The Chanticleer gardens were created by the Rosengarten family beginning in the early 20th century; in 1993 it became a public garden and is considered one of the grand gardens of our country. On these frigid and snowy days I am happy to share my memories of a great garden on a blistering summer day last June. The Master Gardeners of Western Massachusetts arranged a tour for those gardeners who are always looking for more knowledge and inspiration.…
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was born into a prominent Amherst family so everyone knew who she was. She attended the Amherst Academy and went on to the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (as it was called at the time) for a period before she went back home, to garden and write poetry. She was more known for her gardening than her poetry in those days; now she is more known for her poetry and her reclusiveness. In the spring of…
I knew it was a Snow Day, no exercise class, when I woke. When I went out to take this photo at 6:30 am the plows had not come through and it was still snowing. Not as much as predicted, but enough to close the schools and the Y. Time for coffee and reading before the day really got under way. The sun was hiding, but sharing some of its light. In town there is no room for…
Bloom Day is here, but there are no blooms outdoors. But for the first time in a couple of years I have blooms in January. The amaryllis that is opening was an early Christmas present and it grew rapidly. The amaryllis with buds about to open spent the summer out in my garden and is giving me great gratification Two other amaryllis bulbs that spent the summer in the ground are coming along - slowly. I have hopes.…
My frigid winter garden is peaceful, blanketed with snow. Mysterious tracks speak of the creatures that wander across the landscape, leaving hints of their dancing in the bright moonlight, or shifting shadows of the breezy day. Tiny birds frolic near the Norway spruce, and seem to be feasting on the spruce seeds left for them on the snow. My town winter garden is small, and very different from the fields of Heath, where the snow danced with the…
New cultivars and old favorites plants are a part of every garden. When I was a Girl Scout we sang a song with the line “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver but the other gold.” As I look out at my garden and look at the dawning of a new year, I am thinking about the new things I may plant and use in the garden, but I know there are certain things that…
December celebrations for all. Today is December 23. The Hanukkah celebration has concluded, Christmas is two days away, and Kwanzaa is three days away. December is a month of celebrations with traditions that lead us through the days. As I prepared for our own family Christmas I suddenly realized that the celebration of each of these holidays involves plants, plants which are essential in one way or another. Hanukkah is a moveable feast because, like Christian Easter, it…
December is a season for new Books, great for gift giving. Shawna Coronado has shared her gardening expertise in many ways on TV, on lecture tours and in her books like Grow a Garden Wall: Create Vertical Gardens with a Purpose, but in her new book The Wellness Garden she shares her own history with painful osteoarthritis and how she learned to change her lifestyle for better health. The Wellness Garden: Grow, Eat and Walk Your Way to…
Here in New England we can take trees for granted. Trees line our streets, our roads, and our highways. We do not have to work hard to find a woodland that invites us to stroll and enjoy a period of cool tranquility. The Japanese even have a word, Shinrin-yoku, or ‘forest bathing,’ for the practice of taking a walk in the woods for the health benefits it brings. And yet, many of us are not familiar with the…
We officially moved into our Greenfield house on October 24, 2015, just in time to stock up on bags of candy for the 100+ children - mostly very young children - who showed up in princess and ninja attire on Halloween. The celebrations had begun. No longer could we go out into the field to cut our own tree, but we were happy to shop at the open air market on Main Street and buy a beauty. This…