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…
“Green your garden” sounds like an unnecessary admonition, but as the discussion about global warming heats up (pun intended) gardeners are looking at ways to lower their gardens’ carbon footprint. Because digging the soil releases carbon into the atmosphere no-till cultivation methods have gained new advocates. In addition to saving human energy, sheet composting/lasagna gardening has become more popular. Another way of reducing the carbon footprint of the garden is to reduce the size of the…
Rose season has begun. My purchases from the Antique Rose Emporium in Texas arrived in good shape. The Double Red Knock-Out will join two others on the bank at the end of the house where I hope they will grow into a large clump. Pink Grootendorst which is billed as a large moundy rugosa will also go on the bank. I also shopped in my own garden and dug up some roots from my Dart's Dash, a low rugosa…
Even though snow has been recorded in Heath in every month of the year, including August at the Annual Heath Fair, this 'snowy' lawn is actually comprised of drifts of mayflowers. At least I thought they were mayflowers, but when I looked them up to find the botanical name I found that the name mayflowers refers to trailing arbutus, Epigaea repens. When I asked my husband what he called those tiny blue and white flowers with a golden…
My chives on April 6 Cooks need herbs. Since the media is filled with articles about the thriftiness of a vegetable garden in these difficult economic times it suddenly struck me that one of the thriftiest and easiest gardens to start is an herb garden. I get dizzy when I think of the money I spent (before I had an herb garden) on bunches of parsley, cilantro and basil and less common herbs that are even…
I don't pay enough attention to this orchid cactus, even though it makes its presence felt in the house, to remember when it blooms, but the two huge scarlet flowers that opened yesterday were quite a surprise. This epiphyllum lives on an old black kitchen step stool so that the 3+ foot long drooping stems have sufficient room. The stool is near a big south window and gets lots of light. Our house just naturally gives it the…
Driving around Heath the horrendous damage caused to trees by the historic December ice storm is revealed. The labor it will take to clean up peoples' gardens is breathtaking. One neighbor has beautiful old trees surrounding his house and the devastation is astounding. But his witch hazel, Hamamelis 'Arnold's Promise', is blooming, a glorious harbinger of better days to come. Witch hazel is consisdered a winter blooming shrub, flowering as it does so early in the spring. Even…
Little bulbs are one of the first blooms to show their bright faces in the spring, but as the season progresses it is flowering shrubs and trees that can make an impact. Last year I admired a splash of brilliant yellow in a neighbor’s garden. I was completely puzzled because it was too early for forsythia, but what else could be seen at the back of a big country garden from the road while whizzing past?…
Promises of glory at Smith College Bulb Show Mary McClintock, with her Root for Your Favorite Root project, has made me think a lot more about the root vegetables I plant than usual. I’ve also been thinking about root crops in general because many of them are good keepers. They can be stored in the fall without a lot of laborious processing if you have a cool cellar, or can provide the necessary root…
After my time away from home, tending my daughter with her broken ankle and her two sons, I have come back home to find the first real signs of spring. The herb bed next to the piazza in front of the house faces south and is very protected. It doesn't look like much from a distance, but if you get up close . . . Here is autumn crocus sending up leaves as early as spring crocus, but…