Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
Right now pansies and violas are pretty much all you can find at garden centers and they are the best plants for flower pounding. This exercise takes a flower and through the use of brute force (and a hammer) transfers the image of a flower to paper or cloth. We are back to in-person, unmasked […]
Spring salads from the garden are the tastiest as the long wait between fresh harvests is finally over. Though I have tons of claytonia, I can finally mix it up with other plants both cultivated and wild. From the garden, I harvest a few leaves of claytonia and butter crunch butterhead lettuce. For a bit […]
It’s an early spargel season (or asparagus to those who don’t speak German). The last two weeks in the garden have been more than hectic as the temperatures turned a barren canopy and grounds into late Spring lushness. We have been eating greens from the garden for over a month as the claytonia explodes. Even […]
It’s the first flower Friday of the season. Like many prior Springs, all of the bulbs are not coming up when they should.. . .everything is coming up now. Two of the few bulbs yet to flower are the tulips and hyacinths being followed by most of the perennials. Another strange season. Lesser celandine: An […]
It’s daffodil time at Ann’s Place. We have nearly 15,000 bulbs planted throughout the grounds and in the last week or so they have started to flower out. The two main swaths we have are in the back by the labyrinth on the far north of the property and on a rocky knoll on the […]
There is little more joy for me than when my grandchildren embrace my garden as do I. When Charlotte was barely one, she was bending over the sides of the raised beds to grab a handful of lettuce. And now 11 years later, Olivia is doing the same. It is a warm sunny day and […]
I recently discovered a beaver lodge on Turtle Pond, which is hundreds of yards from my home. This pond is undergoing extreme eutrophication as half of it is filled with reeds, organic material, small trees and bushes. When I moved to Ridgefield over 30 years ago, I would take my daughters fishing here to catch […]
There are a couple of sure signs that Winter is on the wane. The loudest is the emergence of Spring peepers. Their chorus is a sign that they (and the mud they have hibernating within) have warmed. These amphibians are ready for action. The plaintive cries of males looking for a mate drown out any […]
The typical surprise of Spring growth is more intense this year as we have not had the prior weeks to observe its tiny signs. Instead, the melt of six inches of snow last week creates a fresh show for us. Crocuses planted by squirrels in the lawn have emerged as have the snowdrops. Like in […]
Breaking in new help is always a challenge, especially when it is my granddaughter Olivia. 🥰 Mid-March is when I need to start up my seedlings for the Spring. The first batch is a combination of microgreens, herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, stevia) for my horticultural therapy classes and some greens to put into the cold […]