Three Views of The Lion’s Fairy Tale Rose

  • Post published:06/23/2016
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I am so happy with my Lion's Fairy Tale Rose, one of Kordes Fairy Tale Series. I planted it last summer and did not expect nor get any flowers. Still, it took hold and came through our odd winter weather, mild until it got bitter cold very late in the season. One of the things I like is the way it produces clusters of bloom. I love the creaminess of this white rose as it begins to bloom.…

The Shrub and Rose Border Begins in Greenfield

  • Post published:07/20/2015
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I first became acquainted with Julie Moir Messervy through her book The Inward Garden: Creating a space of beauty and meaning. This beautiful book approaches garden design through seven archetypes, the cave the prairie, the mountain, the sea etc., and the way that a garden makes you feel. It is this attention to the mood I might want in my garden that interested me. That attention to mood might have begun when as a graduate student she spent…

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – July 2015

  • Post published:07/15/2015
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On this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day I am celebrating blooms in two gardens, although I dearly hope it will not be too long before I am once again tending a single, small garden. In Greenfield the hydrangeas in the Shrub and Rose border are beginning to bloom even though they were planted only a month ago. Angel Blush is joined by Limelight and Firelight. These hydrangeas will form a beautiful privacy fence. Buttonbush was only planted two weeks…

Rose Viewing Memories

  • Post published:06/30/2015
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Mount Blanc rugosa The Last Rose Viewing has come and gone, but it was an unforgettable day - Rain!  I always said 'It never rains on the Rose Viewing' but that record was broken on Sunday when there was mist - and then real rain. But hardy souls turned up anyway dressed in slickers and boots, umbrellas at the ready. Rose Viewing attendees It was not only raining, it was cold. Those little girls were not happy. This…

Annual Rose Viewing – June 2015

  • Post published:06/25/2015
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This year the Annual Rose Viewing will be the Last Rose Viewing - at the End of Knott Road in Heath. The Rachel Rose, named for one of Heath's grand dames, will be holding court with other notables like The Queen of Denmark and Madame Plantier. Mount Blanc rugosa The rugosas are among the first roses to bloom in June. Fragrant Mount Blanc is one of my favorites. Thomas Affleck rose Thomas Affleck does not have the promised…

Thomas Affleck – A Mighty Rose

  • Post published:04/15/2015
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Thomas Affleck is not blooming yet, but I did clean out the Herb Bed where this rose is the western anchor. It looks like it came through our horrendous winter well. All that deep snow was a blessing for many plants. Chives and parsley and marjoram are showing new growth, but I am going to have to wait a while more the roses to bloom. Thomas Affleck came from the Antique Rose Emporium where many of my most…

Roses Without Chemicals by Peter Kukielski

  • Post published:03/20/2015
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  Peter Kukielski knows how to grow roses without chemicals and I have learned a little about disease resistant roses over the past 30 years. One thing I love about our Annual Rose Viewing is the chance to tell visitors that you do not need an arsenal of chemicals to grow healthy, beautiful roses. I did not always know this. My rose education began when we moved to Heath in 1979. In my admiration for Katherine White, wife…

Rachel’s Rose for Wordless Wednesday

  • Post published:03/18/2015
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The day has been warmer, briefly, but windy and with an icy shower. I refused to think about it. I am thinking about Roses. I am thinking about Rachel's Rose which I wrote about here.  Rachel's Rose is an old trouble-free  farmhouse rose, name forever lost, but there are now new trouble-free roses available with a long season of bloom Peter Kukielski, former curator of the NYBG Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden,  is the man to tell you about…

Shades of White for Winter, Spring and Summer

  • Post published:03/04/2015
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There are many shades of white in this world. Snow white is what I have been looking at for three frigid months now, but I dream of shades of white for spring and summer. First come the snowdrops - as white as snow. A very welcome white. Rhododendrons bloom towards the end of May, but 'Boule de Neige'  (Snowball) has a memory of the white winter. Somehow this pristine white seems prettier than the snow. High summer and…

Last Minute Trio of Gift Books for You or a Friend

  • Post published:12/22/2014
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We are not slaves to the calendar at our house. If you cannot buy any of these gift books for delivery before Christmas, who cares? I still want to remind you of three different types of books that would make great gifts. Groundbreaking Food Gardens (Storey $19.95) by Niki Jabbour will indeed give you 73 plans that will change the way you garden. If you have limited space or no land at all you can grow a container…