On this First of the Month I am going to show you some long views. My camera isn't really ideal for long views but you might get a different idea of the garden, and the text is still a bloom record. I confess the weeds are not as visible in a long view. This is the bee balm in the Herb Bed right in front of the house. We can watch the hummingbirds, butterflies and bees from out…
I haven't made too much progress with my Henry garden, but Lilium henryi blooms in the Herb Bed in front of the house where I can see it morning, noon and night. I love the recurved petals, the golden hue and the extravagant filaments and anthers. So elegant. Both these lilies came from Old House Gardens and have done beautifully for several years now. Only the lilies in the Herb Bed bloom because the deer get to the…
Fantin-Latour was so famous for his paintings of roses that they named a rose after him. Ignace Henri Theodore Fantin-Latour was born in 1836 and died in 1904. He is known for his flower paintings, but he also did many portraits. Though many of his friends were Impressionists, he held to a more conservative style. Fantin-Latour, the rose, grows in my garden, not in an ideal spot, but he endures and blooms beautifully in late June. I saw…
Elderberries and chokeberries are not as beautiful or familiar as spring’s strawberry, but these small dark berries that ripen in late summer pack a nutritional wallop. I’ve know the elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) since childhood, but the chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) is fairly new to me. Whether you call the elderberry a tree or a bush, it is having a very good year. I seem to see elderberry bushes everywhere I go. I can easily identify the bushes with large…
I learned a new way of doubling my garlic harvest this year. On July 12 I cut off all the garlic scapes (I got all but two as I later learned) brought them into the house and cut them into small pieces which I then put on a cookie sheet and put that in the freezer for about an hour. Don't leave them in much longer because they are very fragrant! Then I slid the separately frozen cut…
This morning I dug up my 35 hard neck garlic bulbs. My garlic harvest is looking pretty good and I am looking forward to entering them in the Heath Fair next month. Garlic is a wonderful crop. So easy. You begin with good seed garlic which you can get from a friend as I did, or go to a garlic farm like Filaree where you will be amazed at how many kinds of garlic there are to sample…
The Bridge of Flowers is a miracle of bloom right now. High summer. The dahlias are just beginning to join the phlox, daylilies, cimicifuga, crocosmia and all manner of daisies. But there is another way to enjoy the Bridge of Flowers. Follow the Shoes for the monthly Art Walk in Shelburne Falls. The various artisans and galleries like Molly Cantor Pottery and the Salmon Falls Artisans Gallery were displaying the talents and skills of many of our area…
Garden tour season continues! The MaryLyonChurch garden tour is scheduled for Saturday, July 19 from 10 am to 4 pm and includes seven gardens in Buckland and two gardens in West Hawley. I had the good fortune to visit Shirley Scott and Joe Giard’s garden ahead of time. This has one of the most challenging sites I have ever seen for a garden. The main challenge of her site has been the very steep slope to the left…
Dear Friend and Gardener: Where do I begin? With these new bean rows that I put in early this morning? Contender bush beans that promise to be ready for harvest in 50 days, on August 31? We'll see. But, they should be bearing well before frost. The rest of this bed separated by a pile of mulch, and two hills of Lakota squash which are coming along very slowly. We have had fairly good rainfall, but we have…
On this July Garden Bloggers Bloom Day the Daylily Bank is just starting to come into bloom. By August my garden in the upper elevations of Western Massachusetts should be filled with gentle, but riotous color. At the same time there is still enough rose bloom to be enjoyed from our dining table. The Buckland rose bush began a little late and so is quite floriferous now. The same is true of the Meideland red, and white, as…