There are many stories about plant hunters who travelled the world looking for new plants. Ernest ‘Chinese’ Wilson discovered the Lilium regale in China in 1910. Scot David Douglas discovered what is now called the Douglas fir at Hudson’s Bay in North America in 1825. However, there was a plant hunter who lived his life in the American colonies during the 18th century and sent American native plants across the ocean to England. Quaker John Bartram ((March 23,…

Fall is the season for planting - bulbs! Gardeners always have to think ahead if they want springtime flowers and it is bulbs that produce that brilliance. I love bulbs because they give us color and hope early in the spring. Since we moved to Greenfield I have planted some spring bulbs. Purple and golden crocuses bloom in March under the lilac tree. I think I should add at least a few more. My snowdrops also bloom in…

Early this spring Smith College was ready to present its glorious annual Spring Bulb Show. However, as we now know, that show never opened. Like so many events the Bulb Show was shut-down because of the newly blossoming Covid-19 pandemic. I was fortunate to visit the Lyman Plant House just before the word covid was heard everywhere. I got to visit the space used for the Bulb Show, but preparations had been called to a stop. Fortunately, a…

For the past 40 years I have gardened. Which is not to say that I was a skilled gardener. Even so, it was my excitement about my new garden on a hill in Heath that led me to the Greenfield Recorder. I did not present myself as an expert but Bob Dolan took me on. Previous gardens were very small. My first garden as a young mother in my first house was a little bed of zinnias. There…

David Sund’s elegant and productive garden was on the Greenfield Garden Club’s Tour earlier this summer. On the tour map he described his garden as having undergone changes and updating over recent years. Last weekend we visited and talked about the lives of gardens. When he was just a lad in 1973, Sund’s father took the family to Tennessee to live, but it did not take long to find out Tennessee was not the place for them. Instead…

The days have been hot and muggy. It’s time to stay inside after 10 a.m. and turn to new books. It’s time to think about what fall chores will need to be done. The first book is useful to me now that our shrubs have matured. When we designed our Greenfield garden we wanted to make it easy to care for.We knew that meant choosing easy care plants – like shrubs. A trio of hydrangeas promising generous size…