Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
The old Bing Crosby song, “White Christmas,” can make you pine for a lovely covering of snow on the ground as one wakes to greet the morning of the 25th. And today is one of the rare days when our celestial requests have been answered with a 4-5 inch fall overnight covering the dingy ground […]
Even before I scanned the weather forecast, you could tell that it was going to snow. A clear solitude outside heralded its approach. The last of the oak leaves have dropped giving me the opportunity for one last rake. The Japanese maples were still stubbornly holding on to their cover as their terminal buds had […]
After Thanksgiving, you are hopeful that you have been able to put the garden to bed. The hydrangea have had their blooms cut back revealing tiny sticks poking out of the soil. A few iris pods are left that rattle in the wind. And the rose hips are full and fat ready for the plucking. […]
Garden chores are more sporadic and infrequent in November. Rather than deal with constant growth and the cutting back of different plants, I tour the property every other day to see what had faded and needs removal. Today it was the asters, some of the hydrangea and a mandevilla that had entwined itself around a […]
All frosts are not created equal. The first often arrives in October as a sprinkling of powered sugar on the roof of my house and pickup truck. Unlike that sweet confection, it disappears with first light and is easy to miss if one is late to wake or not attentive. There are a few other […]
By the middle of Fall, most of the yard work is done. A cold spell or two has crushed the hostas wilting their leaves in a prelude to a collapsed desiccated skeleton. The golden rod has gone gray and the remains of astilbe stalks poke through the accumulating leaf litter. Most of the tree leaves […]
Between the morning dew and the sun, which has dropped below the tree line, my lawn never dries out. After Labor Day it is perpetually slick making it an ideal home for slugs that slither and frogs that hop between clumps of slowly growing greenery. The strands of grass are bent over, rarely able to […]
Labor Day is unofficially called the last day of Summer as children return to school and the equinox approaches. This year, however, it is hard to see something ending that for many practical purposes never seemed to start. With the exception of a few humid and hot days, Summer never got off the ground. The […]
In mid-July when ripe blueberries are ready to be picked, the fireflies emerge at night. At first there are a few whose solitary flashes for attention are in vain in the search for a mate. But when the temperature and humidity is just right, they emerge en masse in an irregular synchrony of a low-powered, […]
A week ago the last of the strawberries were harvested. The pickings were slim and even the chipmunks abandoned the vegetable garden looking for food. As I scoured the patch for the last time, removing the bird netting, I found a few perfect fruits reminding me how fortunate we have been this season with bountiful […]