Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
In bucolic New England, most of the road signs warning us of wildlife are for deer. These yellow, diamond-shaped warnings litter the streets with ones in more rural settings riddled with rifle and shotgun holes. But starting to travel across New Brunswick towards Charlottetown, PEI, the real concern is moose. Black silhouetted moose profiles decorate […]
As we approach the Canadian border, we are on a particularly lonely section of I-95. Few cars are traveling now, letting Ted set the cruise control to 75 mph and relax behind the wheel with The Beach Boys piping in though satellite radio. The moose crossing warnings frequently encountered south of Bangor are no more […]
As Ted and I make our way to Prince Edward Island, we have tried to make our journey as simple as possible. After ruling out a flight that would take 14 hours at a minimum, we decided to drive my car. And because Ted lives on Long Island near the Pt. Jefferson—Bridgeport Ferry, I thought […]
Late June is the cusp of change as the bountiful harvest of strawberries begins to wane and the pale blueberries start to darken indicating that they are ready for the table and the mouth. This year’s strawberry harvest was poor compared to last year’s as the winter claimed at least 70 percent of our plants […]
A few of you may have noticed that my postings of the last month or so have been sparse (or to be more precise non-existent.) It is not from lack of things to do in the garden or interesting events/observations but rather a particularly hectic stretch of life that made blogging difficult if not impossible. […]
Though Memorial Day is the first unofficial day of Summer, it often does not live up to its billing. This weekend has been like that as yesterday’s relative warmth has been eclipsed by today’s rain and chill. Biting rain propelled by brisk winds have created a gray day where indoor activities are pursued instead of […]
The irony in bird watching is that the birds you often seek by crouching for hours in the woods waiting for a simple, plaintive song more times than not don’t show up making your stealthy, early morning walks for nought. On the other hand, you can be more successful if you hang out near well-supplied […]
In the Northeast we take water for granted. In fact we sometimes curse it in the summer when hot and damp conditions combine to promulgate fungi, slugs and other residents of our gardens that turn lovely plants into mush or fond memories. There are no such problems in Southeastern Arizona where the land appears to […]
Getting off the plane from Phoenix on Friday morning it seemed as if we entered a different world. The morning was cool and wet rather than the hot and dry weather we had become used to over the prior week. But the most remarkable thing about our return was the transformation of the landscape. Prior […]
Being on a north-facing cliff, I have always recognized that our gardens reside in a unique micro-climate. Everything emerges late compared to gardens in town or even a few hundred yards up the block, which is more southerly facing. But our recent visit to the Ramsey Canyon in Arizona has really shown us the incredible […]