“I want to shout out: do what you please, follow your own star; be original if you want to be and don’t if you don’t want to be. Just be natural and gay and light-hearted and pretty and simple and overflowing and general and baroque and bare and austere and stylized and wild and daring and conservative, and learn and learn and learn. Open your minds to every form of beauty.” Constance Spry Those passionate words came from…
Yesterday was gray and cold, but a jolly Christmas was well on its way at LaSalle's greenhouses in Whately. This is only a sample of the plants that are ready to adorn the altars of local churches. I love the creamy color of the 'white' poinsettias. I saw a couple of trays of tiny variegated poinsettias. Of course, LaSalle sells many other plants: the white azalea, white hydrangeas, orchids, Norfolk pines, amaryllis, and prostrate rosemary to begin the…
This past weekend we were invited to a celebratory 60th birthday party at our local Butterfly House. We thought it was an apt site for the party because while most of us are familiar with the 12 animal Chinese zodiac, the reality is that the complete Chinese zodiac requires going around the 12 year cycle five times - when you begin again. The 60th year can be challenging, but it can also be a time of new beginnings.…
Yesterday, Christopher Petkanas in The New York Times Design Section called Constance Spry a 'Flowering Inferno." I have written about Constance Spry myself in the past, once after interviewing a neighbor, Charlotte Thwing, who has since passed away, but who in her youth worked for Spry in her Madison Avenue shop just before World War II. Petkanas, in talking about a new biography, The Surprising Life of Constance Spry, bySue Shepard, passed on much juicier gossip than I…
I'm so happy to participate in the Loving Local Farmers Market Blogathon hosted by In Our Grandmother's Kitchens for several reasons. First, Farmers Markets are beautiful and celebratory places to be. Everywhere are gorgous healthy fruits and vegetables, fragrant herbs and brilliant flowers. Everyone is cheerful when they are surrounded by this beautiful bounty. Who wouldn't like to spend an hour at the Farmers Market? Second, is the energy savings of locally grown produce. I know all about…
I celebrated the arrival of my friend Kathryn Galbraith's new book Arbor Day Square and then I saw My Garden by Kevin Henkes on the New Book shelf at the Heath Library. As a former librarian I know it used to be difficult to find books for young children about gardening, whether real gardens with real information, or about imaginary gardens, but happily that seems to be changing. Kevin Henkes is one of my favorites authors and illustrators…
Interior designer Charlotte Moss, writing in today's New York Times, says she "eschews matching dishes and serving pieces." I'm right with her. White dishes are a basic and table settings can be changed delightfully with linens and accessories, but my daughter bought me these befruited dishes for summer meals. And I always think if a chicken or two can be added to the table so much the better. Although it is hard to see the pretty glasses are…
Some people count the beginning of spring when farmers start sugaring. Up here in Heath the Berkshire Sweet Gold folks have been hard at it for a couple of weeks, but the snow is still deep in the fields and in the woods. It hasn't looked like spring. Hasn't felt like spring. But today the temperatures rose into the 50s and the sun was bright. I stopped at the Greenfield Farmers Coop for some potting soil and admired…
I met Cheryl Wilfong at a recent Garden Writers (GWA) meeting in Boston. The meeting was excellent with good advice about blogging and writing given by Richard Banfield of freshtilledsoil.com. The speaker gave me more than I ever expected, but one of the reasons I attended was to meet other writers, some of whom I already knew through their blogs. Cheryl brought her book, which I bought, and information about her website, meditativegardener.com. In spite of a weekend…
My friend Peter and I drove into Manhattan for a day of wandering and listening to the symphony of the city, so it was appropriate and easy to park under Lincoln Center. I got to see all the changes and new construction. Then we were off to the subway and downtown. We saw lots of flowers . . . flowers on clothes, flowers on silk brocades (lots of flowers at Pearl River), flowers on pillows, and flowers on china. As…