W is for Waldsteinia on the A to Z Challenge

  • Post published:04/27/2016
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  W is for Waldsteinia fragarioides, otherwise known as barren strawberry. Indeed, the leaves resemble strawberry leaves and there is some similarity of the small golden spring blossoms to strawberry blossoms, but this is a native groundcover and produces no edible fruits. In Heath I had Waldsteinia fragarioides growing in the shade where it ultimately covered a sizeable swath of soil. It is obviously hardy (it thrives in Heath) and the deer pass it by. It is a trouble free plant…

V is for Violets on the A to Z Challenge

  • Post published:04/26/2016
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 V is for Violets on the A to Z Challenge. Violets have always been a part of our lawn, more correctly called a flowery mead because of the all the 'weeds' growing in it. And yet dandelions, clover and violets provide nectar and pollen for pollinators in the  early spring when very few plants are blooming. Of course, there are many more types of violet and you can read all about them on the American Violet Society website. …

U is for Umbelliferae

  • Post published:04/25/2016
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U is for Umbelliferae. Umbelliferae is the family of plants that includes carrots, cilantro/coriander/ dill,  lovage, parsley, parsnips and Queen Anne's Lace. As well as a few others. I hadn't thought about the range of this family until I read Vegetable Literacy, a wonderfully informative horticultural book - and cook book filled with delicious recipes. The name Umbelliferae refers to the type of flower form - umbel. I wrote about Queen Anne's Lace here  and identified it as Daucus…

Annual Climbing Vines – Delight and Camouflage

  • Post published:04/24/2016
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  Annual climbing vines add an important dimension to any garden. We have trees reaching for the sky and flowers and vegetables covering the ground. Climbing vines as simple as scarlet runner beans or morning glories and as elegant as clematis add something very special to our gardens. I have a friend who made a small arbor for herself in the middle of her garden, where she put a chair to give herself someplace to rest between bouts…

T is for Troillius in the A to Z Challenge

  • Post published:04/23/2016
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T is for Troillius europeaneus, or Globeflower on  the A to Z Challenge. I bought my Trollius at the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale a few years ago.  It is the sunniest, happiest flower I know. Bloom season is the end of May into June. I did not move it to the new garden in Greenfield, but I just looked up its requirements, and while it prefers a neutral soil, it also doesn't mind wet or heavy soil.…

S is for Snowdrop, Snowflake and Sustainability

  • Post published:04/22/2016
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S is for Snowdrop and Snowflake. The snowdrop is a tiny delicate flower, one of the first of the little bulbs to bloom in the spring, often rising through the snow in February or March. One of the most common snowdrops in the catalogs in the Giant or Elwes Snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii, but it just a slightly more robust version of Galanthus nivalis, the 5 or 6 inch tall common snowdrop. G. nivalis has been gracing the early…

Q is for Quiet on the A to Z Challenge

  • Post published:04/20/2016
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Q is for Quiet in the garden. The older I get the more I look to the garden for green serenity. Of course the quiet of the garden contains the whisper of breezes, ecstatic birdsong,   the patter of falling rain, and perhaps a burbling fountain. Water is considered to be one of the essential elements in a garden This  is a section of the quiet and serene Japanese Garden is located behind the Buffalo and Erie County…

P is for Peonies on the A to Z Challenge

  • Post published:04/19/2016
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 P is for Peonies. Peonies are fabulous! Peonies are  glamorous! Peonies will bloom  for generations. Peonies are easy care. In the olden days you had to plant peony roots in the fall, but nowadays you can buy potted plants in the spring - and possibly even get a bloom your first season. I have bought and planted many peonies, but most of the names have been lost. The Peony Border in Heath had about two  dozen varieties. I…

O is for Orchid on the A to Z Challenge

  • Post published:04/18/2016
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O is for Orchid. I have never kept an orchid alive long enough to bloom again, but giving it another try is on my To Do List. I know it can be done because my daughter Betsy  does it all the time. When  her work mates get gift orchids they always give them to Betsy after they finish blooming. She keeps them and brings them back into bloom again and again. Last year I went to the Orchid…

After Pollinators and Wildflowers Comes a Cocktail Hour

  • Post published:04/17/2016
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It doesn’t seem so very long ago that no one gave a thought to pollinators. People were afraid of bees and stings, but they never thought about the hundreds of bee species that kept vegetable and fruit farms producing. Perhaps that was because so much of our food came from far off places like California where we were never aware of what farms, farmers and crops needed. Nowadays, with people we are more sensible of the benefits of…