Pam Oakes assures me that neither her house, nor the lush surrounding gardens existed in 1976. When she and her husband Gordon first walked this piece of land by a pond once used for harvesting ice, they could not even imagine where to place a house until a friend bulldozed a stand of sumac and said “Build here!” They did and she said it is a perfect site. The gardens grew and continue to grow. Oakes said…
My friend BJ asked me how the roses were doing when she visited this afternoon. And I said, "I'll show you!" and shoved her across the lawn. "This is what one rose is doing, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Of course, I'll have to wait until after the Rose Viewing. Maybe someone will know who this imposter rose is. Do you? If you want the story about making this, my first video, you'll have to…
As I prepare for this year's Annual Rose Viewing, I thought I'd re-run a tale of preparation in 2006, another wet spring. I have been working all week to prepare the garden for the Annual Rose Viewing which we hold the last Sunday in June from 1-4 pm. In between rainstorms my husband has mowed lawns and trimmed, moved potted plants and been at the ready to weed and prune. As I’ve worked, trimming the grass around the…
'It's raining, raining, raining. I hear the raindrops fall.' The lawn is sodden, the Sunken Garden is a swamp and the vegetable garden is sulking as morning temperatures are still in the 50s. And yet, and yet, the rains have mostly been gentle and the roses have drunk their fill. Applejack, at the head of the drive is all grace, and the rugosas are blooming fragrantly. Rose buds are swelling on every bush. I think this will be…
The garden of Pam and Gordon Oakes is just one of the gardens featured on this year's Franklin Land Trust Farm and Garden tour held on Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28. This tour is a major fundraiser for the FLT whose mission is to 'work with landowners and communities to protect their farms, forests, and other natural resources significant to the environmental quality, economy and rural character of our region.' This year the tour, centered in …
“June! Finally I’m going to have flowers,” a friend said after bemoaning how long it took for spring flowers to arrive in her garden. While it is true that a June garden can hardly avoid blooming, it is also true that a garden can have some bloom from April into October, even here in Heath. When my friend Elsa Bakalar was gardening in Heath she had enormous beds of perennials…
Happily for me my Monday Report coincides with Bloom Day hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Be sure and visit there. This is an exciting time because the roses are just starting to bloom in my garden. They loved all the rain last week. Rosa glaucaEven though the roses on Rosa glauca (formerly known as Rosa rubrifolia) are tiny and inconsequential, this is the rose that gets the WOWs at the Annual Rose Viewing. The bush is a…
Looks pretty doesn't it? And it is as pretty as many irises one might choose to plant in the garden. Don't! This is the common yellow flag that loves water and wet sites. It spreads by rhizomes, but I found out to my dismay that it also spreads by seed carried on the wind. A friend gave me several yellow flags to plant around my pond. They didn't do too much, but one day I found this indestructible…
I walked through the garden with my Sunday morning coffee amazed and delighted to see that the fat pink buds of my Guan Yin Mian tree peony had opened. Guan Yin is the name of the Bodhisattva (or goddess) of Compassion. The term bodhisattva is not much used in the west. It means those who have chosen to remain in the world even though they have enough merit to reach nirvana. Guan Yin is almost…
It has been a busy busy week - and not only in my garden. Let me begin with last Tuesday. Pastor Cara Hochhalter of the Charlemont Federated Church with several helpers, husband Jeff, and Deacon Erwin Reynolds behind her, turned a piece of church lawn into a winter squash patch. You'll notice that we are using the lasagna garden method. The squash will be harvested in the fall for the church's food distribution program. The Federated Church is…