Five Plant Gardens by Nancy J. Ondra

  • Post published:03/07/2014
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I'm just starting to read Five Plant Gardens by Nancy J. Ondra and I find it such an encouraging book.  The book is divided into two sections, one section for sunny gardens and one section for shady gardens. She begins with one color gardens like the Bright White Garden for a sunny location. She suggests 'David' phlox, 'White Swan' coneflower, 'Snow Fairy' caryopteris, lambs ears, and candytuft, but gives alternatives and a planting plan.  It is her planting…

Garden Planning IV – Review and Renew

  • Post published:02/01/2014
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              Before I end my discussion about garden planning, I want to add a few words about the view from the house, or more specifically, the view from a window.             We spend time in the garden working, and time socializing in the garden, but we can also enjoy the garden when we are inside the house. Do you have a kitchen or dining table by a window that looks into the…

A Heath Calendar for 2014 – Some Flowers

  • Post published:01/14/2014
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My Heath Calendar cannot begin with flowers. The only flowers at the End of the Road are a few Christmas cactus blooms and a wonderful pink cyclamen. February is still cold and snowy. This 'possum found shelter and a snack in the compost bin next to the hen house. March and still no blooms in Heath. Still the Talcott Greenhouse at Mt. Holyoke College and the Lyman Plant House at Smith College are full of bloom and hope…

Winterberry – Ilex verticillata

  • Post published:12/02/2013
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Winterberry, Ilex verticillata, is a native deciduous holly. Its tiny white flowers appear in midsummer, and in the fall beautiful red berries add their color to the autumnal show. Winterberries are dioecious, which is to say that it takes a male and a female plant to create those bright berries. If you are adding winterberries to your garden it is important to order a male and female. Only the female will produce berries, but it only takes one…

Redvein Enkianthus – After

  • Post published:11/18/2013
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This is the Redvein Enkianthus AFTER I chopped it down and removed it from the north lawn bed.  It never looked the way it was photographed on websites and catalogs. It grew in a tight column - very slowly. In the meantime, the plants around it grow more quickly. The Blue Princess holly has come along very nicely and this year is full of berries. The creeping juniper on its other side also grew to almost engulf it.…

Seeds and Seed Cases on Wordless Wednesday

  • Post published:11/06/2013
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Seeds and seed cases make something new to see in the garden. Coriander is the little round seeds left on the cilantro plants. That means cilantro/coriander is both an herb and a spice. Cotoneaster (Co-tone - e - aster) berries are brighter than coriander. These rose hips are not the kind for rose hip jelly. The tiny black seeds inside the petit columbine seed case will scatter themselves. More plants in the spring.   This milkweed stem shows…

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – August 15, 2013

  • Post published:08/15/2013
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On this Garden Bloggers Bloom day there are some surprises.  The weather should not surprise anymore, but it does, and often causes gnashing of teeth. In June we had a glorious 12 inches of rain. In July there was no rain! It was hot! An official heat wave. In August it has been much cooler and we had 4 inches of rain so far. Still there are lots of blooms in the un-irrigated flower gardens. The Daylily Bank…

August Bloomers on August 1, 2013

  • Post published:08/02/2013
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Of all the August Bloomers, the Daylily Bank makes the biggest statement even though it has started to pass its peak. Other August bloomer are just beginning. The most notable in this photo is the classic Echinacea or coneflower, with Russian sage in front and pink and white phlox on the other side of the bed. The phlox is late, with light bloom, because the deer had been snacking on the buds. Only once clump of Paradise Blue…

Have You Got the Summer Blues?

  • Post published:07/20/2013
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There are different types of summer blues, from the blues that hit on hot, muggy days when the thought of weeding is not to be borne, or those that follow drenching rains that have turned the raspberries to mold. Then there are the blue flowers that are much more rare than the sunny golds that predominate in the mid to late summer garden. True blue, the color of forget-me-nots, is not a common color in the summer garden,…

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day July 2013

On this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, July 2013, most of the roses are pretty well done. That's why we have the Annual Rose Viewing on the last Sunday of June. The Fairy was just starting to bloom two weeks ago, but now she is looking great, and will remain in bloom for a good part of the summer. The Purington rambler also starts to bloom at the very end of June, but is now cascading down the Rose…