Last weekend I attended an introductory pruning demonstration given by Lilian Jackman at WilderHillGardens arranged by the Greenfield Garden Club, of which I am a proud member. I am a bad pruner. I am much too timid, which I am sure is almost as bad as being a too bold pruner. When I face a shrub that has spent blossoms, or dead or broken branches I know what to do with my pruning shears. Take out the…

A is  for Yes! at Nasami Farm.  Yes, is what I wanted to say to almost every plant set out at the  special opening of Nasami  Farm yesterday. I am not the only one saying yes as members of the New England Wildflower Society got a special invitation to tour the Nasami Greenhouses and get a headstart on our shopping. Nasami Farm will be open on Saturdays and Sundays from now until October. There is a wonderful selection…

 X is for the Xerces Society.   "The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. Established in 1971, the Society is at the forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide, harnessing the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation programs." What are invertebrates? All creatures without a backbone which includes, bees, butterflies and other creatures you might find in the garden like worms. It is the…

T is for Troillius europeaneus, or Globeflower on  the A to Z Challenge. I bought my Trollius at the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale a few years ago.  It is the sunniest, happiest flower I know. Bloom season is the end of May into June. I did not move it to the new garden in Greenfield, but I just looked up its requirements, and while it prefers a neutral soil, it also doesn't mind wet or heavy soil.…

S is for Snowdrop and Snowflake. The snowdrop is a tiny delicate flower, one of the first of the little bulbs to bloom in the spring, often rising through the snow in February or March. One of the most common snowdrops in the catalogs in the Giant or Elwes Snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii, but it just a slightly more robust version of Galanthus nivalis, the 5 or 6 inch tall common snowdrop. G. nivalis has been gracing the early…

Q is for Quiet in the garden. The older I get the more I look to the garden for green serenity. Of course the quiet of the garden contains the whisper of breezes, ecstatic birdsong,   the patter of falling rain, and perhaps a burbling fountain. Water is considered to be one of the essential elements in a garden This  is a section of the quiet and serene Japanese Garden is located behind the Buffalo and Erie County…

N is for Nasami Farm, the propagating arm of the New England Wildflower Society which was founded in 1900 and is oldest plant conservation society in the U.S. I have shopped for many plants at Nasami Farm, last year purchasing several water tolerant if not water loving plants. I planted Buttonbush in the wettest part of our new garden because it  can often be growing in a river, not just on its bank. I also bought winterberries, viburnams,…

M is for Mirrors in the garden. A tour of Buffalo gardens a few years ago were filled with ideas that were new to me. This mirror was one of several mirrors in the garden with lush plantings that were carefully pruned to keep the mirror mysteriously visible. I was particularly taken with the function of this mirror in the garden, set as it was in back of a tiki lamp, acting to reflect firelight at an evening…

  Why do we need compost farms? On October 1, 2014 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection made a requirement that all businesses or institutions that created more than one ton of organic waste a week find a source to accept and recycle that waste. This rule affected schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons, restaurants and more. Although compost farms already existed the rule created a need for even more places that would accept and use these organics. Massachusetts has…

C is for Clethra alnifolia, otherwise known as sweet pepperbush. It was one of the first plants I put in my new, and very wet, garden last summer. It has everything I need: is very hardy, likes some shade, tolerates clay soil, likes a wet so much that it can be used in a rain garden where there is occasional flooding. Clethra is also the right size for my garden. It will grow between 4 to 6 feet…