Month: February 2011
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Academy Awards Show, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Oscars
If They Were Flowers: Ode to the Oscars Presenting The Gardener’s Eden’s Second Annual Academy Award Horticouture Fashion Review…
Dress by Aechmea tillandsioides (Bromeliaceae) As Worn by Radiant, New Mother Penelope Cruz (Gucci) with Javier Bardem. Photo: Matt Sayles/AP via Yahoo Last year, at the time of the Academy Awards, I was conservatory-sitting for out-of-town friends. The day after the show, while tending to the exotic beauties contained within the tiny greenhouse, all I […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, ornamental grass, Ornamental Grass in Containers, Recipes, The Seasons, Winter Garden
The Scent of Homemade Bread on a Honey Drizzled Morning…
Homemade Whole Wheat Bread and Farm-Style Butter I Keep Dried Ornamental Grass —Miscanthus sinensis cut from the Garden– In My Bedroom Through Out the Winter Months. I Love How the Feathery Plumes and Golden Curls Catch Morning’s First Light… Of course, I also enjoy looking at ornamental grass in the garden throughout the winter. This […]
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Bee-Friendly Gardens, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Ferncliff, Forcing Branches in Winter, Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, Nature, New England, Shrubs for Winter Interest, Texture, The Seasons, Vermont, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Come to Me, My Sweet Willow…
Salix discolor. Pitcher by Aletha Soulé. Photo © Michaela at TGE Welcome, oh welcome sweet, silver-tipped harbinger of springtime. Is there anything that makes a heart race faster than the sight of the first pussy willow catkins? I love the beautiful, soft texture and the sculptural quality of pussy willow branches artfully arranged in a vase. […]
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Beets, Carrots, Early Spring Garden Plants, Garden Design, Gourmet Garden, organic gardening, Vegetable Gardening, Winter Garden, Winter Gardening
Getting Rooted: Pretty Potatoes, Colorful Carrots, Radiant Radishes & Beautiful Beets…
Now that I have enlarged the potager, I’m planning a bumper crop of colorful potatoes! Radishes and carrots make great companions, not only in salads, but in the potager as well (see pelletized carrot seed planting tip/velvet carrot recipe here, and read a carrot/radish companion planting article here) Colorful Salad of Red and Gold Beets […]
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Cutting Garden, Early Spring Garden Plants, Ferncliff, Flower arrangements, flowering shrubs, Flowering Shrubs and Trees for Forced Flowers, Forcing Branches in Winter, Fragrance, Fresh Cut Flowers, Gardening Inspiration, Indoor Table Arrangements, New England, Plant Spotlight, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, shrubs, Shrubs for Winter Interest, Shrubs/Trees for Forced Flowers, The Seasons, Vernal Equinox, Winter, Woody Plants
First Hints of Spring…
Last Year’s Nest Remains Intact, Decorated with the Pink-Tinted Buds of Viburnum Bodnantense ‘Dawn’ Spring is exactly one month away, and eagerly, the garden awaits her arrival. Already, swollen buds, glowing bark and the sing-song voices of chickadees calling “spring’s here”, fill trees and shrubs with new life… On Warmer Days, Blushing Viburnum Buds Near […]
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Full Moon, Nature, Night Garden
Moonlit Dreams…
Moonlit Condensation Gazing out through the misty window last night, February’s full moon —sometimes called the Snow Moon or the Wolf Moon— looked so warm and lovely… *** The next full moon is March 19th {Known as the Sap Moon or Worm Moon}. Do you follow the lunar calendar? Learn more about the moon and […]
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Cold Frame Construction, Cold-Climate Vegetable Gardening, Cooking, Early Spring Garden Plants, Extending the Growing Season, Ferncliff, Garden Science, Garden Structures, Green House Gardens, Green Living, Late Autumn Garden, New England, Planting Techniques, Root Cellar Storage, Storing Winter Vegetables, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Vermont, Winter Garden, Winter Gardening
The Early Bird Catches the Arugula… And the Chard, Spinach & Lettuce too!
Arugula in the Hoophouse, January Let’s start out with a bit of honesty, shall we? The four season harvest isn’t for wimps. Winter gardening  —growing plants in temperatures below freezing to sub-zero, beneath plastic sheeting— isn’t a natural act. And although I enjoy a good game of woman vs. wild, sometimes winter gets to be […]
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Decorating Ideas, Early Spring Garden Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Flower arrangements, Flowering Shrubs and Trees for Forced Flowers, Forcing Branches in Winter, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Plant Spotlight
Seasonal Prelude: The Scent of Spring…
Forced Blossoms: The Intoxicating Scent of Narcissus ‘Grand Soleil d’Or’ Remember the fragrance of spring; warm air carrying the sweet perfume of new blossoms on the breeze? Distracted by day dreams of earth-scented pathways; chilly melt-water gurgling up from stone? Â Finding yourself stalking the swollen buds of witch hazel, viburnum, azalea and other fragrant, flowering […]
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Bee-Friendly Gardens, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Cold-Climate Vegetable Gardening, Color in the Garden, companion planting, Container Gardening, Cooking, Decorating Ideas, Decorating the Garden, Deer, Flower Seeds, Fragrance, Fresh Cut Flowers, Front Yard Gardens, Fruit for home gardens, Furniture, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Dining Rooms, Garden Journals, Garden Maintenance, Garden Paths, Garden Rooms, Home, Organic Disease Control, organic gardening, Organic Insect Control, Planting Techniques, seed starting, Seeds, soil science, strawberries, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Dreaming of Springtime’s Sweet Veggies: Planning a Lush, Welcoming Potager…
A tumbling jumble of nasturtiums creates a warm welcome for people and pollinators alike Sweet seats! In June, the potager becomes my outdoor living/dining room Wide pathways and mounded-earth beds give me plenty of room to work and maneuver about with carts and wheelbarrows Winter is a wonderful season —I’m still having fun snowshoeing and […]
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Conservatory, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, orchids, Plant Spotlight
What’s Love Got to Do With It ? Confessions of Lust, Longing & Orchid Obsession…
It Always Starts so Innocently… Water Droplets on a Pure White Phalenopsis When I say ‘Valentine’s Day’, do you think red, long stemmed roses? Many people do. After all, roses certainly are lovely and romantic. But sexy? When I think about Valentine’s Day —and that naughty, naked, imp Cupid: flitting about and firing off poison […]
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Evergreens, Ferncliff, Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, Nature, New England, The Seasons, Winter, Winter Garden, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Winter’s Quiet Beauty: Soft, Powdery Mornings & Misty Mountain Tops…
Mist Rising in the Snow-Covered, Green River Valley Try as I might, I can think of nothing more peaceful than the quiet stillness of Vermont’s misty, snow-covered mountains at first light… White-Coated Conifers Frame the View to the North The Snowy Still at Woodland’s Edge A Dusting of Snow Traces the Outline of Every Tiny […]
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Cippolini Onions, Cold-Climate Vegetable Gardening, Early Spring Garden Plants, Garden projects for kids, Garden Science, Gourmet Garden, Herb Gardening, organic gardening, Plant Propagation, Plant Science, Planting Techniques, Seed Kits, seed starting, Seed- Saving, Seeds, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Winter Garden
Here Comes the Sun, Doo’n Doo Doo: Gettin’ Started with Seed Starting…
On your mark, get set… Twenty degrees fahrenheit. Ow… That’s nippy! Yes, the outside temperature still says ‘winter’ loud-and-clear, but the good new is that the days are getting longer, and the sunlight is getting stronger. That means it’s just about time to get a jump on the growing season by starting seed indoors. At […]
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Bark, Ferncliff, Foliage, Garden Design, Living Walls & Fences, Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, Nature, New England, North American Trees, soil science, The Seasons, Trees, Trees with Textural Bark, Wind Breaks, Winter, Winter Garden, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
The Wonderful Wizard of Winter: Native, Snow-Draped Canadian Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis – Native Canadian Hemlock I try very hard not to play favorites with the plants growing in and around my garden. In fact, you may have noticed that I’ll refer to a preferred species as ‘one of my favorites’, as opposed to ‘my favorite’. After all, I truly love each and every one […]
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Ferncliff, Garden Design, Garden Rooms, Gardening Inspiration, Ice Storms, The Seasons, Winter, Winter Garden, Woody Plants
Stolen Moments with Sleeping Beauty: Wintry Gardens & Morning’s First Blush
Drips Frozen in Motion: Ice-Glazes the Branches of this Halesia tetraptera (Mountain Silverbell) Setting aside my busy-work for an hour this morning, I found myself wandering along the garden’s ice-clad pathways; camera and steaming teacup in-hand. Â With pink sunlight illuminating glassy tree-tops, I couldn’t resist a peek at Sleeping Beauty —the garden deeply slumbering— in […]
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Books, Cookbooks, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Recipes, The Seasons, Winter
Vanilla Sky & Blueberry Breakfast…
Hot Popover Pancake with Summertime Blueberries Pulled from the Freezer Blue sunrise. This morning I awoke to find every windowpane blasted with frozen droplets of water from last night’s winter storm. Thunder, lighting, snow and freezing rain; it seems all four seasons passed through New England yesterday in the blink of an eye. And today […]
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Bulbs, Butterflies and Moths, Color in the Garden, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Flower arrangements, Fragrance, Fresh Cut Flowers, Gardening Inspiration, Gifts for Gardeners, Glamorous Gardens, Great Growers and Nurseries, Home, Indoor Table Arrangements, Perennials for summer, Plant Spotlight, Plants for sun, Summer Flowering Bulbs, Summer Flowering Combinations, Summer Flowering Perennials
A Warm Wash of Fragrance: Dreaming Of Lilies and Sultry Summer Evenings…
Dreaming of Warm Summer Nights and a Garden Filled with Softly Blushing Lilies… Asiatic, Oriental, Trumpet, Species or Hybrid: I’ve yet to meet a lily without falling in love. And while my weekend may be filled with practical matters —shoveling, clearing hoop-houses of snow, cleaning grow lights and sorting seed packets— there’s sure to be […]
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Children - gardening with, Children and Gardening, Cold-Climate Vegetable Gardening, Container Gardening, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Early Spring Garden Plants, Extending the Growing Season, Garden projects for kids, Herb Gardening, Indoor Gardening, Kitchen, Onions, Plant Propagation, Plant Science, Plant Spotlight, Planting Techniques, Pots and Pottery, Seed Kits, Seeds, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Joyful New Beginnings: Bright-Green Herb Seedlings Emerging from the Soil…
Seedlings in the Morning Sun: Â Johnny’s Herb Disks in the Windowsill Garden (Coriandrum sativum) Lately, the weather in here in Vermont has been a bit challenging (to say the least). Even we native New Englanders start to groan when back-to-back blizzards deliver multiple feet of snow and there’s nowhere left to pile it! Three feet, […]
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Bulbs, Container Gardening, Decorating Ideas, Flower arrangements, Fragrance, Garden projects for kids, Gifts for Gardeners, Great Growers and Nurseries, Home, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Pots, Spring Blooming Bulbs, Spring Flowering Bulbs, Winter, Winter Garden
A Warm, Sweet Welcome for February: Forcing Narcissus Indoors…
Hello February – Golden Greetings in the Entryway {Forced Narcissus} A Bit of Golden Color to Brighten Stormy, Grey Days… Welcome February… It’s the first day of February, and outside my front door, snow is falling steadily and the sky is a gloomy, powder grey. Overnight, a winter storm swirled in, and the forecast warns […]
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