Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
The unusual snow we had yesterday came and went in a flash. Fluffy, tasty looking specks of snow drifted down yesterday morning coating the brown ground and the few remaining leaves on the trees. Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are one of the few trees holding onto their leaves resisting the urge to abandon their perches. […]
As tomorrow is the Fall equinox, I thought that a scavenger hunt at Ann’s Place would be a great way to celebrate the changing season. I have put together a slideshow with the rules and the objects that people should search for in the different gardens and around the exterior of Ann’s Place. My ‘Where’s […]
For the past few years, I have planted rows of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) in the front yard near the fence. Sitting in the far north portion of my property, they don’t shade the vegetables that sit below them. Starting from seed, they pop from the soil in an unassuming fashion before becoming solar sentinels with […]
When you live in the suburbs, it’s easy to forget the purpose of grassy fields. It’s not to hold the soil of fallow ground, but to harvest for fodder or bedding. I was surprised a few days ago as one of my favorite fields had been mowed and the cut grass was in the process […]
I have been spending a lot of time at Ann’s Place over the last week as the weeds are starting their summer march toward domination. If I (and my trusty team of volunteers) don’t make a solid stand now, it is likely that we will lose the war of keeping these invaders in check. Ironically, […]
The unofficial start of Summer, Memorial Day, signals that Winter is behind us and the garden is exploding with growth. But for every lovely flower and plant that emerges, 10 times that number or more of weeds pop up. Plantains (Musa × paradisiaca), chickweed (Stellaria media) and crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis) are early visitors to gardens. […]
The class I had planned for this week did not pan out because of the unseasonable cold over the last month. Plants in my yard and garden that were supposed to be ready are not. So what to do? Well I figured that I would put together a slide show/video about my garden that I […]
It is easy to believe that few succulent morsels can be harvested in the early Spring. In the Northeast, most wait for the appearance of asparagus and rhubarb in May and strawberries in June to begin their weekly sojourns to farm stands. But as I showed my clients at Ann’s Place this month there are […]
As our home in Connecticut is threatened with a potentially nasty winter storm later this week, Juana and I are relaxing in the relative warmth of Gainesville, Florida. Late in life snowbirds, we have taken to spending much of the winter months in the tropical Florida Keys. We visit the homes of family members on […]
Flowers that emerge from the snow usually arrive in the Spring. The aptly named snowdrop is often the first followed by crocuses. The Fall is different as this rarely happens. Fall crocuses, such as saffron, have come and gone by the time the first snow has arrived. So too have the flowers of late blooming […]