It is not too late to order the 2014 UMass Garden Calendar. This is always beautiful, and this year the monthly photographs feature a floral happy dozen from potted tulips to Linda Campbell rugosa blossoms to a glorious sunflower. But the calendar is not only beautiful it contains a wealth of gardening advice and information for those of us in the norhteast. This year there is a thorough explanation of the USDA climate zones. I always forget…
The new Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog for 2014 came in the mail the other day. For the past few years the Baker Creek catalog has been a thing of beauty, but this year's Whole Seed Catalog, billed as the World Largest Seed Catalog, is 355 glossy pages of fabulous photographs of heirloomvegetables. There are famous, beautiful and excellent nursery catalogs, but this book has taken the seed catalog to a whole new level. Jere Gettle is an…
This is the Redvein Enkianthus AFTER I chopped it down and removed it from the north lawn bed. It never looked the way it was photographed on websites and catalogs. It grew in a tight column - very slowly. In the meantime, the plants around it grow more quickly. The Blue Princess holly has come along very nicely and this year is full of berries. The creeping juniper on its other side also grew to almost engulf it.…
Broccoli is a popular vegetable at our house. I like to have a head of broccoli on hand and I’m always happy during gardening season when I go out and get enough for supper any time I like. Even after harvesting the main head of broccoli, I can always collect a few of the numerous side sprouts that appear over time, sufficient for dinner for two. I had never thought of broccoli as anything other except a…
On this November Garden Bloggers Bloom Day I only have a promise. I just brought my little Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) in from the unheated Great Room. Now that it is in the warm I think it may actually bloom on the appointed day. Early in my blogging career (almost 6 years ago) I was assured that 'buds count.' Lucky for me. I visited a neighbor recently and her beautiful pale pink Thanksgiving cactus was in full glorious bloom. The…
The weather outside is frightful 29 degrees, breeze and clouds. Have to get the firewood in out of the snow. The birch is weeping golden tears. The holly with its scarlet berries doesn't mind the wind and snow. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
The Sunday Record of the Bedroom View shows winter is coming in on snowy feet. The 'first' snow came and went in pretty quick order, and this overnight snowfall is slightly more substantial. Do you think it means we might have a snowier, wetter winter this year? I will take precipitation in any form. 35 degrees at 8 a.m.
Chrysanthemums are an iconic autumn flower. Pots of blooming mums are sold at every garden center, supermarket, and roadside stand by the end of August. Their rich colors of garnet, purple, bronze and brilliant yellow or pale cream have tempted me many times. I buy them, but am mildly disappointed that even after I put them in the ground they maintain a strict military stance, never softening into a graceful slouch. Neither have I been able to overwinter…
How do you identify the first snowfall of the year? I woke to 32 degree temperatures and a snow shower. but I don't think it qualifies as the first snowfall. It is nothing like the October 29 snowfall of 2011. However, it does qualify as the prompt to finish stacking the firewood.
Seeds and seed cases make something new to see in the garden. Coriander is the little round seeds left on the cilantro plants. That means cilantro/coriander is both an herb and a spice. Cotoneaster (Co-tone - e - aster) berries are brighter than coriander. These rose hips are not the kind for rose hip jelly. The tiny black seeds inside the petit columbine seed case will scatter themselves. More plants in the spring. This milkweed stem shows…