Athol Bird and Nature Club Garden Tour July 15

  • Post published:07/12/2012
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As Athol celebrates its 250th anniversary, the Athol Bird and Nature Club celebrates the gardens of Athol, 12 in ’12 – a self-guided tour of 12 outstanding gardens on Sunday, July 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Four themes dominate this tour: the drama of glorious gardening and natural rock, the surprise of secret treasures, the bounty of home vegetable gardens and locally grown food, and the ecology of gardens that appeal to birds, butterflies and other…

Bug on the Bridge of Flowers! Emerald Ash Borer

  • Post published:07/08/2012
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When a 5 foot tall bug appears on the Bridge of Flowers we all take notice. Especially when it is a shimmering shade of emerald green I wasn't the only one taking photos of this beautiful creature. But beauty is as beauty does, and the Emerald Ash Borer is no beauty infesting and killing ash trees. The USDA Forest Service has created a website with full information about how to watch  ash trees for damage. These bugs are…

Greenfield Garden Club Farm and Garden Tour

  • Post published:07/07/2012
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Denise Leonard, current chair of the Greenfield Agricultural Commission, past president of the New England Border Collies Association, and chief farmer at TANSTAAFL Farm is one of the featured farmers on the Greenfield Garden Club’ annual garden tour which is including farms for the first time this year. THIS VERY DAY! July 7! Denise explained that her husband David came up with the name of their farm when they were still living in Leverett more than 25 years…

Vermicompost Harvest – Garbage to Black Gold

  • Post published:07/06/2012
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With the first lettuces cleaned out of the garden it was time for a vermicompost harvest. Vermicompost, compost filled with worm castings, otherwise know as worm manure, is a rich compost that will get my second or third plantings well nourished. I have written about my vermicomposting adventures before here. Once the weather became dependably warmer, over 50 degrees, I moved our worm bin outside. It now lives on the north side of the house where it is…

Fourth of July – Red, White and Blue in Bloom

  • Post published:07/04/2012
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Red roses. Red and white roses. White Mothlight hydrangea. White Switzerland shasta daisies. Blue Connecticut Yankee delphiniums. Falling over, but unbowed. For more Wordlessness this Independence Day Wednesday click here.

It’s Summer – Viewing, Touring and Paddling

  • Post published:07/02/2012
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It's summer and I've been out viewing plants and gardens and then relaxing at a local pond. Summer doesn't get any more perfect than this. I went to the Annual Japanese Iris Show in Shelburne Falls and got to see the best and most beautiful examples of Japanese Iris grown in the area. Japanese iris are the last iris to bloom in our area. After seeing this display of irises, I had to run over to Fox Brook…

Can Roses Kill?

  • Post published:06/30/2012
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Can roses, Knock Out Roses kill butterflies? That is the question asked by a reader in Colrain. Knock Outs are a fairly new hybrid family of roses bred to be disease and insect resistant. I had never heard that Knock-Outs had this potential for killing butterflies  so I set out to do some research. I was quickly reminded that butterflies are not much interested in roses of any sort because they supply nothing they need, not a site…

Annual Rose Viewing a Success

  • Post published:06/27/2012
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The Annual Rose Viewing was a success! The weather was perfect. The roses were in uproarious bloom. The guests were entranced. I got to speak to many of the guests, and then they got to wander down the Rose Walk by themselves. All the roses are labelled. The air was filled with fragrance. Adrienne, an old friend, took this great photo. I think Rachel was possibly the biggest attraction this year, blooming  at the top of the Rose…

Rugosas – The Easiest Roses to Grow

  • Post published:06/25/2012
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The rugosa rose may strike many New Englanders as the quintessential American rose, hardy and trouble free, but this rose is a native of Asia. Long before it made its way halfway around the world it grew and bloomed on the coasts of northeastern China and Japan. It had to make its way to Europe first, and did not arrive in the United States until the mid-1800s when it was imported for the nutritional value of the hips.…