On April 1 I made it down to 'The Orchard', a term we use very loosely, and found that the snowdrops were up. But the snow lingers in the orchard, and we rarely go down there early in the season so . . . . I dug them up, in flower, and moved them to the Herb Bed in front of the Piazza. Deborah at Kilbourne Grove recently posted about getting a gift of snowdrops 'in the green'…
Finally, I was able to use the solar clothes dryer! The sun shone and temperatures are rising. The daffodills under Miss Willmott lilac have started to send up shoots. When I cleared away dead foliage I could see that the Lady's Mantle, alchemilla, has a lot is going on. The snow is gone from below the vegetable garden, and there was only moderate squelching across the lawn to see the snowdrops. My very first blooms.
April 5, 1974 The air was soft, the ground still cold. In the dull pasture where I strolled Was something I could not believe. Dead grass appeared to slide and heave, Though still too frozen flat to stir, And rocks to twitch, and all to blur. What was this rippling of the land? Was matter getting out of hand And making free with natural law? I stopped and blinked, and then I saw A fact as eerie as…
My neighbors, Brooks McCutchen and Janis Steele, are very models of the modern maple sugarers. When I went to visit their sugarhouse I saw the familiar steam billowing from the roof, but as I got closer I saw modern elements. Inside the sugarhouse is a huge steamy stainless steel evaporator but there is no fire in sight. This operation is run mostly by solar power. Solar power is not the only modern element. McCutchen and Steele use a…
The Ladies Who Lunch need to refresh their wardrobes with a new little black dress from time to time. While I was in Boston for the Flower Show I stepped into Macy's to get a new pair of little blue jeans. I like the styling of these which have retained the integrity of the originals designed by Levi Strauss. Blue jeans are a staple of the gardener's wardrobe, so easy to dress down, and versatile when combined with…
Probably the first thing I knew about Beatrix Farrand is that she was the niece of Edith Wharton, and designed the approach to Wharton's home, The Mount, in the Berkshires. Although she did not have anything to do with the rest of the gardens, I cannot believe that Aunt and Niece did not sit together and talk about what might be done during the years she lived there, 1902-1911. When you have talent in the family, surely it would be…
There were a lot of young children at the Boston Flower Show, some clutching a parent's hand, and some being wheeled about in stroller splendor. It might not always have been exciting, but the youngsters and their parents enjoyed this jungle garden with a grassy lion . . . a giraffe made of flowers . . . . and a really scary crocodile right at the edge of the exhibit. No one wanted to touch - and a…
The Boston Flower Show is back! There were flowers everywhere, in all kinds of arrangements and gardens. There was also a lot of water - a pond like this one with a stone 'lily pad' that appeared to float on the water. The pond was surrounded by azaleas, conifers and bulbs. I may have to do a whole posting about water in fountains and streams. There were flower arrangements like this simple vase of brilliant tulips for a…
I celebrated the arrival of my friend Kathryn Galbraith's new book Arbor Day Square and then I saw My Garden by Kevin Henkes on the New Book shelf at the Heath Library. As a former librarian I know it used to be difficult to find books for young children about gardening, whether real gardens with real information, or about imaginary gardens, but happily that seems to be changing. Kevin Henkes is one of my favorites authors and illustrators…
I got the most wonderful present in the mail today - Arbor Day Square - written by my good friend Kathryn Galbraith. We met more than 30 years ago when we both lived in NYC and were taking a writing class at the New School of Social Research. Kathryn and I both left the city at about the same time, but she left for the State of Washington where she went on to write beautiful books for children.…