Our area is still picking itself up after Irene left her gifts of washed out roads and bridges, flooded basements and houses. We have been fortunate here at the End of the Road because we never lost power and the water that ran into our dirt floored basement, ran out politely without making a fuss. We thought our only problem was hoping the popcorn supply would last through Sunday afternoon while we read our books. In fact we…
Nasami Farm in Whately is a part of the New England Wildflower Society which also operates The Garden in the Woods in Framingham. Here are the greenhouses that propagate the native plants that are then sold at Nasami and The Garden in the Woods to gardeners, landscapers and towns who are working to preserve local biodiversity. I have gotten many healthy beautiful plants at Nasami and I recommend them. Barrenwort as a groundcover, pagoda dogwood as a ornamental part of…
We have more lawn than we would like, and more lawn than people like Susan Harris, one of the Lawn Reform instigators, recommend, we have been working to eliminate lawn. I have the Rose Bank and the Daylily Bank, to cut down on mowing and therefore energy use. I am moving the pretty groundcover, barren strawberry (Waldenstenia), into an area along the edge of the lawn. And I am trying to turn the whole front lawn into a…
There is lots of activity in the area as roads are cleared, stranded wedding parties released, MREs (the military's Meals Ready to Eat) delivered by helicopter by FEMA, and damage assessed but all is quiet here at the End of the Road. The roses enjoyed their deep drink, fatten their buds and bloom. The goldenrod is happy too.
Sometimes in the summer we are annoyed by the bugs buzzing around our heads. We swat. We worry about the bees bumbling in the flowers and move children away. We get out spray cans of insecticide. What we need to do is think about the importance of bugs, often vital pollinators, without whom we would not have beautiful gardens, delicious fruits and vegetables, and a healthy life. Ever since honey bees have gotten so much publicity because of…
I just celebrated my 71st birthday and my daughter (my 50 year old daughter!) said that I was now “well into my 70s.” I’m not quite sure how to take that; in my own mind I am barely over 16. However, my muscles disagree and tell me I am definitely over 16, and even over 50. Fortunately I was able to visit with Rose Deskavich, sister member of the Greenfield Garden Club and mistress of a beautiful Greenfield…
A 40 foot Herb Bed lies in front of our house where lilies and roses vie for space with rue, parsley, basil, variegated sage and thalictrum at the west end of the building past the Welcoming Platform where you can see yarrow, golden marjoram, sage, tarragon, rosemary, Ashfield black stem mint and chives to the end of the Bed where there is more basil, horseradish, lemon balm and dill that was knocked down by the rain that fell briefly last…
Last fall my neighbor gave me several of his famous garlic bulbs to use as seed so I could plant my second garlic crop in the vegetable garden. My first crop was not very successful, mostly because I did not pay attention to cutting off all the scapes in the spring. My harvest in July was puny. This time I planted each clove in well tilled soil and mulched heavily with spoiled hay in mid-October. You can read…
Three perennials that get A plus grades in my garden are achillea, otherwise known as yarrow, antirrhinum or snapdragon and astilbe. My first awareness of achillea was the roadside weed, or wildflower, depending on your point of view. Roadside yarrow is usually white with the typical achillea flat topped cluster of tiny flowers. The ferny green foliage is pretty even when the plant is not in bloom. When I began to learn about perennials from my garden mentor…
Greenfield Garden Club members opened their gardens to the public in a fund-raising tour on July 9. Water seemed to be everywhere in those gardens, fountains, pools and streams. One of the most important water features was in Marcia Stone and Norm Hirschfeld's garden - a rain barrel. They plan to add more. The rain off their garage roof fills the 55 gallon drum almost instantly. The Greenfield Garden Club raises money to fund many school projects.