The transit of venus, the passage of Venus between earth and the sun is an astronomical event that many will never see because it is so infrequent. We wanted to see it again, as we had seen it at dawn in 20o4, using the same technique, a homemade camera obscura. We went up to our attic which has a western window, perfectly situated for watching this phenomena that began at 6:04 pm on Tuesday, June 5. The only…
Salvia is a large genus of plants that includes shrubs as well as perennials and annuals. I have the beautiful Salvia May Night in my Lawn Bed, but I also have culinary sage, Salvia officinalis, in my Herb Bed. There are many reasons to love salvia. It is an undemanding plant that will bloom again if it is sheared back after that first springtime bloom. There are also many cultivars, many in shades of blue, some in…
The Roses are in bloom at the Flowers' house - rather the garden belonging to Carolyn Flowers and Jim Lapore. Roses and clematis are starring right now so Carolyn opened the garden today for a special rose viewing because when her garden opens again for the Greenfield Garden Club Farm and Garden Tour on July 7 the roses will have finished their fragrant season. I realized a couple of years ago that the rose I call Apothecary is…
When I visited Daniel Botkin of Laughing Dog Farm some time ago, he showed me how he did a lot of planting in goat manure-laced hay. I envied his access to so much bedding because it does provide plants with nutrition and eliminates weeds. No fertilizing. No weeding. He is a lucky man to have manured goat bedding from his barn, as well and old hay bales. He said he doesn’t use the hay bales for planting until…
Therese Bugnet is the Rose of the Day. And this line rhymes. Therese Boo-nay is the Rose of the Day. Even though I do have three whole years of high school French, it took me many years to realize it was not Therese Bug-Net. Oh well. Miss Rochelle is no longer here to be scandalized. Therese Bugnet is a rugosa and it is the rugosas that are not only the hardiest roses in my garden, they are about…
We are enjoying the best wisteria season ever. I don't know why one year is better than another. I have chronicalled the history of my wisteria here. And added a warning here. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
Purington Pink is the first rose of summer this year. The blossoms are modest, pale pink, fading quickly to almost white. The thorns are anything but modest, spiny and prickery. Like all of four of the roses that the Purington family gave me, this one is a strong grower. Just what we need here on the hill. Of similar prickliness is this rose, also from the Purington's Woodslawn Farm. I think it is a Harrison's Yellow, because it…
It is planting season. I have been planting roses. That means I have been digging holes. And I have been dreaming of a book, first published in 1952, that I often read to my young children, A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by a young Maurice Sendak, who has recently departed our world. Sendak’s lively children are shown digging, energetically planting a garden and jumping and sliding in the mud while yelling doodleedoodleedoo. I’ve…
Carl Linnaeus, botantist and father of modern plant taxonomy scandalized his world with his talk about a plant's sexual parts, but his taxonomic system finally won out over others in use at the time. In her book, The Brother Gardeners, Andrea Wulf lays out the difficulties botanists had with identifying and naming plants that would be useful to scientists around the world. "priests bollocks" and "mare's fart" did not work everywhere. The important Miller'sGardener's Dictionary listed ALL the names various given…
Due to computer problems I have been out of e-contact for the past 24 hours but I now announce that Jennifer of Spiral Ridge Permaculture has won the copy of Handmade Garden Projects by Lorene Edwards Forkner. Congratulations, Jennifer.