Recent Posts
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Foliage, Trees, Trees for Fall Foliage, Winter
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Autumn Snowliage in Vermont
The Blue Green Dragon has Her Autumn Fire Cooled by Old Man Winter Mother Nature had early tricks in mind for Vermont this Halloween, though fortunately, she and her pal, Old Man Winter, kept things light. Autumn snowstorms can be devastating to deciduous trees and shrubs here in New England; especially when the more fragile […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Autumn Garden Design, Color in the Garden, DIY Garden Design, Flowering Trees, Foliage, Fragrance, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Late Autumn Garden, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, New England, North American Trees
American Yellowwood: The Garden’s Crowning, Golden, October Glory
Cladrastis kentukea: Our Glorious, American Yellowwood Tree I’ve always been baffled by the rarity of American Yellowwood trees in New England gardens. With a glorious canopy of fragrant, cascading white blossoms in May/June, a rounded, full crown of disease-free leaves throughout the summer season and clear, golden fall foliage in late autumn, this tree is […]
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Tête-à -tête with Chocolate Skillet Cake, Raspberries & Autumn Leaves
Chocolate Skillet Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting and Raspberries (Gluten Free Version from Bravetart). Cast iron pan from Lodge. What is it about the first blast of chilly, autumn air that brings out my seasonal craving for baked goods? Do you experience this phenomenon as well? Luckily, my family has plenty of October birthdays to […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Autumn Garden Design, Flower Seeds, Garden Design Photos, Garden Maintenance
Beyond the Sweater Drawer: Gardening In Layers for Autumn Color & Texture
Stunning Abelia mosanensis, Backed Up by Lovely Lindera benzoin and Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegatus’, Together in a Stellar Second Act.  Getting dressed for October weather in New England usually involves a tank top, t-shirt, bright sweater and weatherproof jacket. As the season grows colder, this list grows to include colorful wool socks, hat, scarf, gloves and […]
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Second Thoughts & Encores . . .
With a Backdrop of Golden Clethra alnifolia and Side-Show of Blackened Rudbeckia Pom Poms, Glistening Asclepias tubersoa (Butterfly Weed), Parachutes Await a Breeze Some things in life are one-hit wonders, and others are worth a second thought or three. When it comes to gardening in a cold climate, I’m always looking to get the most […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Autumn Garden Design
Into the October Fire
Cranberrybush Viburnum (V. trilobum), turns up the heat with Lindera benzoin Blazing Gold Beyond It’s yet another wet and dreary day here in Vermont, but even the non-stop rain can’t seem to extinguish this October’s fire. Here’s a peek at the week’s highlights in a few snaps made between showers . . . Red, Orange […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Autumn Garden Design, Autumnal Equinox, Bark, Bee-Friendly Gardens, Bird Friendly Gardens, Birds, Birds in the Garden, Butterflies and Moths, Color in the Garden, Flowering Trees, Foliage, Fragrance, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Late Autumn Garden, Texture, Trees with Textural Bark, Winter, Winter Garden, Winter Garden Design, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Sweet-Scented Seven-Son Flower: Heptacodium miconioides Blossoms Welcome Autumn . . .
Heptacodium miconioides in and amongst September garden favorites: Rudbeckia, Solidago, Miscanthus and Physocarpus opulifolius It’s no secret that we northeastern gardeners struggle with a limited growing season. Bare trees for nearly six months is a bit much to take. We want to hold onto the glory of autumn. Where winters are long and summers are […]
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Autumn Florals: An Introduction to Pastel Drawing & Painting at Beautiful Walker Farm, Dummerston, Vermont
Come and Learn Pastel Drawing and Painting Techniques with Beautiful Walker Farm Flowers as Our Subject …Come join me at beautiful Walker Farm, RT5, Dummerston, VT on the first day of fall –September 22nd– for an introductory floral still life workshop focusing on pastel techniques and materials (hard and soft pastels, pastel pencils, paper supports, […]
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These Last Golden Days
Monarch on Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ With little more than a week of summer remaining, I find myself looking back on the season with a twinge of sadness. Although I adore autumn, I wonder how it arrived so quickly. Spring was late this year, and our hot, rainy summer went a bit too fast. When did […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Autumn Garden Design, Dark flowers, Gardening Inspiration, Secret Garden Room, Secret Gardens
Welcoming Late Summer’s Slow, Shadowy, Seductive Beauty . . .
Ligularia dentata ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’ in the Secret Garden September is truly my favorite Summer month. In fact, now through early December is my preferred season to be outside and in the garden. Everyone loves springtime, of course, but when you’re employed in the field of horticulture and landscape design, it’s hard to find the time […]
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Bug Defense for Gardeners, Butterflies and Moths, Caterpillars, Insects/Entomology
Going Buggy: Let’s Talk About Tussock Moth Caterpillars
On the Left, Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar (Lophocampa caryae), and on the Right, White-Marked Tussock Moth Caterpillar (Orgyia leucostigma) Suddenly, it’s September, and everywhere I look, there are hints of a changing season. One of the first autumnal signs I’ve noticed this year is the appearance of fuzzy, colorful, and boldly-patterned Tussock Moth caterpillars. Although […]
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Books, Container Gardening, Succulents, Succulents in Containers
You Can Judge This Beauty By Its Cover! Stylish Succulents: Summer Book Review
Stylish Succulents – Beautiful and Brainy It’s that time of year again: summer heat has taken its toll on neglected pots of annuals, your house-sitter forgot to water the hanging baskets, and the gorgeous Dahlias out by the pool were beheaded by deer. It’s mid-July, summer is just getting started! Now what? Well, let’s hope […]
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Perennial Garden Maintenance, Perennials for summer, Seeds, Summer Flowering Perennials, Wildflowers and Meadows
In Search of the Slow, Sweet Summertime
It always happens in mid-May . . .The summer ahead seems endless in late spring and I schedule too many things on my calendar. Over-booked and over-worked, I inevitably catch a cold and fall behind on everything. This year, the cold set me back a couple of weeks —in June! But, here I am. I […]
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Edible Gardening, Ferncliff, Ferns, Fiddleheads, Foraging, Freezing, Freezing Produce
Fiddle Dee Dee: Ostrich Fern Harvest
Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) in the Secret Garden Hoo Wee! It’s fiddlehead season again in Southern Vermont, and don’t you blink or you’ll miss it. Normally just two weeks long, fiddlehead season is particularly short with spring’s late arrival this year. So when I noticed bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), and troutlily (Erythronium americanum), beginning to bloom […]
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Bulbs, Cutting Garden, Fragrance
Heaven on Earth: Meet Narcissus ‘Abba’, Spicy Sweet Fragrance of Springtime
Hello, My Sweet. Narcissus ‘Abba’ It’s May again, and this year, her perfume is sweeter than ever. Springtime. Oh, she really made us wait. Somehow though, the yearning just makes everything seem richer. This morning, I flung open the studio doors and for the first time this year, I brought my coffee pot outside on the […]
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Books, Japan, Kyoto, Tea Gardens, Travel, Zen Gardens
Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto: Planning Garden-Destination Travel
A Tea Garden at Koto-In, from Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto. Photograph: John Einarsen Almost every passionate, ornamental gardener has a dream destination file; a box, drawer or folder filled with clipped photos, articles and maps of exotic landscapes waiting to be explored. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been caching field […]
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Misty Glasshouse Dreaming
Favorite Dreary-Day Escape: Seeking Inspiration at Lyman Conservatory, Smith College Botanic Garden, Northampton, MA Melancholy mornings, moody afternoons and long, rainy weekends; I can think of a hundred-and-one excuses for a trip to Smith College’s Lyman Conservatory. But when spring is this raw and wintry weather so unrelenting, I really crave the warm, humid comfort […]
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Baking, Calamondin Orange Tree, Canning, Citrus, Indoor Eden, Indoor Gardening, Recipes, Uncategorized
Calamondin Orange Marmalade: Homemade Beauty for Breakfast . . .
Beauty for Breakfast: Calamondin Orange Marmalade & Vintage Roses I really, really wanted a vacation this winter, but fate had other things in mind and personal responsibilities held me close to home. So, I’ve been giving myself mini-staycations to compensate a bit. These weekend retreats —usually nothing more extravagant than a new book, homemade pâtisserie or […]
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Books, Old Roses, Roses, shrubs, Vintage Roses
Vintage Roses. Oh. Vintage Roses . . .
Vintage Roses: Beautiful Varieties for Home and Garden There are books a gardener buys to further her education; design specific titles or academic tomes covering the nitty gritty details of horticulture like entomology, botany and soil science. Practical books. Then there are the books a gardener orders just for sheer, visual pleasure. This latter group […]
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Welcome, Spring?
Camellia japonica ‘Imbricata Rubra Plena’ at Lyman Conservatory, Smith College Botanic Garden The Vernal Equinox occurs at 12:15 p.m. Eastern Time today, but it sure doesn’t feel like spring. True, there may be signs here and there —increasing daylight, bird song, pussy willows— but the air is still chilly and a thick blanket of snow […]
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It Sifts from Leaden Sieves, It Powders All the Wood . . .
It sifts from leaden sieves, It powders all the wood, It fills with alabaster wool The wrinkles of the road. It makes an even face Of mountain and of plain, — Unbroken forehead from the east Unto the east again. It reaches to the fence, It wraps it, rail by rail, Till it is lost […]
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