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…
For the past 12 years Carol DeLorenzo has been the guiding vision behind the changing bloom seasons on the Bridge of Flowers. However, she didn’t start her professional life thinking about flowers. “After I graduated from the College of the Atlantic, I got a fellowship that allowed me to spend a year traveling around the world, focusing on agricultural issues. When I returned to the United States I got a job as co-manager of a community based farm.…
If you have a flower garden, chances are you grow a few annuals. For a while perennials were the fashionable family and annuals were almost forgotten. At least they were forgotten in conversation and garden articles, but to keep a garden in bloom from spring into fall annuals are essential. Each perennial will bloom for its three or four week period, but an annual will bloom all summer. It is no wonder that some of our favorite…
All of a sudden this year I realize I have lots of daffodils, and lots of kind of daffodils. I thought I could try to identify some using the Brent and Becky's Bulbs catalog, where I bought many of the daffodils, but that system is not working. Some of my daffodils will not bloom until later in the month. Do I know all the variety names? No. I can't identify the 'weed' in my flowery mead of a…
It is time to begin spring chores. But exactly how do we know when spring is beginning? A tough question. The only sure answer is that it did not begin on March 20 this year when the temperature was 16 degrees at 7 in the morning and remained cold and cloudy all day. It was a very different story last year when the snowdrops were in full bloom and my first temperature record was 54 degrees with sun.…