It was a surprise to see Salvia on the front page of the NYTimes Sunday Styles section. Salvia has become stylish? However it was not Salvia officinalis, culinary sage, which is important in many holiday dressings and dishes at this time of the year that was getting this publicity, nor even the Christmasy red annual salvia (Salvia splendens) that is so common in many bedding plant projects. Unbeknownst to me, who does not keep up with Miley Cyrus…
I remember when I first learned about perennials and thought - what a great idea, I'll never have to replant again. LOL. Even if pernnials didn't have to be divided, or die, most of us still have to move plants, add plants or remove plants in our attempts to have a garden that pleases the eye and the heart. For my full review you can click here, but I can tell you briefly that The Perennial Gardener's Design…
Everywhere you go there are instructions on how to be more ‘green’. The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle logo shows up on recycling barrels, and on our clothes. We organic gardeners have certainly been recycling as we turn our garden and kitchen waste into valuable compost, but a whole new level of reusing and recycling is turning up in the garden. I’ve managed to rescue chicken wire fencing and cardboard from our transfer station, but in his new book The…
Yesterday I was visiting Sue Reed, author of the excellent Energy Wise Landscape Design, to talk about her book and our local landscape. You will be hearing more about our talk soon. Before I left we walked around the house to see how she had edited and added to the elements of her own landscape. More on that later, too. As we came around the southern corner of the house we saw this energetic bunch of Johnny Jump…
Elise Schlaikjer has named all the houses she has lived in Phoenix House, but when she moved to Greenfield, just two years ago, the name was especially apt. It took a fall and a head injury, but Schlaikjer decided that after 23 years in Michigan it was time to move nearer her daughter Laura, in Greenfield. At the age of 73 she was ready to start a new life, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, reborn and…
In spite of spotty frosts that we have had all week, the cosmos in the new Front Garden, as well as the Shed Bed are still blooming. They are protected in both spaces. I was able to take a big bouquet to church with me yesterday. While the cosmos still look summery, it was time to get down to those autumnal chores. My husband took a break from splitting firewood to dig sod and enlarge the southern Lawn…
I was bragging about not having had any frost yet, but when I went out this morning there was frost on the north side of the house. However, just the merest frosty kiss on the south side. Only half the basil hit the dust. I am happy for the cool nights and days which make working outside such a joy. The holiday weekend promised to be beautiful and my son Chris, and son-in-law Gerry, came to help my…
I drove over hill and over dale until I found the white house with the green roof - and a welcoming table in the garden. Prettier than the table, and with a smile that said more about welcome than a pretty table, Carol greeted me under centuries old maples and led me into the garden. Those who are familiar with the Flower Hill Farm landscape through Carol's gorgeous photographs, can imagine the gardens that meander downhill, and the…
Thinking there might be a Flower Boy or two, the bride's attendants were billed as Flower Children, but the boys did not appear, or at least not in the procession. I didn't get a photo until they were sitting at the bride and groom's feet as they listened to tales of Amperands, jars of blueberries, roots and fruitfulness, and other things that made the 10 year old boys among the attendees squirm. But to take a step back. When…
According to my records we had 4 inches of rain in August, more than half of that on August 22 and 23. No rain so far in September, at least not here in Heath. The result is incredibly dry soil, and a hose that ran dry last week while I was filling the chicken waterers. Granted, I had watered the vegetable garden with a sprinkler for 45 minutes before that, but this has never happened in the 30…