My lawn might not inspire anyone who demands fine turf, but it is safe for the children who play on it, and my water supply. It has lots of clover which is very green and beautiful. How did clover become a 'weed' in the garden? I do not know. Canada has been more aware of the dangers of lawn care chemicals for longer than the U.S., but that is changing. With organizations like Safe Lawns and the Lawn…
Yesterday I had the pleasure of trekking to LaSalle's in Whately to help pick out a selection of the annuals that will be sold at the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale on Saturday, May 14. This is the geranium that was sold out last year when I went to buy mine. This is the geranium I bought instead. It just bloomed and bloomed into the fall. Both geraniums plus scarlelet and white varieties will be available at the…
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The June/July issue of Organic Gardening Magazine has an excellent article by Wes Hunsberger about the benefits and delights of rugosa roses. I know whereof he speaks because I have been growing rugosas for more than 20 years. Think of the beach roses thriving on sandy dunes, lashed by wind and salt spray, lovely and fragrant with pink or white single blossoms. Hybridizers have brought that beach rose hardiness and disease resistance to the garden. "Apart" with its…
The appearance of the first dandelion means spring has really and truly arrived. It also means that lawn mowing will not be far behind. Because of a family obligations, and a joyous publication party for Carol Purington and Susan Todd's poetry anthology, Morning Song: Poems for New Parents, Saturday was taken up with family and friends. On Sunday we were eager to go out and play in the dirt. Some of the seedlings I have had out in…
Under new leaves my daughter's daughter - newborn crying in my arms That she may walk the Woman's Trail unafraid I name her Rising Moon. by Carol Purington #41 in The Trees Bleed Sweetness: A Tanka Narrative This poem by my friend Carol Purington is from her book of tanka written in the voice of a Native American woman who might have lived in these hills where her family has farmed for more than 200 years. I…
It’s been quite a week. First, here in Massachusetts, we celebrated Patriot’s Day which commemorates “the shot heard around the world,” the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. On television there was a program about John Muir, born in 1838, naturalist, conservationist, and moving spirit behind declaring Yosemite a national park, and a founder of the Sierra Club. Yesterday we celebrated the 41st Earth Day on which we could be reminded of any number of…
It is so warm and showery out today that I couldn't resist putting some of the houseplants on the piazza for a little trimming and showering. See how green the grass is?
The Bridge of Flowers, an old trolley bridge, that now floriferously joins the towns of Shelburne and Buckland opened officially on April 1. On that day this year there was snow on the Bridge, but you can see we are no longer worrying about snow. At this time of the year people begin asking me about the best season to view the Bridge. I answer there is no Best Season. The Bridge has been designed to be in…
I picked these Van Sion daffodils myself, and son Chris and Michelle brought these beautiful tulips to put on the Easter dining table, but the surprise came when I went to water the houseplants and saw that the little geranium plant I salvaged last fall had suddenly sent up a lovely blossom that was all but lost in the dead foliage of the jasmine. A surprise is always welcome when it is so pretty and pink. Can you…