When I first started gardening, the "proper" way to prepare a garden bed was double digging. I wouldn't recommend that for anything except really long-lived plants, like peonies and asparagus. These days many people recommend lasagna gardening or something similar. I tried that, and it didn't work too well for me. The biggest mistake I [...]
Rethinking The Front of the House
January 29, 2014 – Posted in: Design, Front of the House, New House, New GardensThe front of our current house presents a very long surface to the road, having been added onto twice by attaching rooms to the side. It faces the most level land to be found on the entire ten acres, the front lawn. And yet, when we moved in, only a scruffy scrim of shrubbery clung [...]
Gardening Books to Dream With
January 18, 2014 – Posted in: Book reviewsPity those gardeners in warmer climes who garden all through the winter. Scarcely are the holidays over, and their hellebores are up and crocuses are showing buds. They never get to put up their feet and completely ignore what the plants are doing outside. We cold climate gardeners, on the other hand, can fully and [...]
Houseplants For the Winter-Weary: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day January 2014
January 15, 2014 – Posted in: What's up/bloomingI've bought yet another plant after saying I was tired of my houseplants. I pounced on this forced hyacinth in bud while grocery shopping. I didn't force any hyacinths myself this year because I was short of funds and many of the bulbs I tried to force last year went moldy on me. But right now I am enjoying the fragrance of this one, and I have another hyacinth glass for my collection in the bargain.
Three Poppy Seed Tips
January 9, 2014 – Posted in: Seeds and Seed StartingBotanical Interests asked me to submit three tips about poppies and my photo to put in their catalog. They only used one of the tips, but there I am on page forty-five.Botanical Interests sells several kinds of poppies, including one of my favorites, 'Lauren's Grape'. One year their supplier of 'Lauren's Grape' had a crop [...]
Cold Climate Gardening: Looking Ahead to a New Year
January 2, 2014 – Posted in: About this siteLast August, to mark eleven years of blogging, I asked you to take a survey indicating what you liked to read on this website. Forty-six of you took the time to respond, and for that I thank you. You are a small fraction of those who subscribe by email or feed reader so although I [...]
Apprentice to a Garden: Book Review
December 22, 2013 – Posted in: Book reviewsApprentice to a Garden: A new urban gardener goes wild by Evelyn Hadden is a collection of essays chronicling the development of Hadden's garden and her growth as a gardener. Evelyn starts out as "the omnipotent landowner," but gradually discovers that she doesn't know enough to be a totalitarian dictator. She begins observing more, and [...]
I Bought A Houseplant
December 17, 2013 – Posted in: HelleboresThere's nothing extraordinary about buying a houseplant, except I just got done whining about how I'm sick of caring for houseplants. Go ahead, call me a hypocrite; I'll wait. Now that we've got that over with, let me tell you about this holiday plant. 'HGC Jacob' hellebore is a perennial. This is not really a [...]
Tired of Houseplants!: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day December 2013
December 15, 2013 – Posted in: What's up/bloomingI have nothing blooming for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Oops. I take that back. My African violet is blooming. It puts out flushes of bloom, despite the fact that I don't water it very consistently. I just happened to luck out this month. At least one of my three Schlumbergera should be blooming right now, [...]
Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life: Book Review
December 10, 2013 – Posted in: Book reviewsCount me among the legion of Beatrix Potter's fans. I love the illustrations in her children's books, and just as much--perhaps more--I love the language of those stories. It pleased my childish ear--and still does today--that the "friendly sparrows," overhearing Peter's sobs, "implored him to exert himself." And that Mr. McGregor "came up with a [...]
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