The week before the Heath Fair is full of activity and anxiety. Rory wanted to enter pickles this year - as he did last year. Last year we somehow got the sugar and the salt mixed up, but the good news is that the judges don't taste the pickles, they just look at the jars. Consistency is paramount. It takes a lot of slicing to make bread and butter pickles. Fortunately, I was once given a really fancy…
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Lorene Forkner, one of the organizers of the fabulous Seattle Fling, invited us to her own garden which is not large, but filled with enough plants and art of interest to keep me inspired for the next decade. I cannot help it. It is the roses that catch my eye first. This rose cluster was so heavy it would have been on the ground in my garden, but Lorene whipped up a support. My question is - did…
My husband was amused to wake up yesterday morning and find me - and the gray cat - out in the garden weeding in between drizzly sprinkles of rain. I have been trying to weed for weeks, but somehow there hasn't been time. And there wasn't much time yesterday either, but you can get an idea of what is blooming right now: Miss Lingaard phlox hasn't quite given up, a pink phlox is in full flower, as is Blue…
I just celebrated my 71st birthday and my daughter (my 50 year old daughter!) said that I was now “well into my 70s.” I’m not quite sure how to take that; in my own mind I am barely over 16. However, my muscles disagree and tell me I am definitely over 16, and even over 50. Fortunately I was able to visit with Rose Deskavich, sister member of the Greenfield Garden Club and mistress of a beautiful Greenfield…
Do you ever have trouble with deer nibbling and destroying plants in your garden? I am sad enough when I go out and find that deer have eaten my peas down to nothing, but I get really discouraged when I go out in the spring and find out that my expensive Hinoki false cypress is no more. Ruth Clausen has felt my pain and put together this useful book that not only gives excellent cultural information about 50…
Thomas Affleck was hybridized at the Antique Rose Emporium in 1998, so it is a new rose. In my garden it is about 4 feet tall and loaded with roses all season. It begins early and continues all summer. Its hardiness is a reminder that hardiness is built into a rose, and is not dependent on the climate of the nursery where it was grown. It is nearly thornless as promised, but it is not fragrant for me.…
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A 40 foot Herb Bed lies in front of our house where lilies and roses vie for space with rue, parsley, basil, variegated sage and thalictrum at the west end of the building past the Welcoming Platform where you can see yarrow, golden marjoram, sage, tarragon, rosemary, Ashfield black stem mint and chives to the end of the Bed where there is more basil, horseradish, lemon balm and dill that was knocked down by the rain that fell briefly last…
The weather has been hot and dry. Our Texas grandsons Anthony and Drew were glad to take a dip in Rowe Pond near-by this past week. They are excellent swimmers after several years on their local swim teams. We left the Pond when we heard thunder, but we never did get the longed for rain. When Kate returned to Heath after tending to other family responsibilities in the eastern part of the state she did a little touring…