The first unpleasant surprise was frost! The 7 am temperature on our thermometer on the north side of the house, but in the sun, said 42 degrees and I rejoiced. But my husband brought in the cat's frozen water dish from the welcoming platform. The first shock. Then I went out to open our ad hoc cold frame and the inside was all frosty. I'd better mark this frost date in my Journal. The second, and final, unpleasant…
It was quite a week, with two New York days, visiting parks, and the New York Botanical Garden's Emily Dickinson Exhibit. (See my earlier posts) I came home to my own show - the Sargent Crab in the mucky Sunken Garden is in full bloom. So far it has been able to hold on to it's leaves and flowers but ever since I got home late Wednesday the winds have been blowing, and the temperature has been dropping.…
I found that terrific windstorms yesterday had knocked over one of our linden trees, Tilia cordata. In 1991 we invited our three daughters and three granddaughters to visit on Memorial Day to each plant a linden tree along the pasture fence to the west of the house. Tracy was almost 10, Tricia was 5 and Caitlin was only 13 months, but they all got their pencil sized linden trees in the ground. However, time brings change, not all…
My friend (and noted author), Kathryn Galbraith, explained the importance of trees to community in her beautiful new picture book for children, Arbor Day Square. I am fortunate to be surrounded by woodland here in Heath, but as a new member of the Bridge of Flowers committee I have been more and more aware of how healthy street trees, some of them quite new, add to the quality of life in a small town like Shelburne Falls, but…
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Tulips of many colors and hues are in full bloom on Shelburne Falls' Bridge of Flowers. It's enough to make one stop - or at least slow down - to enjoy the day and be grateful to live in such an area where going about one's duties and errand running brings one this kind of pleasure. And don't forget you can add a little bit of the Bridge to your own garden by buying a plant or…
I just came back from checking the Larch seedling I was given ten days ago. I watered it the first couple of days, but the recent weather has been perfect for transplanting - overcast, cool (but not freezing) and showery. The tree seems to have settled in well. So far. Larch trees, tamarack, hackmatack, or more properly Larix laricinia, are that mysterious thing, a deciduous pine tree. This is a native tree that can reach 75 feet tall. It does…
Jan over at Thanks for 2day is asking us to write about our current and or planned efforts to garden and live sustainably by April 15. There are prizes! And a chance to learn more about each other, and more ways to live a greener life. Check out Jan's blog for all information and don't forget - Earth Day is coming up - for the 40th year! I have been documenting, to some degree, our attempts to live…
My neighbors, Brooks McCutchen and Janis Steele, are very models of the modern maple sugarers. When I went to visit their sugarhouse I saw the familiar steam billowing from the roof, but as I got closer I saw modern elements. Inside the sugarhouse is a huge steamy stainless steel evaporator but there is no fire in sight. This operation is run mostly by solar power. Solar power is not the only modern element. McCutchen and Steele use a…
There were a lot of young children at the Boston Flower Show, some clutching a parent's hand, and some being wheeled about in stroller splendor. It might not always have been exciting, but the youngsters and their parents enjoyed this jungle garden with a grassy lion . . . a giraffe made of flowers . . . . and a really scary crocodile right at the edge of the exhibit. No one wanted to touch - and a…