The days are growing shorter. When I drive down my road I have begun averting my eyes from a maple branch that has burst into flame. Autumn is officially upon us. And yet there is a lot of bloom in my garden. One of the benefits of annuals is that many will bloom well into the fall. I have pots of snapdragons, petunias, osteospurnum and ‘Million Bells,’ a healthy blooming border of an annual salvia around the Shed…
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This morning dawned cool and misty. A walk through the garden was so quiet and peaceful. A glorious morning indeed. And we look forward to a glorious day at the Heath Fair. Yesterday was all energetic activity. We had scores of boxes of books to bring to the Fair for the Annual Friends of the Heath Free Public Library book sale. $1 for hardcovers! This is our big fundraiser for the year. After loading up the books, we…
The Queen of the Prairie looks more like the Queen of the River in this photo. She is attended by hundreds of handmaids and courtiers. As a member of the Bridge of Flowers committee many people ask me about when it is open and when is the 'best' bloom time. Those questions are easy to answer. The Bridge of Flowers is open every day, all day from April 1 to October 30. There is no 'best' season. The…
The weekend of July 9 is going to be busy. A festival of garden and artisan tours will be on offer. The Hawley Artisan's & Garden Tour, sponsored by the Sons and Daughters of Hawley is billed as "A Collage of Art and Gardens." One of my favorite gardens is Jerry Sternstein's vegetable garden that is much more lush than mine - and has a fabulous view. Other Hawley gardens have perennial borders and blooming shrubs, but many…
What is a garden for? It depends on the garden, of course.Vegetable gardens are for feeding us. Herb gardens are for bringing us extra savor and health. Meditation gardens are to give us moments of serenity. Ornamental gardens are to give us pleasure. But all gardens can be shared --- doubling their pleasure and utility, of whatever sort. Sometimes sharing our gardens can also support a noble project. That is what will be happening in Heath and…
My Monday Record is a day late because I have been so busy with all the weeding, trimming, pruning and planting. There is so much left to do that it seems I am not making progress, but I am! The roses are making progress too. This is a rose bush given to me by the Purington family on Woodslawn Farm in Colrain. The flowers are small, about one and a half inches across, but intensely fragrant - and…
People are always asking me what is blooming on the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls. It changes every day but here are some current views. These azaleas are as sunny as our June days. The tornadoes that went through Springfield and beyond on Wednesday didn't do any damage up our way. Azaleas have their own season, but the annual osteospernums will bloom all summer long. That is what makes annuals so valuable in any planting. Blue is…
The Holiday Weekend started for me on Friday afternoon when I visited the Heath School's Garden Day. The classes have been working before now, of course, but on Garden Day, the whole day is given over to planting, weeding, mulching - and learning. I am impressed with their energy, which I expected, but also with the quality of the child-sized tools they are using. Many hands make light work was certainly the motto on Friday. You may wonder…
One of the joys of having a garden is being able to give away plants. Last weekend a number of gardeners gave away divisions of their plants to the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale, helping the Bridge and a lot of other gardeners. That is one way. Another way is to give plants to friends or acquaintances who are starting a garden and might not be able to tell a bean from a bachelor’s button Still another is…