In 1982 I bought Theme Gardens by Barbara Damrosch, a book that promised how to plan, plant, and grow 16 gloriously different gardens. My eye was immediately caught by the idea of a garden for old roses. In the spring of 1982 we were embarking on only our third year in Heath where we had a big lawn in front of the house and planted a big vegetable garden. I had never given much thought to flowers except…
The world needs more pollinator gardens. The Bee Fest organized by the Second Congregational Church and the Franklin County Bee Keepers Association last week included talks by bee experts Lynn-Adler and Susannah Lerman, researchers at the University of Massachusetts and Kim Flottum the editor of Bee Culture Magazine. All gave us information about problems facing pollinators and how we can help. Susannah Lerman told us about her research which showed that mowing a non-herbicide/pesticide and un-fertilized lawn every…
On this June Garden Blogger's Bloom Day the rose have burst into bloom. It has been a cold and wet spring, but our last couple of days have been in the 90s. The weather gods show just how unpredictable they can be. For me, this spring is is the first really floriferous June we have had. All the roses but one are new plants and they are really showing off. This peach Drift rose blooms right next to…
It is Garden Tour season! So many gardens to see, to enjoy and to learn from. It could be said that every garden is designed around the flaws – I mean challenges - of the site. E. Bruce Brooks and his wife Taeko stood with me in front of his Northampton house and garden and we looked up at the tall brick building. “Our design aims to minimize the too tall house that sits on a too small…
Our hugel was built to help us manage water, but also to provide a stage for rhododendrons. This past weekend my friendly rhododendron specialists took me shopping at the Windy Hill Nursery in Great Barrington. We bought three cultivars: Janet Blair a beautiful pale pink with a golden flare in the center, Wojnar's Purple and Francesca, a red. The photos of Janet Blair and Wojner's purple were taken in Jerry Sternstein's rhododendron woodland which includes nearly 400 other…
With its long lasting flowers the dogwood is one of the iconic trees of early spring. On my street there are two beautiful dogwoods, Cornus florida, a native species. We are fortunate to have these trees because in the past this species has battled anthracnose, the most deadly fungus that can attack dogwoods. The response to the dying off of many native dogwoods is the rise of Kousa dogwood, a Japanese species. The flower is very similar but…
The progression of spring is one of magisterial slowness. The April Fool snow did have the advantage of showing us where we could expect the spring flood to appear. The snow didn't last too long and it didn't even look that wet anymore in mid-April. The slow progression of spring. There were considerable rains which started things greening up, but also brought the flood. This shows the progression of spring took a leap, but then stepped back for…
Cutting Back, and Glorious Shade are two new books that held a particular appeal to me. For me Japanese gardens and shade gardens share an atmosphere of serenity and calm. There is no rushing, no ecstatic clamor at the brilliance of blossoms; there is a quiet peacefulness when you are strolling through a wild woodland garden or an artful Japanese garden. Both types of garden use design to emulate the beauty of nature in different ways. In Cutting…
I do promote the beauty and benefits that native flowers bring to our garden, but they would be less beautiful if they did not include the flowers from afar that have come to be called ‘exotics.’ The Bridge of Flowers is one place you can see natives and exotics blooming harmoniously. Dayliles first bloomed in Asia where they were used medicinally. Four hundred years ago they arrived in Europe and hybridizing began – and continues today. We are…
This is my first Bloom Day post in quite a while. Here in my corner of western Massachusetts we are having quite a wet spring. Yesterday over 2 inches of rain fell, causing about the worst flooding in the backyard that we have had so far. Even so, blooms are surviving. The wood poppy is growing on our hugel so it is not flooded but has plenty of water to drink. There is quite a golden look to…