In 1988 my friend  BJ said we  should visit the Olallie Daylily Gardens. I’d get a great story for my column. We met Chris Darrow, who tended the ever growing fields of flowers.  The first of these daylilies were sent to Vermont by Dr. George M Darrow, a geneticist who worked for the USDA as a breeder for small fruits, blueberries, strawberries and more in Maryland.  He wanted to share these daylilies with the rest of his family in Vermont. He explained that Olallie is a west coast native American name which translates loosely to Place Where Berries Are Found, providing a name for what became a great collection of daylilies. (more…)

Our two dogwoods grew amazingly in 5 years!  Sara-Evelyn said from now on we’d need to be  doing substantial pruning every year. Sara-Evelyn came to our garden in March to trim our little redbud. We were happy to watch its spring beauty. Time passed and things seemed to be going well, but a day before her second visit to us arrived, one branch broke off because of heavy winds.  Sara-Evelyn took time to talk about the Redbud and give it a little extra trimming. (more…)

Jenny Rose Carey is just the woman to write the Ultimate Flower Gardener’s Guide. She is a hands-on gardener but she has worked for long periods at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Meadowbrook Farm, lectured, and more. Now she has brought us a new book that is amazingly helpful for every gardener. Certainly for me. (more…)

This past weekend we went travelling to Charlotte, Vermont, a town where I lived  as a young child. Charlotte is a town where my grandparents bought land and waterfront of Lake Champlain in 1938.  (more…)

Malabar Farm was built by the prize-winning author Louis Bromfield. In 1938 he bought 600 acres of poor land in Ohio, named it Malabar Farm and went to work. (more…)

Summer is not here by the calendar, but it  has richly begun. Now this early blooming Flowering Quince shrub is feeling her flowers begin to dwindle. Other blossoms are also beginning to say farewell. (more…)

Lorenzo Langstroth (December 25, 1810 – October 6, 1895) is considered the father of American bee keeping. For the past few years he has been celebrated at the Second Congregational Church in Greenfield (1843-48)  where he created his bee box. (more…)

Bloodroot, and double bloodroot, are plants  with reddish rhizomes that have an orange sap. The sap color is the genus name Sanguinaria from the Latin – sanguinarius which means ‘bloody.’  “The red juice from the underground stem was used by Native Americans as a dye for baskets, clothing, and war paint, as well as for insect repellent.” Others do use the sap medicinally, but I am not one of them! Actually, I don’t think this happens any more. (more…)

Epimediums are charming and look very delicate, but they are strong. This tiny epimedium, only 6 inches high, lives right by my front porch.  Other epimediums in my garden come in an array of colors and sizes. And there are other businesses that sell many more types of epimedium.  I am glad they like shade, and in my garden they get that shade, and some sun, over the course of the day. These plants can last for decades with minimal care. They are very little trouble. (more…)

Preparing to eat the wedding cake The Bull Run in Shirley gave us an evening for celebrating and sharing the traditional moment when Grandson Cieran and his Bride are about to share the wedding cake. This was a great moment. They wed three years ago, but that was a private moment; now that the pandemic is over they can share their love with family and friends. Cieran and Carissa - officially wed  We all cheered. You can see…