Q is for the Quietness Rose, one of Griffith Buck's best hybrid roses. There is hardly any more to say after noting that this is a carefree rose, fragrant and beautiful. All you need to do is cut it back in the early spring because it blooms on new wood. The Quietness rose is one of the most admired roses on the Rose Walk. This is a rose for people who say they could never grow roses because…
P is for the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden. I last visited this garden in November of 2009 when there was still plenty of bloom on view although you wouldn't know it from this photo of the view from the entry to the Gazebo where Awakening roses twine around the beautiful iron framework. I had gone to meet Peter Kukielski, self-taught rosarian, and the then curator of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden,…
O is for Organizations. We gardeners have all sorts of enthusiasms, about plants, about conservations, and about education. There are many Organizations that support those enthusiasms. I belong to the Massaachusetts Horticultural Society which is headquartered in Wellesley. There Mass Hort has a library, classrooms, and wonderful gardens from the Italianate Garden to the delightful Weezies Garden for Children. Founded in 1829 this organization isty is "dedicated to encouraging the science and practice of horticulture and developing the…
N is for Nasami Farm, the Native plant nursery of the New England Wildflower Society. Founded in 1900 the New England Wildflower Society is one of the oldest conservation organizations in the country. "The mission of New England Wild Flower Society is to conserve and promote the region’s native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes." The Society owns and oeperates the beautiful Garden in t he Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts which features the largest landscape of native…
M is for Marcescence. Marcescence refers to the retention of dead plant parts that are usually shed. We all know that trees lose their leaves in the fall. Some of us may have noticed that oak trees, and beeches carry their dead leaves will into the fall. And maybe until the new leaf buds give the old leaf a final shove in the spring. Over the past few years I have noticed that there seem to be a lot…
My life with hydrangeas did not begin well. When I moved to Grinnell Street in 1971 several tortured and overgrown white hydrangeas grew in front of the porch. I don’t know what kind they were but they did not please me. I cut them down, and ultimately planted three dwarf apple trees in the narrow space between the sidewalk and the porch. This was probably not a good idea, but we moved to Maine in 1974 so the…
L is for Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Aroboretum on Sunday, May 12, 2013. Lilacs are the only plant at the Arboretum that gets its own Day. Not only will there be music and dancing, family activities and vendors, Lilac Sunday is the only day that picknicking is allowed at the Arnold Arboetum. I have attended and it is a fabulous event. The Arboretum, as usual will be open from 10 am to 4 pm. It is best…
K is for Kids at the End of the Road Farm. There are always projects and chores. Rory is collecting food for the worms. He and his cousins built our worm bin for vermicomposting, and have helped keep the worms fed when they are here. We've had the worms for five years now. Sometimes we have special events like riding lesssons at Birch Glen Stables. All the boys got lessons, and most of them were enjoyed. I like getting…
J is for Juniper which is essential for the making of gin. Read all in The Drunken Botanist. Author Amy Stewart, author of of other tell-all tales of plants and insects, Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, and Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon's Army and Other Diabolical Insects recently published her new book The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Make the World's Great Drinks. Her description of juniper includes a kind…
I is for Invasive Iris on the A to Z Blogger Challenge. Ihe iris in question here is the yellow flag, Iris pseudacorus, which I planted at the edge of our Frog Pond nearly 20 years ago. It didn't actually succeed there, which is amazing, but before it died it sent seeds up to our Sunken Garden which is very wet. I have been trying to destroy this plant for years, letting the little grandsons loose with clippers…