For me garden planning is difficult because I am always rushing about with a new idea for a new project. Things work out in the end, but I understand the unfettered enthusiasm that a new gardener, or a gardener with a new space, feels as she looks out at that space. However, I know that the best way forward is to move thoughtfully, and maybe with a pad and pencil in hand. First, inventory your…
What is a mystery melt? Yesterday morning we had snow showers, and cold temperatures all afternoon. When I went out to the henhouse I noticed this mystery melt that ran from the top of the slope towards our wellhead. I thought it was so strange to have such a clearly demarked area when the cold temperatures kept the veil of snow intact everywhere else. We have a lot of water on our hill with intermittent streams that have…
December 8 - The view from the bedroom window has been varied all this month. Temperatures ranged from a windy zero degrees on December 17, but on December 8 it was mild with a mere dusting of snow. December 15 - Three or 4 inches of snow on the 13th and another 10 inches on the 14th. We barely made it home after Gourmet Club that night, the road was unplowed and the snow was still falling thickly.…
My Heath Calendar cannot begin with flowers. The only flowers at the End of the Road are a few Christmas cactus blooms and a wonderful pink cyclamen. February is still cold and snowy. This 'possum found shelter and a snack in the compost bin next to the hen house. March and still no blooms in Heath. Still the Talcott Greenhouse at Mt. Holyoke College and the Lyman Plant House at Smith College are full of bloom and hope…
There is a pile of seed and plant catalogs next to my chair so garden planning for 2014 has begun. I already have existing gardens, the big fenced Potager, the blueberry patch, the Herb Bed, the little Front Garden for early vegetables, the Daylily Bank, the Rose Bank, the Shed Bed, the Rose Walk, the Peony Border, and the two Lawn Beds, north and south, which means my garden planning is in the nature of review and renew.…
The Lyman Plant House at Smith College looked as frosty as anyplace during the recent Polar Vortex. Outside. Inside the Lyman Plant House there is humid warmth and lush growth. Once past the brilliant greenery I passed into the Palm House where I might have been in the jungle. The brilliant January sun shone through the dense palm foliage, but all below was in shadow. I sat on a bench and rested, and debated whether I should follow…
Slow but sure is the gardener's motto when plants first go in. This is the beginning of the Daylily Bank in the Spring of 2009. We decided on this solution to a bank that was hard to mow. At my time of life five years pass in the blink of an eye. This succeeded beyond my dreams, with daylilies added row by row for four years. For more (almost) Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
We all need to pay attention to the wisdom of the young. My husband was telling our visiting great-grandaughter Bella (age 7 1/4) that while Granny didn't make New Year's Resolutions, she did try to do a little bit of everything that she wanted to enjoy on New Year's Day. On New Year's Day Bella went to Eastern Heath to spend the afternoon with her good friend Hazel. They both returned to our house for supper. There was…
The noted essayist and poet Charles Lamb (1775-1834) said “New Year’s Day is everyman’s birthday.” As I look at the snow covered mowing near the center of Heath, I cannot help thinking that the mowing is like the first day of the year. It is perfect and flawless as the new year begins. It seems filled with opportunity and the promise of a good harvest. There may be only sunny days and gentle rains. And yet we…
This chair provides reading comfort and convenience. The Bibliochaise was designed in Milan and made in Italy. As a reader I am always looking for a comfortable reading chair. This chair might even control some of the book piles around the house. That would be a good thing. If you are a reader as well as a gardener, you might like to check out this post on the Good website. The Fishbol Bookseat is another take on a bookcase/chair…