Some Much Needed Color

Saint Patrick’s Day is supposed to be pea planting time, but with temperatures barely getting above freezing today, I was hunkered down inside instead of digging in the garden. Winter seems determined to hang on a little while longer this year, and outside the spring bulbs are just barely beginning to push up through the soil.

This time of year the spring flower shows at the Smith College and Mount Holyoke College Botanic Gardens are the perfect antidote to the late winter gloom outside. Continue reading

Getting Ready for Fall

Fall has snuck up on me. All through August and September I had a list of garden chores in the back of my mind, things I wanted to get done before October. Even so it seemed very far away until late Friday night, when it suddenly hit me that Monday would be October 1st. That meant my seed garlic would be arriving in the mail this week and probably the flower bulbs I ordered many months ago too. There were beds to be cleared and bales of straw to procure and cold frames to build. Continue reading