The name Constance Spry doesn't mean much to most Americans. Gardeners may know the Constance Spry rose, one of the first of David Austin's English roses, but not know the woman behind the rose. Constance Spry was born in 1886. She had varied careers in health, joined the civil service during World War I and was headmistress of a school teaching young teen aged girls who worked in factories. It was not until the 1920s that she began…
The Smith College Annual Bulb Show, always spectacular, is one of the ways some of us flower starved gardeners manage to get through the last bit of winter as we wait to get out hands back in the soil. The show opens today, March 6 and runs through Sunday, March 21, when spring will have officially arrived. This year’s Turkish garden and will feature many species tulips from Turkey. Robert Nicholson, Lyman Conservatory manager, who has been busy…
First you need to know that I raise chickens, and have for the past 30 years. I do not look like this, although I do have roses growing in the Shed Bed, next to the hen house. Peggy Ornstein in The New York Times today talks about "femivorism" and the part chickens play. I did not get my chickens because I thought it was part of good parenting practice. My five children were teenagers or older by the…
Spring is creeping in slowly on little cat feet. When I drove past my friend Paul's house I saw the fat pussies on his willow by the side of the road. I dashed home to see if my pussywillow was blooming. Both of us have bushes growing in a wet spot, and both produce fat soft pussies. Alas, my bush is just beginning to bloom. Why the difference? Micro-climate? Very different variety?
The Heath Elementary School joined other august institutions of learning like Yale University, Brandeis and Tufts (to name only a few) in working with the innovative Double Edge Theater in Ashfield, an international center for performance. collaboration and training. This year the production was an original adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. This all school performance that involved everyone from kindergarten munchkins and bees, to a very dramatic Wicked Witch of the West (is it possible she was…
Ellen Ann Willmott is no longer as famous as Gertrude Jekyll, yet . . . "Ellen Willmott soon made a name for herself in horticulture, and helped to finance expeditions to acquire new plants. Queen Mary, Queen Alexandra and Princess Victoria visited her, and her garden became famous throughout Britain and beyond. She was one of two women awarded the RHS Medal of Honour in Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Year, 1897. The other was Gertrude Jekyll." This from…
I met Cheryl Wilfong at a recent Garden Writers (GWA) meeting in Boston. The meeting was excellent with good advice about blogging and writing given by Richard Banfield of freshtilledsoil.com. The speaker gave me more than I ever expected, but one of the reasons I attended was to meet other writers, some of whom I already knew through their blogs. Cheryl brought her book, which I bought, and information about her website, meditativegardener.com. In spite of a weekend…
In preparing for a Fashion in the Garden posting I have been reading the spring issue of Vogue magazine. Strictly business you understand. Besides, Tina Fey was on the cover. Although I wasn't looking for it, there was a little feature on page 370, The Green List, with John Patrick's (whoever he may be) five latest (fashion everywhere) faves. There is seedlibrary.org for heirloom seeds; Emiliano Godoy, an industrial designer who focuses on sustainability; Magnus Larsson, a Swedish…
My copy of Green Prints, The Weeder's Digest, arrived in the mail the other day. It is not hard to understand why the commonweeder loves the weeder's digest on many levels. Puns intended. If you haven't ever run across a copy of this charming magazine, this issue shows you all the reasons why it is so popular. Encouragement, humor, peace and a lot of fascinating characters, including the editor, Pat Stone, who gives away some information about himself. He'd…
Robert Nicholson, Manager of the Lyman Conservatory at Smith College complained about the challenges of all the cloudy weather we have been having, but, once again, he and the crew more than met the challenge of forcing 5000 bulbs to bloom all at the same time. The Conservatory is a Turkish Delight of flower and fragrance, with all the usual bulbs, but also many freesias and delicate species tulips from Turkey. On Friday evening I attended the lecture…