Nasami Farm – Planting Season

  • Post published:09/08/2011
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Nasami Farm in Whately is a part of the New England Wildflower Society which also operates The Garden in the Woods in Framingham. Here are the greenhouses that propagate the native plants that are then sold at Nasami and The Garden in the Woods to gardeners, landscapers and towns who are working to preserve local biodiversity. I have gotten many healthy beautiful plants at Nasami and I recommend them. Barrenwort as a groundcover, pagoda dogwood as a ornamental part of…

Rose Hip Season

  • Post published:09/06/2011
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Rose blossoms come in many shapes and forms. Rose hips are more limited is form, but have their own beauty and use. I planted Rosa glauca nearly 30 years ago because the catalog description said that it looked like a Pompeian wall painting and the black hips were beautiful. I had never thought about the appearance of rose hips before, but the description intrigued on all counts. The hips are ripening right now and though they will never get really…

Irene Review

  • Post published:09/05/2011
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It has been exactly a week since I wrote about our experience of Irene here. Since then towns across the region have been busy picking up the pieces. Governor Deval Patrick made his third trip to Heath (the first governor in history to pay so much attention to Heath) and on Wednesday he met with town officials. Here he is looking at a map of damaged road with Mike Smith in his Fire Chief uniform, but he is…

Heath Fair 2011

  • Post published:09/03/2011
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We moved to Heath in the fall of 1979 and attended our first Heath Fair in 1980. However, we had heard about the Fair years before when we were living on Grinnell Street in Greenfield. Deb Porter of Heath was visiting her friend (and my temporary boarder) Wendy Roberts in my kitchen, but she had to cut the visit short that day in order to race back to Heath and bake pies for the Fair. Deb still works…

Safe Lawn Suggestions

  • Post published:08/31/2011
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We have more lawn than we would like, and more lawn than people like Susan Harris, one of the Lawn Reform instigators, recommend, we have been working to eliminate lawn. I have the Rose Bank and the Daylily Bank, to cut down on mowing and  therefore energy use. I am moving the pretty groundcover, barren strawberry (Waldenstenia), into an area along the edge of the lawn. And I am trying to turn the whole front lawn into a…

Pink for Resilience

  • Post published:08/30/2011
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There is lots of activity in the area as roads are cleared, stranded wedding parties released, MREs (the military's Meals Ready to Eat) delivered by helicopter by FEMA, and damage assessed but all is quiet here at the End of the Road. The roses enjoyed their deep drink,  fatten their buds and bloom. The goldenrod is happy too.

Marooned by Irene

  • Post published:08/28/2011
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The weekend started out happily with my book signing at World Eye Books. I got to meet new readers, and chat with old friends like Bob and Sue Gruen who gave a wonderful talk last night for the Heath Historical Society about weaving in colonial times - and now. But, by the time we left their talk around 9, Irene's rains had arrived. Heavy rains on and off  all night continued until noon, then let up somewhat. We…

Native Buzz at NEWFS

  • Post published:08/27/2011
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Sometimes in the summer we are annoyed by the bugs buzzing around our heads. We swat. We worry about the bees bumbling in the flowers and move children away. We get out spray cans of insecticide. What we need to do is think about the importance of bugs, often vital pollinators, without whom we would not have beautiful gardens, delicious fruits and vegetables, and a healthy life. Ever since honey bees have gotten so much publicity because of…

Seeing Trees Contest

  • Post published:08/26/2011
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I haven't seen Seeing Trees by Nancy Ross Hugo, but I have seen some of the gorgeous photographs by Robert LLewellyn. This book promises to give many ways of recognizing trees in the most delightful way, through all the tree's stages. Timber Press, which publishes some of the most distinguished garden books around is holding a contest.  A signed, 16"×20" print of a Robert Llewellyn photograph from Seeing Trees, custom matted and framed (see contest site for image)…