After a full week of rain and weather so cold we had a fire in the woodstove every day, the sun is shining. You can see the big rose bushes are weighed down with rain. I can hardly tell where Rachel's rose, Celestial and Ispahan begin and end. However burdened they are, rain soaked roses are very beautiful. I have written about Rachel's rose before. Click here for her full history. I planted Pink Grootendorst on the new…
Yesterday I was sitting by the window with Holly the cat on my lap. Suddenly she stiffened. She sat up. She was on alert. I looked out the window to see what caused her to come to attention. And there, hopping down the drive was an Eastern hare. Our neighbor had reported sighting the hare the other day. I ran out screaming. The cat fell asleep. Henry set out the Havahart trap. This morning I looked out the…
This is not my William Baffin rose! Alas! I visited Deirdre Bonifaz whose garden is on the Franklin Land Trust Garden tour on June 26 & 27. Her garden has everything - blooming trees, blooming shrubs, fruit trees, perennials, vegetables, herbs, AND roses! We went around identifying the roses when we could, and admiring them always. Deirdre could hardly believe that I had managed to kill a William Baffin rose. You can see what hers looks like. When…
In between Sunday's showers and torrential rains I visited Kathy Puckett's garden which is magnificent. A perfect event for Wordless Wednesday. ************************************************************************************************ I have to add a few words after all. On Saturday June 12, visitors are invited to experience Seeds of Solidarity at 165 Chestnut Hill Road in Orange. Seeds of Solidarity consists of a farm, home, and non-profit organization with educational programs. The day begins with a morning tour, which begins at 10 am and goes until 11.30,…
Someone is dining out in the garden. Not slugs. The lettuce has been pulled out of the ground and eaten. Some has been eaten down to the ground. This row was attacked differently, but still, the lettuce is gone. I've never had bunny damage before, but this looks like what I imagine bunnies would do. Who has experience to share? On that assumption I took out the sample bottle of Deer and Rabbit Deterrent that Liquid Fence sent…
The chicks are one week old! They all survived the USPS trip here and a week of hot weather which has actually been a great benefit. Chicks need 95 degree heat the first week. I don't know that I have ever gotten through the first week with no fatalities before so we are celebrating. The photo is a little fuzzy. It was hard to take the picture and hold the chick at the same time, but you can…
How has your garden changed in 30 years? How has your life changed in 30 years? As a person who moved every two or three years (on average) for the first four sevenths of my life, I was stunned to realize that Henry and I have been in Heath for 30 years! And that means, that on May 22, today, I celebrate my 30th anniversary as garden columnist for The Recorder. It was a happy day for me…
I left the full frame of this Centaurea montana so that you can see how it persists in spite of grass, roses, nettles and various other weeds. We planted Centaurea montana more than 20 years ago - and then decided that spot, a small bank, was not a good place. We mowed everything down. The Centaurea didn't notice and it continues to come up every year. It is not invasive, just persistent. Centaurea montana is also called perennial…
Last year this nameless tree peony did not bloom at all, but this year there will be three blooms. My dark pink tree peony only had one blossom, but paler pink Guan Yin Mian had 15 blossoms! Not all at once - which is a good thing. This is the common white beach rose. I have several bushes in a kind of hedge. It has taken quite a beating over the past couple of years, but I think…
In the cool of the early morning I wandered down The Rose Walk and found that Dart's Dash has put out its first blossom. Rugosas are the first roses to bloom in my garden, but this is especially early. I've been watering which the roses love and temperatures in the 80s and today in the 90s have persuaded the roses that summer might almost be here. Dart's Dash is a low growing rugosa, but has the rugosa's vigor…