Ellen Sousa in The American Garden

  • Post published:11/19/2010
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The November/December issue of The American Gardener: The Magazine of the American Horticultural Society arrived the other day. As I was browsing through it last night I was surprised, but thrilled, to see Ellen Sousa, who lives in Central Massachusetts, quoted in Kris Wetherbee's article Garden Cleanup Reconsidered.  Ellen's own landscape is not only a Certified Wildlife Habitat, it is a Monarch Waystation so it was no surprise to hear her say, "instead of doing the traditional fall…

Three Societies for Thursday

  • Post published:11/18/2010
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It's time to renew memberships!  What are you a member of? My most local membership is in the New England Wildflower Society because their propagation operation and nursery are so close by. An individual membership is only $50, for which you get free admission to the famous Garden in the Woods in Framingham, discounts on workshops and lectures, discounts at Nasami Farm and in the Gift Shop. NEWFS also participates in a Reciprocal Admissions Program that will give you free…

Baer’s Agricultural Almanac

  • Post published:11/16/2010
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Some say that almanacs have been around for thousands of years, but perhaps the oldest American almanac most people are familiar with is Poor Richard's Almanac published by Benjamin Franklin long before he fiddled with kites and string or became our Ambassador to France. Baer's Almanac is new to me, but the editor's give a bow to Franklin with a few of the aphorisms that helped to make him popular.  How about "A slip of the foot, you…

A Little Bit of Bloom Day

This Abutilon or parlor maple, or flowering maple, whichever you prefer, has probably appeared on Bloom Day more often than any other plant. It is almost always in bloom. I put it outdoors on the shady piazza for the summer, but it spends most of the year in my upstairs bedroom by a west window, but the room is bright with two big south windows. The temperature may occasionally get close to 70 degrees on a winter day,…

Elise Schlaikjer

Elise Schlaikjer has named all the houses she has lived in Phoenix House, but when she moved to Greenfield, just two years ago, the name was especially apt. It took a fall and a head injury, but Schlaikjer decided that after 23 years in Michigan it was time to move nearer her daughter Laura, in Greenfield. At the age of 73 she was ready to start a new life, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, reborn and…

Travelling to Holiday Village

  • Post published:11/12/2010
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The Walking exhibit at the Art Garden in Shelburne Falls has closed but I am carrying the image of this joyful road by Pamela Snow and Ursula Snow with me as I start on the road to the holidays, beginning today when I set up the Silent Auction for Holiday Village at the Charlemont Federated Church. The Silent Auction will have everything up for bid from bags of Donovan's potatoes, blown glass, gorgeous jewels, and passes for the Zoar Outdoor…

Cindy’s Mosaics

  • Post published:11/11/2010
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Saturday was a big day in Shelburne Falls, home of the Bridge of Flowers. There had been events at the Buckland Shelburne Community Hall for Cider Day but there was also a dedication of the 12 vitreous glass mosaics created by Cynthia Fisher of Big Bang Mosaics in cooperation with students from the elementary and high schools, as well as members of the community. Ten of the 3 x 3 foot mosaics depict iconographic aspects of the ten…

Let’s Talk

  • Post published:11/10/2010
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Last Friday night was the premier broadcast of Let's Talk - with Pat Leuchtman on our local cable TV station.  I was talking with Lori Pirkot,  the owner of Boswell's Books in Shelburne Falls. We had a great time talking about the wonderful books for children that are available this season, many of them by local (ish) authors and illustrators. I think there is no better present for a child than a good book. My grandchildren will tell…

Celebratory Butterflies

  • Post published:11/09/2010
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This past weekend we were invited to a celebratory 60th birthday party at our local Butterfly House. We thought it was an apt site for the party because while most of us are familiar with the 12 animal Chinese zodiac, the reality is that the complete Chinese zodiac requires going around the 12 year cycle five times - when you begin again. The 60th year can be challenging, but it can also be a time of new beginnings.…