Season 2, blog post #1. I’m sorry to start the new blogging season off with a bit of garden trouble but I promise to finish on a positive note. The poor little tree to the left is our two-in-one dwarf plum tree. As you can see in the picture it is infected with black knot. … Continue reading Black Knot (bad news) & Seedlings (good news) →

This was our view of a drift of choral bells at the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands. My goal was try try to replicate this in some fashion. So earlier this fall I took a large number of choral bell cuttings of different colors to create enough plants for a drift. This is a cutting … Continue reading Choral Bells Update, plus more →

We have about thirty medium to large ornamental grasses in our yard. They are pretty in the summer with the wind moving them around like waves in the ocean. Their seed heads in the fall can catch the light of a setting sun. But in late fall there comes a time when the grasses need … Continue reading Bringing In The Sheaths … →

The Chrysanthemum foliage is spilling over into the paver pathway so it is time for it to go to the compost pile. Work in our gardens continues on well past the first frost. On a sunny and relatively warm day (for November) I was out collecting the dead perennial tops to add to the compost … Continue reading Buttoning Up & Buying Seeds →

It may be the middle of November but there are still jobs to do in the gardens. I planted several Knockout Roses (red, pink and white) this year and they are renowned for their hardiness. But still they can benefit from some protection from drying winds this winter so I decided to make use of … Continue reading Wrapping Up For Winter →

One of the seasonal chores around the yard and gardens here in New England is the raking and clearing of leaves. At times it can get to be a lot of work and a bit burdensome. At other times: if the weather is fine; and there are no other pressing issues to deal with; and … Continue reading Leaf Mould (or is that Mold?) →

The trench is dug and agricultural grit is added for drainage. Fall is the time of the year for planting spring flowering bulbs. Being the frugal gardener that I am, I waited until the first of November when Home Depot slashes the price of their bulbs by 50%. So I saved some money in the … Continue reading Planting Bulbs →

Fall is a time in the gardens when the last of the crops are harvested and the garden soil is prepared for the next growing season. It is bittersweet though with the thought a long winter ahead. Here are some pictures of what I have been up to for the last few days. The last … Continue reading Fall Garden Chores →

April 2019 pansies It’s 3:30 in the afternoon so it is time to go in for a cup of tea. I think the English have a good tradition in the afternoon ‘cuppa. Well, in addition to sitting for a while I will tell you the story of our garden pansies. In August of 2018 I … Continue reading Dealing With Volunteers →

A drift of Huchera at Keukenhof gardens, Lisse, Netherlands When we travel, often times we are inspired by what we see. As a gardener, Keukenhof gardens was about as inspiring as it gets for me! The drift of a variety of colors of coral bells seen in the picture above has stuck in my mind. … Continue reading A Drift of Heuchera (Coral Bells) →