Blueberries and raspberries are easy food crops that can save you money and are amazingly nutritious. Berries are expensive in the market because they require so much labor to pick, are perishable and need to be shipped quickly. Yet it does not take much time or trouble to go out a pick enough for a family. Blueberries I think blueberries are about the easiest berry to grow. Blueberries are hardy, a native plant that loves our acid…
I was inviting a new friend to our Annual Rose Viewing. She looked at me in absolute amazement. “You can grow tea roses in Heath?” No, I cannot. Tea roses will not grow in Heath. The word rose is not synonymous with the words tea rose. Mostly I have rugosas, albas, damasks, shrubs and farmgirls. Since 1980 when I planted my first rose, Passionate Nymph’s Thigh, I have planted over one hundred roses. More than half of…
I’ve always known we have many different types of bird habitat here at the End of the Road. We have fields that surround our house and the garden. We have a wetland and a pond. Mostly we have woods, about 35 or so acres, surrounding the house, fields, and wetlands. I have walked in our woods. I have taken grandchildren up the lane, part of the old road to Rowe that was discontinued decades ago. The tree-lined…
Last spring was early and hot and on Bloom Day there was a lot of bloom. Things are moving slowly this Bloom Day. This is an area of my lawn reduction project. Waldsteinia has spread over the past three years and I'm underplanted with daffodils. Waldsteinia is a beautiful plant and it is just coming into bloom. It is not any kind of strawberry plant. These miniature daffodils are some of the daffs growing amid the barren strawberry Some daffodils…
There is life under our feet. I have talked about living soil from time to time, but in his New York Times essay yesterday Jim Robbins says that "One-third of living organisims live in soil. But we know littel about them." Well, of course I know about worms and bugs and the mycellium that I can see, and I know the soil is full of microbes, but to think that one-third of ALL living organisims live in the soil…
This is the season of digging, weeding and planting. The priority this weekend was to get plants dug for the two big plant sales coming up. The Greenfield Garden Club, of which I am a member, will have its plant sale on Saturday, May 11 at Trap Plain, at Siver and Federal Streets, and the following weekend, May 18, the Bridge of Flowers will have its plant sale at the Trinity Church's Baptist Lot in Shelburne Falls. This…
Yarrow is more properly known as Achillea. Achillea 'Paprika' is just one of a large family of flowers that are not fussy about location or soil. They love the sun and butterflies love them Achillea "The Pearl' is a slightly unusual form of achillea - or yarrow. Achillea 'Terra Cotta' grows right next to my front door. I do want to say that I have seen the same yarrows growing in other gardens and the exact hue of the color…
X is for Xeric. Xeric plants are those adapted to an extremely dry habitat. While the weather/climate in my area is definitely changing with periods of drought, and heavier rains when they come. I am paying more attention to those plants that are drought tolerant, if not really xeric. These Gaillardias are a wonderful perennials that have done beautifully in my garden. After checking a list of drought resisant plants I was happy to see that I have a number…
W 1s for Water, and for Dr. Betsy our fourth child, second daughter, and Queen of Water. That actually isn't her title, which I don't remember, but she has been working for the Mass Water Resources Authority for a number of years, as the scientist on the staff, although she also has administrative duties. Why is it we parents never understand our children's jobs anymore? Anyway just in time for her 50th birthday celebration, she has been given…
S is for Sustainability this Earth Day. Yesterday I introduced Tom Benjamin who designs sustainable, low maintenace landscapes to an attentive audience at our local 'Little e' (not the Big Eastern Exposition in Springfield) where the theme was saving energy. The topic was Reduce Your Lawn and Increase Your Leisure. Since I have been writing about low-mow landscapes I was interested to hear how Tom calculated the benefits. There are many. The first benefit, according to my husband, is…