On this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day here in western Massachusetts I am ready to celebrate annuals - and others - who have survived the rains of this summer. Look at this sunny nasturtium - a volunteer from last year who swam happily this year through the summer. are always stalwart and shining. The bees love them and are grateful for their long season. There are a couple of other other potted (nameless) annuals that also keep us cheerful.…
“Inch by inch, row by row Gonna make this garden grow Gonna mulch it deep and low Gonna make it fertile ground” By David Mallett School gardens can be classed as one of the special classrooms in a school, offering fertile ground for children’s learning. In a school garden students of every age can learn to observe, learn about plant growth, about insects, about the life to be found in healthy soil, and much more. A school garden…
I missed Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in September because we were out of town for a few days. So now I am posting an early view of my garden - or perhaps I am just later. Either way, there was and is, still color as long as my 'Alma Potchke' aster is in bloom. No frost yet. Boltonia is a wonderful perennial blooming lushly and late in the season. Usually it doesn't need propping, but with all the…
Apples and pumpkins are everywhere singing of autumn. It was recently pointed out to me that apples and pumpkins have a lot in common – aside from both being emblematic of the season. Apples and pumpkins are both low calorie, health supporting foods. We all know the saying ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ but have we asked why this is so? What is it that makes apples delicious and healthy. Actually apples are mostly water,…
The Olbrich Botanical Garden is a magnificent 16 acre garden in Madison, Wisconsin. A sister garden blogger, Beth Stetenfeld, took my husband and me on a tour of the garden in the spring. The first surprise was that there was no entry fee at all. The Olbrich is free and open every day. Michael Olbrich (I881-1929) spent most of his adult life in Madison where he was an esteemed lawyer, but he was also a man who had…
Meryl LaTronica found her way to Just Roots Community Farm slowly. When she graduated from college and considered her future she realized that farming might be her calling. “Farming felt like such a great combination of outdoor physical work and working with land & nature, but also doing work that is about serving and connecting people. The people plus plants life has always felt like the most amazing balance, getting to work every day under the beautiful…
There is a world of spring blooming bulbs to plant in the fall. Daffodils immediately come to mind, but we don’t often think about the various forms and colors these flowers take. Think of the choices; you can plant large cup daffs in pale shades of lemon or pure white, but with frilled cups in shades of pink or orange. Precocious a particularly showy daffodil with icy white petals and a coral pink and very curly flat cup…
According to all the garden books I read early on water is an essential element in every garden. Then there were photos of ponds and streams, rivulets and all manner of water. I could not imagine how I would ever get essential water in my garden. I have gotten bird baths, and now I have a garden that floods. However, others have found a myriad of ways to include essential water features. This little waterfall is part of…
Autumn glory begins to glow in September. I’m thinking about the ACDs of the autumnal garden – asters, chrysanthemums and dahlias. There is a lot of bloom left in the garden year. The wonderful thing about asters, chrysanthemums and dahlias is that they come in so many sizes, forms and colors. One hardly knows where to begin. Autumn glory comes in many sizes. I have three asters in my garden. There is a tall New York (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii)…
Rain gardens are created to collect storm water runoff from house roofs, parking lots and other places. By catching this dirty runoff the garden can help protect streams and lakes from pollutants like lawn fertilizers and pesticides, fluids that leak from cars, and other harmful substances that wash off roofs and paved areas. Rain gardens also filter water and recharge the local aquifer while the plantings in a rain garden support pollinators, birds, butterflies and many useful insects.…