Bridge of Flowers Shelburne Falls
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Turkeys in the Road
Yesterday we again saw turkeys walking across the field; they came right up to the end of the road. Turkeys are no longer a rare sight in our neighborhood, however - - - one day I was visiting a friend and he showed me this - and asked if I could guess what it was. I could not. It is a well filled turkey crop, that part of a turkey that is an important part of its digestive…
Slowly, Slowly
The weekend was chilly and windy; the snow is nearly gone. There was work to do. Four potted rosebushes arrived from High Country Roses: Cardinal Richelieu, Agnes, Madame Hardy and Goldbusch. Their arrival inspired me to go out and clean out the Shed Bed which is right next to the hen house. I could not resist planting Cardinal Richelieu which will add its rosy purple hues to this assortment of pink roses. You will notice the arrangement of…
Starter Vegetable Garden Giveaway
Tis the season to start gardens. If you have been tentative about starting your first garden this year here is an opportunity to win a book that will be an immense help. Storey Publishing generously sent me a copy of Starter Vegetable Gardens: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens by Barbara Pleasant to giveaway to my readers. If you would like to win a copy leave a comment at the the end of this post. I would…
A First Garden
Our part of the world had an early start on the Local Food movement, to such a degree that we now have many more small farms in our area, operated by energetic and skilled farmers, and several farmer’s markets as well as farm stands. There is more interest in community gardens. Of course the very most local food comes from our own backyards. Right now because April is National Garden Month.the national media is full of information about…
Bloom Day – April 2011
The snowdrops that are still blooming at the End of the Road give you some hint of the weather here. Temperatures did get over 70 the other day, but this morning we are back to frost. This is not an impressive photo and neither is the plant, but I am just thrilled that it survived the arid Summer of 2010. I chose this particular witch hazel because I love the color of the twirly blossoms and because my…
The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the NYBG
The March-April issue of The American Gardener published by the American Horticultural Society includes a wonderful article about the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden and its curator, Peter Kukielski, by Patricia Taylor. The article explains how this famous rose garden at the New York Botanical Garden became sustainable. I interviewed Peter Kukielski in the fall of 2009 and wrote about him here. The article gives the names of rose breeders who have developed disease resistant roses, roses that need…
Nasami Farm Opens
Nasami Farm in Whately, the nursery of the New England Wildflower Society, will open for the season tomorrow, Thursday, April 14. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm from Thursday through Sunday every week.The Nursery offers about 400 nursery propagated native wildflowers and shrubs. I go every year to buy groundcovers like barren strawberry and shrubs like Rosa setigera. What will you need from Nasami this spring?
Bridge of Flowers Is Open
The sun was shining when I walked across the Bridge of Flowers last Friday. The Flower Brigade, those devoted volunteers, were raking and weeding. They were nearly done when I arrived and the Bridge looked terrific. Gone were all the wisteria seed pods, and the crocuses were in their glory. The Bridge of Flowers Committee is very busy right now planning the Annual Plant Sale, the season's big fund raiser, and a great opportunity to buy some modestly…
First Monday Report for Spring 2011
Temperatures soared above 60 degrees and this was the first weekend we could actually work outside, so let me give you a brief tour to set the scene. The snow is still melting and revealing that the winter has been kind to the rhodies. No breakage. Lots of buds. The "Limelight" hydrangea was not so lucky. The snow plow dumped a lot of our enormous snowfall at the edge of the lawn and broke more than half this…