It is raining today but the garden has these beautiful Japanese anemone.  The rain is beginning to make it bow, but the rain is gentle and I hope the flower will last for a while more.

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Sheffield Daisies (my version of ‘Pink’)  have pleased me for many years, but this year I waited and waited for the daisies to bloom. Blossoms finally opened just last week! So – I have just learned that they will thrive in dry soil, and well drained.  Well, dry and well drained did not exist this year. Rain, Rain, and Rain! We all suffered, but I have hope for 2024!

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These scarlet berries sit in front of our house, and thrice more in back of the house where our garden lives with many friends. Although I do not believe that any whitetail deer or snowshoe hare will be enjoying my delicious winterberries,  I am happy to know that 48 species of birds will be very happy to eat those berries.

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Greg Loades is a young man who grew up working on a farm and loved all the vegetables on the planting fields. He continues to make gardens – and has learned that half an hour a day is enough time to give him enjoyment of the natural world.  He gives us a view of the way he creates a beautiful garden – and teaches us how to do it. His way is to Cultivate Beauty and Joy by Gardening Every Day.” (more…)

Ever since we began to live in Greenfield, we began to plant shrubs and lovely plants AND order Martin’s Farm Loam and Compost mix. We had not been living in  our ‘new’ house long, but soon neighbors began telling us about the great ice skating rink in the backyard. The kids made good use of it, and did a lot of skating in the winter. (more…)

Gardening Can Be Murder by Marta McDowell

I am a reader, and a gardener. During the day I have jobs to do, but I always have some time to read when dinner and the news is over. Recently I have been reading Gardening Can Be Murder – How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim Gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers. This is an amazing book, fascinating, thrilling – and I’ve often met some mysterious characters who surprised me. (more…)

The full name for this flower is Boltonia asteroides “Snowbank”.  It often begins to bloom late in August, but in my garden they did not bloom until September. It has been a very wet summer which did not please Boltonia. (more…)

Alma Potschke is a New England aster that will rise to 36 inches or more – and these did reach for another foot of sun.  The difficulty this summer has been a LOT of rain, so they grow tall, but then the heavy rains  knock them down. (more…)

The Roundhouse is a part of the great Franklin County Fair, sponsored by the Franklin County Agricultural Society in September. I am one of the women who are members of the Greenfield Garden Club, women who put this vision together.  Each year there is a different approach, but this year we included lots of books – and I can tell you happily those books came from my house. (more…)

I planted a very few Cardinal flowers four years ago. It is with surprise that I began  to see them spread, and now these ‘baby’ Cardinal flowers are everywhere. They are so small – but so many – and so strong. (more…)