to plant them. I don’t have a slope but I do have a desire to try a hellebore.
 Astilbe – shade plant Astilbes are wonderful garden plants. Astilbe x arendsii is the most common family to be found in garden centers. They bloom in many colors from white to pink to lavender, with spikes of flowers up to 3 feet. Rhineland is a pink variety that blooms very early in the spring, with feathery spires nearly two feet tall. Fanal is one of the few good red astilbes, usually little more than a foot tall. A. chinensis Superba is one of the most stunning astilbes with four foot tall magenta flower spikes on sturdy stems. On the other hand A. chinensis Little Vision in Pink is only about 15 inches tall. I have nameless astilbes left by the previous owners of our house. Now I have my eye on A. thunbergii Ostrich Plume with 30 inch tall nodding plumes. All the astilbes attract butterflies and hummingbirds, and tolerate dampness in the shade.
Solomon’s Seal, Polygonatum odoratus, is a scented woodland shade plant that works beautifully in a shady garden. It has graceful two to three foot arching stems. Often the light green leaves are edged with white. Delicate greenish-white tubular flowers hang from the stems. Solomon’s Seal spreads slowly by rhizomes, but once it is established it will form a good colony. This is a pest-free plant, very low maintenance, but watch out for snails.
You will find all of these shade loving plants at garden centers and others. You will also find them at spring plant sales like the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale in Shelburne Falls on May 16 this year. Mark your calendar.###
Betweetn the Rows February 29, 2020
 Leslie Harris and Maida Goodwin L-R in front of a QuonQuont Barn Last September I visited Quonquont Farm in Whately with other members of the Greenfield Garden Club. I had no idea what to expect. The apple orchard and blueberry fields were unexpected delights, but I learned there was a lot more to Quonquont than apples and blueberries.
Quonquont Farm has been in business, one way or another since 1759 when a roadside tavern was built. Later a tannery was set up. By 1860 it was a farm we would recognize today with milk cows, beef cattle and tobacco. Of course, dairy and tobacco farms have changed a lot since then.
Ann Barker and Allison Bell bought QuonQuont in 2000. The orchards and blueberries were their main concern. Then ten years ago they started arranging things to host special events. Eight years ago they renovated the big barn and were ready.
 Quonquont Farm Wedding Pavillion The Garden Club toured the apple orchard which includes 17 types of apples that ripen over a long season. There are familiar apples like Northern Spy and McIntosh, and the less familiar Mollie Delicious. There is also a peach orchard, and plums were recently added. Remember that next fall when you visit to pick or buy fruit. Quonquont has its own Farmers Market on site.
I love berries and walking through the two acres of blueberries gave me a thrill. I also got some advice about pruning blueberries. I am the kind of person who worries about removing too much of a plant, but I can understand that a seven year old bush can welcome some revitalization. But not too much at one time.
It was cold the day I visited a couple of weeks ago and I was glad that pruning two acres of blueberries in this season was not my responsibility.
I met Maida Goodwin, Horticulture Manager, and Leslie Harris, Farm Manager, at the small barn with warm smiles. They ushered me into an office space, but we kept our jackets on. Did I say it was a cold day?
We all sat down and Goodwin said that in her second work life she went to the University of Massachusetts and earned a degree in Plant and Soil Science. She then went on to work for ten years Blue Meadow Farm known for its beautiful and unusual flowers. There were other horticultural endeavors but in 2017 she arrived at QuonQuount to add flowers to the fruit menu. The flowers are now an important part of the business and the special events that are now held there.
 Pick Your Own Flowers at QuonQuont Goodwin created a flower garden of perennials and annuals where visitors can pick and buy their own flowers for bouquets. “I love working with the flowers. I feel rich when I put a bouquet together,” she said.
Goodwin said that over the growing season more than 200 different flowers come into bloom. There is everything from large brilliant Mexican sunflowers and funny ‘balloon plants’ to amaranth and dahlias. The cutting garden is arranged in narrow rows that make cutting easy.
 Flower Night is fun for everyone. You don’t even need to be preparing for a wedding. A once a month Flower Night was instigated, from June to September. Goodwin is there to help and give suggestions. “People don’t always think about all the different things that can go into a floral bouquet like vines and foliage to make it more interesting.”
“Sometimes, people will stop and buy some flowers after they have finished picking their fruit,” Goodwin said. She also said that friends and wedding party participants often enjoy putting table bouquets together the day before a wedding. “It is a festive time to enjoy time together.”
Leslie Harris came to Quonquont five years ago. After spending 25 years working in non-profit animal shelters she made a big and happy change. She quickly learned to ride the tractor and use the other necessary equipment. “Everyone has been really helpful – from the Extension Service and other growers,” she said. “I even know how to fix the equipment these days, but there is always someone to advise me when I get stuck.”
Harris and Goodwin said that because there are so many special events on the grounds they are always thinking about the sightlines. Do all the grounds look beautiful and cared for? Is all equipment neatly tucked away at the end of day?
They told me that many kinds of events are held every year. Of course, there are weddings. A new pavilion has been erected to offer shade and shelter from the rain. Weddings can be small or large but the event team is ready to care for 200 attendees. They will also hold the Valley Wed event on May 17, 2020, from noon to 2 p.m. Wedding professionals will be on hand to provide information for those making their wedding plants.
Weddings are a very important life event, but we can’t forget birthdays, retirements and memorials. Goodwin and Harris also reeled off a list of fundraisers held at the Farm including CISA, Dakin Animal Shelter, the Food Bank and many others. “Once there was a day long retreat for high school staff,” Goodwin said. I can well understand that high school teachers would welcome a day in this serene spot.
 More Quonquont Flowers Quonquont has a great website, www.quonquont.com that provides information about fruit and events. ###
Between the Rows February 8, 2020
 Native purple columbine, Aquilegia canadensis I begin my Alphabet for Pollinatores with A is for Aquilegia canadensis, or columbine as it is commonly known.
Hummingbirds are attracted to Aquilegia . They can hover while they sip nectar from the flowers. This columbine was in my Heath garden, but it is the native red columbine that really attracts hummingbirds and other birds including
Of course there are other A plants that attract pollinators:
Alyssum is a low-growing annual with flowers that can attract pollinators all summer.
Anise hyssop or Agastache foeniculum, is a tall late summer blooming plant attracting all manner of pollinators.
Alchemilla mollis or Lady’s Mantle is a beautiful ground cover that is known for the drops of rain that are captured on its scalloped leaves. Those drops provide water for butterflies. We have to remember that pollinators need pollen, but they also need water..
Lady’s Mantle, properly named Alchemilla mollis Note the many captured raindrops. Pollinator Friendly Gardening by Rhonda Fleming Hayes is just one book that will help you know which plants will support pollinators in their every need.
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