Monday Bloom Record June 3, 2013

  • Post published:06/03/2013
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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 Sage Advice – Seek the Salvia

  • Post published:06/02/2013
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  Right now I have two sage plants in my herb garden right in front of our house. I have a Salvia officinalis plant that has survived several winters, and a brand new meadow sage, Salvia verticillata Evelina. I have since learned that there is a showier S. verticillata named Purple Rain with deep purple flowers. Soon I will add two or three six packs of the annual Victoria Blue salvia which I use as a kind of…

Cameras are rolling on the Bridge of Flowers

  • Post published:05/31/2013
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The cameras are rolling in Shelburne Falls. The camera dolly was ready on the Bridge of Flowers early this morning, but it was  covered with camouflage netting. The dolly was covered with camouflage netting to hide it from the circling helicopter that was taking aerial shots. The Bridge of Flowers flowers were unimpressed. They bloom like this, cameras or not.  

Forbes Library Leads Off Garden Tour Season

  • Post published:05/29/2013
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Julie Abramson' s garden  is just one of six garden that will enchant garden lovers on the Forbes Library Garden Tour on Saturday, June 8, from 10 am til 3 pm. Julie's is a collector's garden that features some notable trees, clematis, and a colorful array of perennials and a rock garden. I was intrigued by the description of a rustic arbor covered with climbinbing hydrangea, PLUS two other arbors covered with roses, honeysuckle and clematis. Pure romance!…

My Wisteria – Before and After

  • Post published:05/28/2013
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Wisteria is a mysterious plant. I am not good about taking Before and After photographs, but above you can see my wisteria in early May last year. This is my wisteria yesterday. My husband and son cut out the main trunk which  was dead, leaving us with a young, lively trunk. There is another shoot coming up from the root that we will allow to  join this trunk.  I am glad it is not totally dead, and hope…

The Suddenness of Spring

  • Post published:05/24/2013
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The suddenness of spring caught me by surprise yesterday.  After two days of being kept inside by sometimes torrential rains, I went out and saw that the ajuga, escaped into the lawn years ago from an old flower bed, is in full and startling bloom. This area has not been mowed yet because I made the mistake of planting daffodils here and must wait until they have finished blooming and ripening. Only a few daffodils are still in…

Birdsong not heard for years

I have not been posting very regularly because I have been so quietly busy. There were preparations for the fabulous Bridge of Flowers Plant sale which went off on Saturday without a hitch. I think we had 36 plants left over. Out of over 1300! On Sunday we hosted the Presentation of Elliott (in the plaid suit) and celebrated. And celebrated! Monday was just one thing after another and yesterday, in the heat, I was out of the…

Who Makes the Bridge of Flowers Bloom? Carol DeLorenzo

  • Post published:05/18/2013
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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.…

Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale – Saturday May 18

  • Post published:05/17/2013
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One thousdand perennials are ready for the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale on Saturday, May 18. When the starting bell rings at 9 am (no sales before that hour) the buying begins. From this photo you might be able to pick out lady's mantle, candelabra primroses, hostas, Solomon's seal, ferns, and bleeding hearts, pink and white. I can tell you that there are also peonies, fairy bells (new to me) campanulas, yarrow, achillea, shasta daisies, and some shrubs…

Bloom Day May 15, 2013

Last spring was early and hot and on Bloom Day there was a lot of bloom. Things are moving slowly this Bloom Day. This is an  area of my lawn reduction project. Waldsteinia has spread over the past three years and I'm underplanted with daffodils. Waldsteinia is a beautiful plant and it is just coming into bloom. It is not  any kind of strawberry plant. These miniature daffodils are some of the daffs growing amid the barren strawberry Some daffodils…