A Final Harvest

  • Post published:11/23/2008
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The sun was shining when I went out to the garden, but temperatures were in the teens. It was past time to pick the last Brussels sprouts. I like to serve these, freshly picked, at Thanksgiving, but this year we will have them tonight, and give thanks for as long a season as we have had.

Autumnal Mistake – The Burning Bush

  • Post published:10/20/2008
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We went away for the weekend to join a friend in her birthday celebration. Everywhere we went we saw brilliant burning bushes, Euonymus alatus. It is easy to understand the popularity of this shrub. It is dependable and long lived, tolerant of many soils and able to grow in sun or shade, as well as having desirable fall color. However, it is an invasive plant, native to Asia, able to crowd and shade out many other plants. Because…

Bloom Day

  • Post published:10/14/2008
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My garden may be slowing down, but my schedule isn't so I crept out with my camera a day early. Here's the inventory, The autumn crocus (colchicums) are still giving pleasure. The Fairy is indomitable. And there are a couple of blossoms here and there on the other roses. Double Knockout has buds, and the hips on Rosa Rubrifolia are beautiful. The dahlias are still going strong. Funny Face is a knockout! I was able to make up…

Bloom Day

  • Post published:09/15/2008
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It's Dahlia Season! So far, only three of my dahlias are blooming (I got 2 of the tubers in very very late) but they suggest to me that what I am developing is a garden that is full of bloom in June with our 'famous' Rose Walk and rose collection, the peony border and a few other spring perennials, and then not too much bloom until the fall. This is a concept I will try and build on.…

Before the Storm

  • Post published:09/06/2008
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Planting a new bed is exciting, but also has elements of discomfort. Its kind of like letting your hair grow out - there is that wretched in between stage, neither long nor short. But there is always the vision of what it will be. After I had a strong young man remove the sod from the end of one of our Lawn Beds, the soil was revealed as dry and not promising. Still I finally had a space…

Black Beauty Lily

  • Post published:09/03/2008
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My Black Beauty lilies are planted in the herb bed along the piazza in front of the house. Here their tall turk's cap blossoms are high in the sun, but their roots are well shaded by the tarragon, garlic chives and bee balm.They have lived up to their publicity. They are trouble free vigorous growers and are considered one of the best lilies of the 20th century. I have had no trouble with disease or pests since I…

The Sourwood Is Finally Planted

  • Post published:08/27/2008
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Earlier this summer I bought this sourwood tree at the New England Wildflower Society's (NEWFS) nursery at Nasami Farm. It was an impulse purchase, but I was sure we would find a place for it. No brilliant ideas until a couple of weeks ago when we decided that our ornamental plum is diseased and needs to be taken out. The sourwood would be a perfect replacement, but it meant breaking sod and enlarging the Lawn Bed to give…

Eating the Blues Away

  • Post published:08/25/2008
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One of the many joys of blueberries is that they don't have to be picked the instant they are ripe. We've been picking since early this month, but there was something of a hiatus during the days of the Heath Fair, and immediately after. It takes us a while to recover from the Fair, but since we are regaining our energy my husband joined me at the blueberry patch yesterday where the berries hang thickly, all big and…

International Kitchen Garden Day

  • Post published:08/23/2008
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I’m celebrating International Kitchen Garden Day, August 24, by picking beans in my garden and then eating them. The celebration would be even more festive if I had a ripe tomato but up here in the higher elevations there is no such thing. Yet.It is a sad comment on our times that there has to be an organization to encourage people to plant a little kitchen garden so they can enjoy many days of harvesting food, grown with…

Do You See the Problem?

  • Post published:08/11/2008
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It's all very well to say that you can grow tons of vegetables in a 10 x 10 foot garden. The question is will you be able to harvest those vegetables without wrecking half the garden in the process. My husband will tell you I like to think big and that this is not always efficient. I agree on both counts so, forced by a wet garden site several years ago and a bad hip that would soon…