Everything is new in January. New plans and new plants and new flowers. Even those of us who say we can’t fit another plant into our garden, and love all the plants we already have, can be really tempted when we see all those bright catalog photos. Last year I added Gaillardia Arizona Sun to my garden and I just loved it. It just glowed in the garden for a really long season. I am hoping it…
Garden journals are as individual as every garden. Some are elaborate and some, like mine, are usually more sketchy. Still, I have tried to keep a journal noting weather, and plants planted. There are many reasons to keep a garden journal and I have tried to keep some kind of record of each garden year. My system has varied over time. In our early years here on the hill I kept little 3 x 6 inch date books…
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Some people think that the palette of plants for deep shade provide little visual diversity in color and texture but this is not true. Variegated plants can alter that perception. First I have to say that there are all kinds of shade, from the deepest shade that you would find in a coniferous woodland, to the gay dappled shade or high shade beneath deciduous trees. It is important to remember that if you want flowers in your shade,…
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson can possibly be credited with starting the popular environmental movement. When the book was published in 1962 it was chosen as a Book-of-the-Month and was on the New York Times best seller for weeks. The book remains relevant today. The Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association is sponsoring a Reading Silent Spring Together program with three free talks by local experts with community discussion. There is no charge, but readers are asked to pre-register because…
The winter light at the End of the Road is all about all I have to say about gardening on these winter days. I'm just enjoying the view. This rooster guards the front door, even during blizzards. Day is done. For more Wordlessness on Wednesday click here.
Very pretty hydrangea blossom. But I don't think it will count on Bloom Day.
New England is famous for being a stony place. The stone walls that line our roads are a testament to the stones that farmers have been pulling out of their fields for centuries. We gardeners complain about constantly hitting stone as we dig in our gardens. On the other hand, most of us admire the beauty of stone patios and walkways, and dry laid stone walls built by stone masons. Gary Warner, of Goshen Stone Quarry, has been…
Those who know me know that books, or a bookstore gift certificate, are my favorite Christmas gifts. Latin for Gardeners, Over 3,000 plant names explained and explored by Lorraine Harrison is a beautiful book. The textured cover even feels beautiful, and the interior pages are subtly tinted with green. Special sections of Plant Profiles, information about Plant Hunters like Sir Joseph Banks and Jane Colden and Marianne North, and Plant Themes like The Qualities of Plants, are a deeper but…
Happy New Year to all! "The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months! ~Edward Payson Powell (American author and journalist 1833-1915)