At our house we make use of three different composting techniques. We have two black bins for kitchen scraps and weeds, wire bins for leaves, and a compost pile for weeds and pruning trimmings. These three ways of making compost provide different ways of improving our soil. Most of us are familiar with the black compost bins. I take a pot of vegetable scraps out every day. However it takes more than just those scraps and weeds. It…
On this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, most of my bloomers are roses, but this sage plant is right outside the back door and I love it! I'll never use that much sage, but it is beautiful. Zaide is one of my favorite roses. I appreciate that it was more than 30 years ago that the German Kordes hybridizers were making sturdy disease resistant roses that would not need insecticides. They were way ahead of the US in creating…
It is not difficult to find flowers for every season. Many spring flowers have decided it is time to take a nap until next April. If it weren’t for the fact that summer bloomers were beginning to show their colors I’d be very depressed. Like many of us my spring garden began with bulb flowers like scillas, crocuses, daffodils and tulips of every sort. In my May garden fringed bleeding hearts and a goldheart bleeding heart showed their…
Echinacea otherwise known as coneflower is a wonderful perennial. It is a sturdy plant. Echinacea purpurea is ideal for bees because they see those landing strips (petals) and right on to the nectar and pollen. There are many many new Echinacea varieties, but if you want to attract and feed the bees, simpler flowers are more beneficial. Behind the Echinacea in the photo above you can see a blossom of the Eryngium, sea holly, which looks spiky but…
Over the years I occasionally thought about all the columns I had written since 1980. I enjoyed writing all those columns, but columns are so ephemeral. Here today, gone tomorrow. A friend suggested I write a book. After all, I had all that material. Writing a book is different from writing a column, but the idea appealed more every day. And one day I sat down and began to write. Every week I’d hand in my column, and…
Over the years I have been honored to be invited into many gardens. Sometimes gardeners are organizing a garden tour and want publicity. This is always a great opportunity for a columnist. Tour gardeners are always articulate and knowledgeable about their gardens. They are willing to share plant names, advice about care and design thoughts. It was not long before I created my own annual garden tour. Over the years it gave me substantial material. It was named…
On the 15th of May the garden is blooming with creeping blue phlox, Troillus, grape hyacinths, tiarella, barren strawberry and a single rhododendron blossom. We love flowers but other elements can make a welcoming garden. There are useful items that can also be decorative and colorful. Water has long been known to be an important element in the garden. We only have a blue birdbath, but the birds make good use of it. In my travels I have…
The day after Thanksgiving in 1979 Henry and I packed a big U-Haul truck with all our New York belongings, and the three daughters, Diane, Betsy and Kate. The day was balmy and warm, the perfect day for moving. We stopped in Greenfield for supper and groceries, then onward to Heath. It was no longer balmy. Temperatures had plummeted. It was dark and we had to unload the truck or we would have no place to sleep. The…
The pandemic has demanded many changes in our life. If we can’t go to work or to school we have to stay at home. The New York Times has read the zeitgeist and created a new section for their Sunday edition titled At Home. The large front page image has a child playing on the floor with his toys, while mom sits at a table thoughtfully putting together a jigsaw puzzle while another member of the household is…
On this beautiful sunny, but cool Garden Blogger's Bloom Day in Massachusetts, I'll take you along on my morning walk. The fringed bleeding heart has been blooming for a month against our house foundation. I thank Carol over at May Dreams Gardens, for giving us Bloom Day, giving us all a chance to see what is blooming all over our great land.