Month: October 2010
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Celebrations, Halloween, Photographers, Spiders, Tim Geiss
Things Getting A Little Creepy ? Wishing You a Happy Halloween !
Jumping Spider (Araneae salticidae) Photograph â“’ Tim Geiss at poltergeiss.com We only look scary! These arachnids are a gardener’s friends. Although some spiders are venomous, most are environmentally beneficial creatures worthy of our respect and protection. Read more about the predatory jumping spider (Araneae Salticidae) —a common ‘guest’ in houses— Â and the soil-dwelling red velvet […]
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Ferncliff, Gnomes, Halloween, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Garden Room, Secret Gardens
All Seems Tranquil in This Garden …. But Beware: Things Change When Darkness Falls
A Pretty Little Pumpkin Sits in a Seasonal Display… And a Sweet Garden Gnome Rests, Nestled Amongst Over-Wintering Plants and Garden Treasures. It All Seems so Peaceful. But even Gnomes have secret desires, jealousies and ambitions. And sometimes, when you least expect it… It’s Night of the Living Gnome… He Has Another Side… He’s Been […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Bee-Friendly Gardens, Butterflies and Moths, Early Spring Garden Plants, Ferncliff, Forcing Branches in Winter, Gothic Garden, Halloween, Hamamelis, Hardy shrubs, Honeybee Friendly Gardening, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Late Autumn Garden, Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, New England, Plant Spotlight, Plants for shade, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Garden Room, shrubs, Shrubs for fall color, Shrubs for Winter Interest, Shrubs/Trees for Forced Flowers, Trees for Fall Foliage, Vermont, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Must Be The Season Of The Witch…
“When I look out my Window, Many sights to see. And when I look out my window, So many different people to be …That it’s strange, so strange.” “You’ve got to pick up every stitch, You’ve got to pick up every stitch, You’ve got to pick up every stitch …Mm, must be the Season of […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Chartreuse, Ferncliff, Flower Seeds, Flowering Trees, Foliage, Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, North American Trees, Plant hunting, Plant Spotlight, Plants for Texture, Raindrops, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Golden Autumn Beauty & Springtime Silverbells: Our Native and Ever-Graceful Halesia tetraptera…
The Golden Leaves and Rusty Drupes of North American Native Halesia tetraptera, (Carolina Silverbell or Mountain Silverbell) Carolina silverbell. With a name like that, you’d invite her into your garden for the poetry alone, wouldn’t you? I did. Well, sort-of. Although I was familiar with the silverbell clan, I wasn’t really sure of which Halesia […]
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Autumn, Celebrations, Corn Mazes, Farm Events, Garden Science, Halloween, Mazes and Labyrinths, New England, Plant Science, Plant Spotlight, Planting Techniques, Vermont
“He Who Walks Behind the Rows”… Lost in a Labyrinth of Stalks & Tassels: Exploring the Art of the Corn Maze
“He Who Walks Behind the Rows”… Clouds gather, dark and low on the horizon. The daylight is fading. You’ve been driving through miles of cornfields and back country roads. Suddenly, something  —a child?— darts across the cracked pavement and into the corn rows. Immediately, you pull over and step from the warmth of your car. […]
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Ferncliff, Nature, North American Trees, Trees for Fall Foliage, Vermont, Woodland plants
October in Vermont: The Painted Forest
Red maple (Acer rubrum) with golden colored striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), paper birch (Betula papyrifera) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) A week of notes from the Vermont forest, where the kaleidoscope of color changes from day to day and hour to hour. Scarlet red maples leaves, now fallen and scattered about the mossy paths, swirl […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Color in the Garden, Foliage, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Naturalistic Garden Design, Plants for Light Effects, Plants for Texture, Shrubs for fall color, The Seasons, Trees for Fall Foliage
Autumn Light…
Edge of daylight… Autumn light, like golden honey dripping from branches, sweetens the chill of mid-October days. A stroll through the garden reveals a sunlit patch of earth —still empty. My eye follows the low rays, looking for opportunities to play with light and texture; a potential spot for a luminous shrub, feathery grass or […]
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Electric Garden Tools, garden tools, Gardening Inspiration, Green Living
The Electric Gardener: Guest Post by Ted Dillard of The Electric Chronicles…
“Get that evil, oily, smelly, loud machine out of my garden!† This was the response I got from a dear friend and gardener, as I pointed my 1967 Gravely tractor with the “Power Plow†attachment –– a tool that can only be described as a food processor for soil–– towards the task of turning her […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Nature, Recipes, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Harvest Gold: Sweet, Sauteed Butternut Squash and Yam with Warm Spices…
Autumn nights are growing colder now; wood smoke curling from chimney-tops on still evenings. And although still vibrant, the forest is slowly shifting from red and orange to burnished bronze and rust. On walks along woodland paths, fallen leaves carpet the floor, and my feet kick up a familiar, October-crunch. Radiant as stained glass, the […]
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Beneficial Animals and Insects, Dragonflies, Nature, organic gardening, Organic Insect Control, The Seasons
I Spy a Beautiful, Scarlet-Red Dragonfly! Meet the Autumn Meadowhawk…
An Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly (Odonate sympetrum vicinum) Rests in the October Sun Look, it’s a red dragonfly! Actually, to be specific, this dragonfly is commonly known as an Autumn Meadowhawk (Odonate sympetrum vicinum). I got so excited when I saw this beautiful creature lighting beside me on a lichen-covered stone the other day, that I […]
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annuals, Building, Cold Frame Construction, Extending the Growing Season, Garden Maintenance, Garden Science, Green House Gardens, Herb Gardening, The Seasons, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Winter Garden, Winter Solstice
Shelter Me: Keeping the Kitchen Garden Warm and Productive as Temps Drop…
Basil and Calendula cozy up beneath a misty dome in my garden… The first frost of autumn sparkled on my lawn when I awoke Saturday morning. And although it wasn’t a true ‘killing-frost’ —the morning glories slipped right through Jack’s chilly hands— a few things were nipped here and there in my potager. Most of […]
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Color in the Garden, Ferncliff, Great Blogs, Other Blogs
Honored to be Today’s Featured Guest: Martha Stewart Living’s Beautiful Blog ‘At Home in the Garden’…
See My Guest-Post “Designing Gardens for Beautiful Late Season Color”, With Accompanying Slide Show, At Martha Stewart’s “At Home in the Garden” by Clicking Here! I’m absolutely honored and thrilled to announce that I am featured today as the first guest-blogger on Martha Stewart Living’s ‘At Home in the Garden’. Â I would like to express […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Color in the Garden, companion planting, Ferncliff, Foliage, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Hydrangea, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials : Vermont, Perennials for Autumn, Pergolas and Arbors, Planting Techniques, Plants for Light Effects, Plants for Texture, Purple and Maroon Foliage, shrubs, Shrubs for fall color, The Seasons, Woody Plants
Opposites Attract: Autumn Golds Glow Beside Vibrant Violets, Pale Plums & Lovely Lavenders…
An October knock-out: Clematis viticella ‘Polish Spirit’ (my new favorite) sings harmony at the edge of the golden-chartreuse fields of autumn Oh beautiful, technicolor October, my favorite month of the year. On glorious fall days like today, I live to be outdoors from dawn to dusk, playing in the garden’s golden light. With all of the […]
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Aletha Soule, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Drying, Gourmet Garden, Kitchen, Preserving, Preserving Herbs, Putting Food By, The Seasons, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
The Sweetness of Summer, Saved in a Jar: Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil…
Sun Dried Tomatoes on the Terrace Homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes and Herbs in Olive Oil in My Pantry Hillside in Autumn Rain… Beautiful, misty mountain tops and grey, moody skies greeted me when I awoke this morning. It seems that the wet, unsettled weather has returned to New England this week, and I —for one— […]
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Garden Rooms, Glamorous Gardens, Gothic Garden, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Garden Room, Secret Gardens, Shade Gardening, Terrariums, The Seasons, Tropical Plants, Urns and Vessels, Wardian Cases
Indoor Eden: The Secret Garden Room…
Where does the Secret Garden lead? The Garden Room, of course… Brrrrrrr… There’s a chill in the air this morning! Low temps hovered around 34 degrees fahrenheit last night, and in spite of the bright sunshine, it sure feels like fall now. Jack Frost hasn’t yet made his inaugural, autumn visit to the garden, but […]
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Cooking, Potatoes, Recipes, The Seasons, Tomatoes, Uncategorized, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Vermont
Welcome October! Capture the Beautiful Flavors & Colors of Harvest Season with Autumn Vegetable Stew…
The Colors of the Season – Autumn Harvest Stew I am a true New Englander. And while I do treasure all of the year’s beautiful seasons, I have to admit that October is my favorite month. I love autumn’s unique combination of fleeting, sensory pleasures; the subtle, changing light, intensely colored foliage, rich textures, savory […]
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