Bridge of Flowers Annual Plant Sale

  • Post published:05/18/2018
  • Post comments:4 Comments

While on my recent weekend of touring amazing gardens in Texas, I found that three of my fellow tourists, from New York and Rhode Island, had visited the Bridge of Flowers. Not only did my new friends appreciate the beauty of the Bridge in joyous bloom, they admired the way the Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club, and their Bridge of Flowers subcommittee, have cared for the Bridge, and enlisted the support of  a wide community to create a…

Salvia ‘Hot Lips’

  • Post published:09/01/2015
  • Post comments:0 Comments

Salvia 'Hot Lips' seems to be a really hot plant this summer. Several of these flowers are in bloom on the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, and I have a couple blooming on my hellstrip in Greenfield. Visitors to  the Bridge have written and asked the name of this beautiful shrub. It took me a while to identify it because  I think of it as an annual and not a shrub. However, Monrovia Nursery calls it a…

Bridge of Flowers – Blooming for 85 years

  • Post published:05/17/2015
  • Post comments:1 Comment

This year is the 85th anniversary of the Bridge of Flowers. There have been many changes since the trolley was discontinued and Antoinette Burnham declared that if an abandoned bridge could grow weeds it could grow flowers. It was with community effort that the Bridge of Flowers first bloomed in 1930. It blooms exuberantly today, from April and well into October. Anyone who has ever owned a house and dealt with necessary ongoing maintenance will understand the changes…

Little Bulbs – Early Spring Bloomers

  • Post published:04/07/2015
  • Post comments:2 Comments

The Little Bubs are the earliest to bloom.  This collection is crocus and Glory-of-the-Snow, otherwise know as Chionodoxa will be blooming on the Bridge of Flowers any minute.  I have Glory-of-the-Snow down by the vegetable garden, still covered by snow. Crocus and Chionodoxa  and deer and rodent resistant, and both will increase over time. Most of my snowdrops are also still under the snow, but temperatures got to 50 degrees today, so I think they will emerge from…

Sampler of White Flowers for Summer and Fall

  • Post published:02/16/2015
  • Post comments:4 Comments

Last week I talked about some of the white spring flowers, but a whole array of white flowers bloom well into the fall. I can only mention a few. White Flowers for Summer One of the more unusual white flowers that grows in my garden is Artemesia lactiflora. Most of us think of artemesias as having silvery foliage and insignificant flowers. My Artemesia lactiflora grows in a very upright clump with reddish-maroon stems and very dark toothed foliage.…

Dahlia Season on the Bridge of Flowers

  • Post published:09/30/2014
  • Post comments:2 Comments

As a member of the Bridge of Flowers committee I am always happy when a visitor eloquently admires dahlia season on the Bridge of Flowers. Or any bloom season. Recently the Fine Gardening Magazine website featured a number of photos of the Bridge, and comments by Andy Engel of Fine Homebuilding Magazine - who finally followed the signs to the Bridge. To see his photos click here. I have taken my own photos of the Bridge this season.…

Bridge of Flowers in August

  • Post published:08/29/2014
  • Post comments:3 Comments

I was walking across the Bridge of Flowers this morning and it is clear this is high Dahlia season. I don't know the names of these varieties, but I am going to look through the  Swan Island Dahlia catalog and see if I can get names for some of these. Some dahlias have a more tender hue. China Doll is a dahlia that everyone loves. Dahlias come in so many forms and sizes. Do you think 'Shaggy' is…

The Bridge of Flowers and The Art Garden

  • Post published:07/21/2014
  • Post comments:3 Comments

The Bridge of Flowers is a miracle of bloom right now. High summer. The dahlias are just beginning to join the phlox, daylilies, cimicifuga, crocosmia and all manner of daisies. But there is another way to enjoy the Bridge of Flowers. Follow the Shoes for the monthly Art Walk in Shelburne Falls. The various artisans and galleries like Molly Cantor Pottery and the Salmon Falls Artisans Gallery were displaying the talents and skills of many of our area…

View from the Bedroom Window – May 2014

  • Post published:06/09/2014
  • Post comments:0 Comments

The view from the bedroom window on May 5 shows that the grass is greening up, but it is cold, 46 degrees, cloudy and windy. I dug up plants for the Bridge of Flowers plant sale, but then went back in the house to work in front of the woodstove. Now it is hot! 80 degrees. What a difference a week makes. We had a little rain and warmer days - although with strong  breezes it has still felt…

Annuals for a Long Bloom Season

  • Post published:05/19/2014
  • Post comments:2 Comments

The Bridge of Flowers taught me that annuals are the easiest and most dependable way of insuring a flowery garden all season long. This spring I am concentrating on adding annuals that will be in full bloom for the Annual Rose Viewing. Of course, I do have perennials in bloom at that time, but this year I am determined to have a very flowery garden at the end of June, and then for the rest of the summer.…