Last weekend my cousin Jay married the beautiful Juliet in a white garden designed by Robin Kramer, the owner of the house where the wedding took place. A summer wedding could ask no more beautiful setting than a white garden such as this. White gardens seem to have a place all their own in garden literature. I suppose one reason is that there are so many flowers, shrubs, vines and trees that bloom in shades of white…
Paul Tukey of Safe Lawns sent this moving letter: "In the midst of planning movie premieres and national anti-chemical campaigns, our life as we knew it stopped suddenly when my wife went into labor at precisely 12:55 a.m. last Thursday. For the next several hours, I was either glued to a stopwatch or being gripped fiercely by my wife as her contractions grew closer and more powerful in succession. Incredibly important questions came at us from all directions…
Late blight has infected my tomatoes. Yesterday afternoon I went out to pick more beans and noticed that the single dead tomato branch was now several dead branches on all six of my tomato plants. It is difficult to see in the photo against the straw mulch, but the reality was very clear. If there was any doubt, one look at the tomatoes made it imperative to take instant and radical action. I pulled up all the plants and…
The Belly Bus came to Greenfield Town Common on Friday. When I dropped off my donations Sara Cummings of Franklin County Community Action told they had already collected almost TWO TONS of non-perishable foodstuff and more food was still coming in. Families First brought in their cartons of donations and other groups were waiting to drop theirs off. The Belly Bus helps stock local food pantry shelves; at this time of the year pantries are nearly empty. And this…
I never think I have much of a flower garden, but in August . . . The Black Dragon lilies are blooming in front of the house along with a crimson bee balm. The Stargazer lilies were a gift. Only one is blooming so far, but there are two or three more. I am always so relieved when I don't kill plants I get as a gift. My Casa Blanca lilies are not planted to best advantage, but…
“How’s your garden this year?” This is the question on everyone’s lips this summer, and in my case the answer is “Not good.” I began with the usual good intentions, and even more energy and enthusiasm as I decided to start my own vegetable seedlings and enlarge the garden. My plan was to grow more of my own vegetables than ever, and thus save lots of money on grocery bills. However, we all…
Today is our 32nd official wedding anniversary. On our 25th, our children set themselves, their children and our friends to create squares for a celebratory quilt. The quilt hangs in our Great Room where we can tell the stories of our history together. The Nilla Wafers box patch recalls a story about our friend George who decried the 2 cookies for dessert rule - and gave each child their very own box of cookies, which they ate two…
First I have to say the very most important event of the past week was the wedding of my cousin Jay and his beloved Juliet in a beautiful garden in Manchester by the Sea. It was a glorious day and celebration was in the air. Our hotel was hosting three wedding receptions and packed to the rafters with SEVEN groups of wedding guests. Juliet is a Nanny in the classic mode. The wedding guest list was filled with her…
Yesterday famed author and illustrator Ed Young made a presentation at the Childrens Literature Festival for the young set at Buckland Shelburne Elementary School. He did everything the children asked, making a lion - and a chicken - according to their directions while he stood behind the easel and making a horse paper cut. He also had the children hold a long long scroll with a poem he had written some 20 years ago to demonstrate Chinese characters. In China,…
Creating good plant combinations and beautiful color pairings is not my forte. Obviously I don't even note such things in my garden because today, I suddenly realized that I had this great combo, a clump of crimson bee balm next to a clump of Black Dragon lilies. They are perfect together and I wasn't even trying.