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.…
By the time I learned about National Farmer's Market Week it was too late to celebrate with the rest of the nation, but it reminded me of the changes in the ways farmers now market their crops, and affect the economy of our communities. Agriculture has been important to our part of Massachusetts for decades. There were many dairy farms, but they were starting to close down when we moved to Heath in 1979. When we moved to…
Planting trees is always a significant project. A couple of weeks ago I went over to the Energy Park at 7 a.m. for what I thought was a celebratory tree planting. I was surprised that there was no crowd; however Nancy Hazard, Mary Chicoine and John Bottomley, all of the Greenfield Tree Committee, were hard at work planting two tulip poplars and a disease resistant elm. It did not take a crowd to make this a celebratory occasion.…
On this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day the big event is water and more water. Just to give you the full force you can see how deep the water is right in front of the garden shed at the back of the garden. This is the worst spot, and it is the beginning of the lake the garden has become. One of my hose guard wine bottles in ready to float away. Meadow rue has such tiny delicate flowers…
Gardeners plant flower gardens in their backyards, but Mother Nature loves to plant flower gardens along the highways and by-ways. I am often surprised by how many flowers thrive in sandy soil and survive the salting of roads in winter. I drive around town and I see familiar flowers in Mother Nature’s gardens like orange daylilies, blue chicory and Queen Anne ’s lace. While I enjoy roadside gardens, it was Lady Bird Johnson who took the appeal and…
The torrential rainfall began late in the day. It was not constant, but when we woke up this morning the rain gauge very clearly said another 2 and 3/4 inches of rain had fallen. There has never been a summer quite like this with temperatures in the 90s and many heavy rainfalls. This photo shows the ankle deep water in the widest path to the back of the garden and the shed. The very large shrub in the…
This ensemble of Strings for Kids played for shoppers at the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago. They are serious and talented musicians. Strings For Kids is a free music program run by Artspace in collaboration with Greenfield Public Schools. Students who enroll in Strings For Kids are offered a choice of learning to play violin or cello, and receive the following benefits at no charge: Instrument loan for the duration of enrollment Weekly in-school group instruction led…