Month: March 2013
-
Celebrating the Joy of Springtime . . .
 Rebirth & Renewal: A Tiny Nest Amongst Hemlock Boughs Wishing You Joy During this Season of Celebration. Happy Easter, Happy Passover and Happy Spring! Photography and Text â“’ Michaela Medina/The Gardener’s Eden. All images, articles and content on this site (with noted exceptions), are the original, copyrighted property of The Gardener’s Eden and may not be […]
Read More -
Early spring flowering plants, Early Spring Garden Plants, Springtime, The Seasons
First Hints of a Changing Season . . .
April’s Promise: Beloved Blossoms on My Bodnant Viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’). Read More About this Beauty in My Previous Post Here The first hints of a changing season: warm breezes from the south and silvery pussy willow catkins, soft against the skin, flirty pink buds on my favorite viburnum and the taste of sweet […]
Read More -
Aerial Alchemy: Earth’s Golden Hour . . .
 Golden Keys (Above the Florida Keys, USA) Explorers sailed to the New World seeking it. Chemists have spent centuries chasing it. Far above the earth, at the golden hour —while gazing out a jetliner window— I found what they’ve all been searching for. Aerial alchemy. And I think to myself, as Louis Armstrong once sang, what […]
Read More -
Beauty to Behold: The Sap Moon Rising
 The Sap Moon Rising Above Paper Birch and Snow-Covered Hills in Vermont Be sure to look for the full, Sap Moon (aka the Worm Moon), when it rises tonight at 7:50pm ET. The moon was full at exactly 5:27am ET this morning, as it began to set on the western horizon here in Vermont. With […]
Read More -
Costa Rica, Exotic Plants, Tropical Plants
A Trio of Central American Beauties: Hot House Queens from the Tropics . . .
Native to the tropical Americas, Heliconia vellerigera’s (cultivar pictured: H. vellerigera ‘She Kong’), yellow blossoms are accented by  fuzzy, red bracts that remind me of the glamorous, fluffy shrugs worn by Hollywood starlets. An important food-source for hummingbirds, the Heliconias require constant moisture, warmth, partial to full sunlight and rich soil. Flower gardening in the […]
Read More -
Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Gardens, The Seasons
Late March Musings: Welcoming Spring
 My Secret Garden Path, Fragrant with Woodland Phlox (P. divaricata), in April of Last Year Somewhere, beneath the melting snow, the garden is stirring; restless to feel the sweet kiss of springtime sunshine . . . Have only just returned from my travels  —busy downloading photos and editing stories to share— but wanted to pause […]
Read More -
Beneficial Animals and Insects, Butterflies and Moths, Costa Rica, Frogs and Toads, snakes, Spiders, Travel
Deep Forest: Exploring the Heart of Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica . . .
This Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schlegelii), is a mostly arboreal/nocturnal resident of Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica. Though its venom is highly toxic, this snake is non-aggressive and its bite is rarely fatal to humans. Still, I observed the colorful beauty from a distance and zoomed in with my camera for a close-up look. Learn more […]
Read More -
A Return to Costa Rica’s Pura Vida: Field Notes from a Tropical Paradise . . .
Color-Saturated Beauty: Costa Rica from Above Descending Over Fields and Farmland Northwest of San Jose, Costa Rica There’s talk of a snowstorm to greet the first day of spring back home in New England. Cruel, and yet, it seems so far away, now that I’ve shed my snowshoes and winter wool in favor of flip […]
Read More -
Baking, Coffee, Cooking, Recipes, The Seasons, Winter, Winter Garden
Caramel-Drizzled, Spiced Coffee Cake, Daylight Savings & Winter’s Last Hurrah
 Caramel-Drizzled Coffee Cake Takes the Edge Off a Winter Storm Late winter snow storms are real heart-breakers. And it seems that, no matter how many times we’re hit by an early March ‘weather event’, I’m always caught by surprise. Songbirds are returning, buds are swelling on trees, and clocks are about to spring forward to […]
Read More -
Coffee Cultivation, Costa Rica
Cool Beans: Stroll Through Costa Rica’s Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation & Glimpse the Beauty of Harvest Season. . .
 Late Afternoon Sunlight Streams Through Banana Leaves at Beautiful Finca Rosa Blanca, A Certified Organic Coffee Plantation in Costa Rica  Freshly Harvested Coffee Berries at Finca Rosa Blanca Plantation, Costa Rica  Ripe, red Caffea arabica berries signal the beginning of harvest season at Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation. Coffee berries, or “cherries”, are picked during the dry […]
Read More -
Forward, March . . .
 Not just yet, but in a matter of weeks, the Witch Hazels will begin to bloom (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida’ in March of 2012). Read more about spring blooming Witch Hazels in my previous post, here. Although March belongs, in large part, to Winter, this never seems to stop Spring from sending flirtatious hints our […]
Read More