Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
Though too few in number, we have experienced some spectacular sunsets. A few days ago, one particular sunset displayed for us constant changes in color and luminance. Every moment a new set of colors and shades emerged. Pinks, blues, reds, oranges. In the front of the horizon, behind us, on the side. It was one […]
It is the end of perhaps the most harsh February that I have had the displeasure to experience in recent memory. The worst was the winter of 1996 where nearly 120 inches of snow dropped in the Danbury, CT, region. But this winter is right up there with relentless blizzards coming one after another. Now […]
We fled the North nearly three weeks ago to embrace the warmth of the South, in particular the Florida Keys, but like many snowbirds have discovered that we need to crowd together to stay warm rather than luxuriate alone in a humid, warm climate. Don’t get me wrong, mid-60 degree temperatures (during the day) beats […]
Now that we have been in Florida for a week, my wife and I have thoroughly thawed out and started to brown up. In driving from the Northern portion of the state to the Florida Keys, the changes in vegetation were much more subtle than what we experienced on the earlier parts of our drive […]
I think it was dumb luck rather than prescience but last summer my wife and I decided to take a cottage in the Florida Keys for a month starting in February. By mid-January we were packed and ready to leave as the winter this year has been particularly brutal with its high winds and cold […]
While it is snowing today and recoating the ground with a clean white blanket, earlier this week we were treated to one of the typical albeit unpredictable thaws that often occurs in late January or early February. A southern storm moved up the coast doubling the temperature to a balmy 55 degrees and dumped three […]
I was hoping that this winter would be milder so that I could get some greens from the garden, but with night time temperatures in the single digits and the beds as hard as rock, nothing is growing. Technically, little grows in the winter garden as it is merely a refrigerator for certain plants holding […]
Santa and relatives were very good to me this year as I received a surfeit of books and tools for the garden. One of the books, Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart, was a real eye opener as I never realized how dangerous and deadly are many of the plants that reside in our garden. I […]
This is the longest stretch I have not been blogging since I started this endeavor almost six months ago. It has not been for lack of topics but rather lack of time as the Christmas season can easily consume any spare moments. Making preparations for Santa more than makes up for the time I get […]
It seems as if Mother Nature wants we Northeasterners to no longer think of gardening as she continues to drop the white stuff our way. We shouldn’t feel singled out, however, as many areas of the U.S. have been dumped on earlier than is characteristic. After breakfast I went outside in a light rain to […]