After heavy rain enough puddles on my path to flash back at me all the faces I might choose to wear. In her newest book of Tanka, Faces I Might Wear, Carol Purington opens with a poem that most of us can identify with. How often do we arrange our face based on the action or emotion of…
This year 2004, just after Thanksgiving, we will celebrate our 25th anniversary of living at End of the Road Farm. Twenty-five years ago we emptied our apartment over a greengrocer and two doors down from a supermarket into a U-Haul truck; then my husband Henry took off in the truck and I took off in the car with our three teenage girls for an old farmhouse in Heath where the nearest groceries, at Peter’s General Store, were…
Recently my gardening chats with friends all begin with “Have you put your garden to bed yet?" The answer usually comes with a groan, or a non-committal Mmmmmm, letting you think they might actually have done all the jobs on the fall clean up list. I certainly have not. Cleaning up in my garden begins with cutting back. I’ve cut back the astilbes, veronicas, delphiniums, Artemesia lactiflora, lilies, Achillea ‘The Pearl’, various other yarrows, and I’m almost done…
I first saw Sheffield daisies at the Smith College perennial garden. It was late in the fall and I was amazed and delighted by this large clump of gloriously blooming pink flowers. I had no idea what they were, and posted the picture with a query to my readers. The answer was quick in coming - Sheffield daisies, also called Sheffies. They are strong growers and very hardy. They came through last week's frost untouched. I have grown…
On this Garden Bloggers Bloom day there are some surprises. The weather should not surprise anymore, but it does, and often causes gnashing of teeth. In June we had a glorious 12 inches of rain. In July there was no rain! It was hot! An official heat wave. In August it has been much cooler and we had 4 inches of rain so far. Still there are lots of blooms in the un-irrigated flower gardens. The Daylily Bank…
The August 4, 2013 issue of the New York Times included a fascinating story about food security by Damien Cave - "As Cost of Importing Food Soars, Jamaica Turns to the Earth." "Jamaica has always farmed- sugar and bananas , mostly - and imports have been a part of the mix since at least the colonial era because grains are had to grow in the region. But the balance tipped more significantly toward foreign food in the 1990s. From 1991…
The other night the sunset set the Daylily Bank aglow. The daylilies are a joy all day long. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
My report for the first of the month and the first of the week, is a day late - but recovering from the pleasures of the Annual Rose Viewing is my excuse. My first of the month reports are to help me keep a better record of bloom times throughout the whole garden. Most of the perennials are in the North and South Lawn Beds. These two slightly curved Lawn Beds were born 14 years ago. Their purpose…
Winter Sunset is a big rose in an amazing shade. Just opened this morning. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
One 2013 resolution is to keep a good Bloom Record this year, noting bloom twice a month on the 1st and 15th of every month. After a lot of rain, about 4+ inches, and then hot! weather, things are really moving in the garden. This is high rhodie season. Rangoon is nearly done, Boule de Neige is in full flower and Goldbusch is not quite blooming. Calsap is just beginning to bloom. I transplanted it a couple of…