Flowers in Every Season for Pollinators and Happy Gardener

  • Post published:06/12/2020
  • Post comments:0 Comments

It is not difficult to find flowers for every season.  Many spring flowers have decided it is time to take a nap until next April. If it weren’t for the fact that summer bloomers were beginning to show their colors I’d be very depressed. Like many of us my spring garden began with bulb flowers like scillas, crocuses, daffodils and tulips of every sort. In my May garden fringed bleeding hearts and a goldheart bleeding heart showed their…

Forty Years in the Garden – Chapter 3 – Book and Blogs

  • Post published:06/05/2020
  • Post comments:3 Comments

Over the years I occasionally thought about all the columns I had written since 1980. I enjoyed writing all those columns, but columns are so ephemeral. Here today, gone tomorrow. A friend suggested I write a book. After all, I had all that material. Writing a book is different from writing a column, but the idea appealed more every day. And one day I sat down and began to write. Every week I’d hand in my column, and…

Forty-years in the Garden – Chapter 2

  • Post published:05/29/2020
  • Post comments:2 Comments

Over the years I have been honored to be invited into many gardens. Sometimes gardeners are organizing a garden tour and want publicity. This is always a great opportunity for a columnist. Tour gardeners are always articulate and knowledgeable about their gardens. They are willing to share plant names, advice about care and design thoughts. It was not long before I created my own annual garden tour. Over the years it gave me substantial material. It was named…

Forty Years in the Garden – Between the Rows

  • Post published:05/23/2020
  • Post comments:1 Comment

The day after Thanksgiving in 1979 Henry and I packed a big U-Haul truck with all our New York belongings, and the three daughters, Diane, Betsy and Kate. The day was balmy and warm, the perfect day for moving. We stopped in Greenfield for supper and groceries, then onward to Heath. It was no longer balmy. Temperatures had plummeted. It was dark and we had to unload the truck or we would have no place to sleep. The…

New York Times and My Pandemic Garden

  • Post published:05/16/2020
  • Post comments:0 Comments

The pandemic has demanded many changes in our life. If we can’t go to work or to school we have to stay at home. The New York Times has read the zeitgeist and created a new section for their Sunday edition titled At Home. The large front page image has a child playing on the floor with his toys, while mom sits at a table thoughtfully putting together a jigsaw puzzle while another member of the household is…

Fun and Beauty in the Garden for Children and Adults

  • Post published:05/09/2020
  • Post comments:0 Comments

In these treacherous days of the coronovirus when many of us been laid off, children have been sent home from school, and no one can even remember what day of the week it is because we no longer have schedules, we should stop and take a deep breath. What can we do when so many must-dos no longer exist? First, we have to remember it is spring! The world is changing all around us. Birds are returning and…

New Adventures In The Garden – Despite Pandemic

  • Post published:05/04/2020
  • Post comments:1 Comment

New adventures are beginning. Last Thursday four new roses were delivered from the Antique Rose Emporium (ARE). And then it snowed. Well, only a little bit of snow, and the roses are resting in our side porch, gathering strength after the trip from Texas. Three hellebores and two primroses from the Greenfield Farmers Coop joined them, all waiting to get their feet into the soil. New Roses for  the New Rose Walk Quietness and Carefree Beauty are pink…

Fifty Years of Earth Day Celebrations

  • Post published:04/25/2020
  • Post comments:0 Comments

Fifty years ago I was cheering and celebrating the First Earth Day with hundreds of other people in the center of West Hartford, Connecticut. My five children, ages 11 to 4, were with me. I don’t know what they took in and what they made of all the excitement, but it was exciting. And I can report that Betsy, age 6 was already beginning her career as an activist. Betsy was in kindergarten at the time and she…

April – National Garden Month With a National Gardening Day

  • Post published:04/18/2020
  • Post comments:0 Comments

April is National Garden Month, and National Gardening Day is April 14. There is also a National Garden Week founded by National Garden Clubs but we will have to wait for June 7-13 to celebrate. We have lots of time and many occasions to celebrate our gardens, and get busy! There have not been too many glorious spring days, but the weather has been sufficiently cooperative that we have gotten out to do some spring cleaning. We do…

Seed Starting Indoors For An Early Start Outdoors

  • Post published:04/11/2020
  • Post comments:0 Comments

This is the time of year when we can’t wait to start planting seeds. Unfortunately it is not the time of year when we can put vegetable or flower seeds in the ground. Fortunately for those of us who want a jump on the season we can start seeds indoors without too much trouble or expense. It is helpful to know the date of the last frost in your area. It is also important to know the temperature…