Still time to plant

  • Post published:10/29/2009
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              While at the Shelburne Farm and Garden shop the other day, a woman stopped me to ask if it was too late to plant tulips.  Absolutely not! I had gone into the shop myself to pick up a package of Angelique tulip bulbs, a beautiful pink double tulip that is one of the most popular bulbs sold.             Fall is bulb planting season and it will last pretty much until the ground is frozen. However, it…

Cleaning Up and Digging In

  • Post published:10/26/2009
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When I called Old House Gardens to order some bulbs last week I feared I might have missed their shipping season, but they reassured me  and on this perfect morning I found my order in the mailbox. It took only a few minutes before I  was out in the garden. I knew just where to plant the ivory Beersheba daffodils - right under the Miss Willmott, a white flowered lilac Jerry Sternstein gave me last year. To say under…

Bloom Day April 2009

  • Post published:04/15/2009
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Finally I have blooming flowers other than houseplants to report on Bloom Day. I planted scillas and a few Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxa) in the grass a few years ago. Yesterday, when I tramped through all the dead tansy stems from last year, out to the new Potager my eye caught these two tiny plants pushing up through the rough stems and weeds. I can tell you that I have never planted any little bulbs in this…

Daffodil Days

  • Post published:04/14/2009
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It is early in daffodil season in my part of the world. This photo shows part of a low stone wall in Charlemont, the adjoining town, fronted by a show of daffodils, among the earliest I see. The wall faces south, providing protection and warmth, and cheering those of us who pass by and are weary of winter gray. Charlemont is also the home of the Mystery Daffodil Planter. Several years ago, small clumps of daffodils popped up…

Roots and Bulbs

  • Post published:03/28/2009
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Promises of glory at Smith College Bulb Show                   Mary McClintock, with her Root for Your Favorite Root project, has made me think a lot more about the root vegetables I plant than usual.  I’ve also been thinking about root crops in general because many of them are good keepers. They can be stored in the fall without a lot of laborious processing if you have a cool cellar, or can provide the necessary root…