Recent Posts
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Paths, Perennial Close-Ups
At Ferncliff this week: The wildflower walk and other highlights of late spring…
The wildflower walk, very late May… Although there is a more formal entry to my home, at this time of year I usually take the ‘wildflower’ path through the garden. This seeded walkway was not designed for utility, (there is a much wider walkway along a retaining wall), but as more of a whimsical, meandering […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Maintenance, Garden Science, Planting Techniques, Vegetable Gardening
The Art & Science of Designing a Vegetable Garden…
Creating a beautiful and bountiful potager A vegetable garden can be an incredible source of pleasure. Â Every sunny morning, my four-legged companions and I take a walk to the potager where we enjoy each other’s company while I sip my morning coffee. Â I like to start my day listening to the mocking bird and watching […]
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Great Growers and Nurseries, Plant hunting
Shopping locally for garden plants supports your community
WALKER FARM Route 5, Dummerston, Vermont – (photo: road-side display and entry) Well here it is again – Memorial Day Weekend. And for many of us, this weekend means it is finally time to shop for warm weather vegetable starts and flowering annuals. What better place to go for plants and free advice than your […]
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Garden Design, Plants for shade, Woodland plants
Beauty in the Shadows
Glaucidium Palmatum Native to Japan, this beautiful perennial prefers light shade and rich, moist earth. Â Glaucidium Palmatum is hardy to zone 4 and can reach 16-24″ in height. Â *****
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Garden Design, Garden Maintenance, Garden Science, Plants for sun, Roses
“That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet”….. Shakespeare
Selecting and Siting Roses in Cold Climates Damask, Moss, or Gallica?  Modern, Old or English? Call them what you will, many gardeners fall in love with roses early on, and the infatuation never ends. The moist, velvety petals and heady fragrance of this fabled flower are powerfully seductive.  It is easy to to understand the allure […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos
May at Ferncliff …
Blooming in the garden this week… woodland phlox, daphne, sweet woodruff… Â Â and more bulbs. Â Fragrance fills the air … Garden design and installation: Michaela H Stonework by Dan Snow ***
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Shade Gardening
Designing a Quiet Vignette for a Shady Garden…
Image â“’ Michaela at TGE – No usage without permission Perhaps because I grew up in a bright, sunny home with the bold and colorful flowers my mother chose for her garden, I have always been intrigued by the opposite. Â The allure of the shady nook on a hot summer afternoon is very seductive to […]
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Pruning Trees and Shrubs in the Garden: A Guide for Beginners…
When I think about the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen, my mind’s eye goes not to the flowers or the foliage in these spaces, but to the sculptural shapes of the trees and shrubs. Â I can recall many such stand-outs; a magnificent wisteria, masterfully pruned against a stone wall in Positano, […]
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Waking up the Garden in Spring
Although a thorough fall clean-up will make a gardener’s work-load lighter in spring, there are many reasons we might find ourselves in quite the opposite situation. Personally, I have always enjoyed the visual delights of a winter garden. I like seeing the plumes of ornamental grass covered in ice and snow, and I love watching […]
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Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Paths, Ground Covers, Native Plants, Planting Techniques
Designing for early spring garden interest: the first act in a dramatic garden year…
Early Spring Entry Garden Designing and planting a garden for all seasons reminds me a bit of theater. From the moment an audience stands at the entry of a garden, an opportunity exists. When guests emerge from their cars, or step inside a gate, what will they first notice? In early spring, perhaps the […]
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Signs of Spring: April 2009
Wet stepping stones enhanced by the beauty of early blooming plants… Pictured here: Daphne “Carol Mackie”, various heuchera, sedum, cerastium t., and sanguinaria c. Stonework: Dan Snow Garden design and photo â“’ Michaela, The Gardener’s Eden ***
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