Fragrant flowers
The gardens I manage at Ann’s Place are visited (and weeded) by me once a week. But rather than the incremental changes I see in my garden every day, the weekly differences are more extreme. This week, the biggest change is in the pollinator garden where I have planted lavender, anise hyssop, monarda, sunflowers, and […]
Smell the roses
The saying, “stop to smell the roses,” should sometimes be taken literally in the garden. Many of our roses are in bloom now but I think my favorite is a beach rose (Rosa rugosa) that we have had for just a few years. It is the most simple of roses to care for as it […]
A lone lupine
I love lupines but they don’t love me (or more accurately my soil). I was reminded of my troubles upon reading a recent post by @matt_mattus on his lupines (and success). I became enchanted by this flower during a bike trip on Prince Edward Island, which was carpeted with this plant in every conceivable color. […]
Christmas in May
Christmas in May! Or that’s what you can think with amaryllis bulbs blooming in our yard. Every Christmas we buy a few to help decorate. But many folks don’t realize that this tropical bulb can bloom whenever you want (provided you take the right measures for rest periods). So we usually have a dozen or […]
Flowers galore
This appears to be the year of the rhododendron as all of ours are spectacularly full of flowers. This one, adjacent to the driveway, has hundreds of blossoms hosting a similar number of pollinators that leap from flower to flower.
Waning wildflowers
This pocket guide of “common” Connecticut wildflowers published over 55 years ago is a good indication of how “uncommon” many plants have become. In skimming through its pages, over half of its entries I have never seen. Some like coltsfoot, fleabane, daisies, mullein, pokeweed, skunk cabbage and wild strawberries are plentiful and in plain sight. […]
Wildflower weekend
Taking a short bike ride along the East Branch Reservoir in Brewster, NY, Juana and I hit the jackpot of wildflowers over a short 3.5 mile stretch of bike path. They are lovely but many, unfortunately, quite invasive. I also needed to reach well into my reference material as nearly half were unknown to me […]
Blowin in the wind
Olivia has learned the fine art of dandelion propagation ensuring that there will be flowers for muffins in the year to come.
Sarah’s rose
When we bought our house over 30 years ago, there was a scraggly rose bush on the corner of the property that the deer never bothered. And magically it always explodes with lovely flowers right around my daughter Sarah’s birthday in mid-May. This heirloom bush with its sweetly fragrant blooms, has apparently always been part […]
My mom’s favorite flower
Lilacs were my mother’s favorite flower. During their all too brief flowering period, I would bring a bouquet to her when I visited. She would exclaim surprised joy upon seeing them, burying her nose within the tiny florets, absorbing their scent. Removing her face, she lit up with a great big smile and then went […]