Gardens
First winter storm
The first winter storm has arrived. The garden has been swept clean of leaves and we're ready for the long, cold months ahead. The winter garden is very beautiful with just the first dusting of snow. It's at this time that we see clearly how the evergreens and...
Deconstruction of a tea house
This is a fascinating deconstruction of a tea house. It's all glass, whereas tea houses of the past were dark, enclosed spaces where you could hardly see. Light and shadow were paramount aspects. But here - all is revealed. I would love to have tea in this space....
30 billion dollars a year
I heard that gardeners spend 30 billion dollars a year on gardening stuff. That dollar amount is so huge I had to double check it on Google. It's accurate. What are we all spending money on? For me it's perennial and annuals every spring. I'm making a woodland garden...
The last of the Camellias
Winter is over and so too are Camellias. They bloom from December into early April. Here are the last blooms from my plants which I overwinter in a cold room in my house.
First winter snow
When it snows for the first time I'm out in the garden looking for tracks of deer which have been invisible up to now. I'm tracking where they go so I can put up barriers so they don't get near my beautiful Hemlocks and Japanese Yew which they will chew up and...
Indian summer is over
Indian summer has come to an end. The nights are cold and even though we haven't had a hard frost yet, I've brought in the Camellias to over winter. I also dug up the Papyrus 'King Tut' that I have been growing this year in the garden. In the pots they seem huge. I'll...
Taking risks
Jiny Blom, a well known landscape designer said “Take risks. If someone tells you something is impossible, see if you can do it. Gardening is a knife edge between disaster and serendipity.” I felt she was talking directly to me when I built this stone path. I...
Hedges
Hedges and fences form the bones of a garden and create rooms with distinct styles. What starts out as a blank slate now has a frame that can be filled. One of the first things I did in my garden was to plant thirty feet of privet along my property line to enclose the...
Flowers of late summer
Late summer is here. Goldenrod has appeared which is always the first sign of autumn. Purple loosestrife and Queen Anne's Lace are everywhere in fields. Besides the flowers growing in my own garden, I've been out picking from the roadside. Here's what I picked from my...
