This is the season of digging, weeding and planting. The priority this weekend was to get plants dug for the two big plant sales coming up. The Greenfield Garden Club, of which I am a member, will have its plant sale on Saturday, May 11 at Trap Plain, at Siver and Federal Streets, and the following weekend, May 18, the Bridge of Flowers will have its plant sale at the Trinity Church's Baptist Lot in Shelburne Falls. This…
When faced with the array of garden tools at the garden center, a new gardener can be forgiven for being confused and unsure of how to decide what is needed. There are all manner of shovels and rakes, trowels, cultivators, and weeders, as well as grass clippers, pruning shears and loppers. Where to begin? How much of an investment will be required? In fact, very few tools are absolutely necessary, as any experienced gardener who finds herself using…
There are surprising blossoms in the garden right now. Yesterday I found my first dandelions growing against the house foundation. None in the lawn but it won't be long. I never know when the neglected orchid cactus in the guest room will bloom. Surprise! The orchid cactus is loaded with buds waiting to come into bloom. More surprises to come
The bloom season is just beginning here at the End of the Road. At an elevation of 1700 feet, it takes longer to arrive than in the valley. Even now bloom is slow as the night temperatures remain in the 30s and we have had no rain. This bloom season I am going to try and keep a running record of bloom on the first of the month as well as the fifteenth of the month Bloom Day,…
Z is for Zinnias. What is there to say about Zinnias except that they are cheerful, come in a whole variety of brilliant and tender colors, an array of forms from neat to shaggy. I love them. Renee's Garden will show you some of that variety. They are great in the garden and great in bouquets. The A to Z Challenge is over! I have survived and taken you on a ride through the garden from Apple to Zinnia.…
Yarrow is more properly known as Achillea. Achillea 'Paprika' is just one of a large family of flowers that are not fussy about location or soil. They love the sun and butterflies love them Achillea "The Pearl' is a slightly unusual form of achillea - or yarrow. Achillea 'Terra Cotta' grows right next to my front door. I do want to say that I have seen the same yarrows growing in other gardens and the exact hue of the color…
X is for Xeric. Xeric plants are those adapted to an extremely dry habitat. While the weather/climate in my area is definitely changing with periods of drought, and heavier rains when they come. I am paying more attention to those plants that are drought tolerant, if not really xeric. These Gaillardias are a wonderful perennials that have done beautifully in my garden. After checking a list of drought resisant plants I was happy to see that I have a number…
W 1s for Water, and for Dr. Betsy our fourth child, second daughter, and Queen of Water. That actually isn't her title, which I don't remember, but she has been working for the Mass Water Resources Authority for a number of years, as the scientist on the staff, although she also has administrative duties. Why is it we parents never understand our children's jobs anymore? Anyway just in time for her 50th birthday celebration, she has been given…
V is for Viola, a large family of plants that includes the johnny jump up, pictured above. Viola is also my mother's name. I never thought it was a very pretty name until I knew that johnny jump ups, violets and pansies were also Violas. Now I see the first violas in the garden centers and in my garden as a first sign of spring. I see the happy blue blossoms and I think about a mother of three sons looking…
U is for Unless. I was trying to find a good botanical U word, but I could locate very few. Umbel is "an inflorescence with pedicles or branches arising at the same point and of nearly equal length." Think Queen Anne's Lace. Ulmus is the whole family of elms, and Urtica is the stinging nettle. Stinging nettle made me think of the problems we can face when gardening. And that made me think of an alphabet book by…