The Seasons
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Celebrations, The Seasons, Winter, Winter Garden
Peace on Earth …
Wishing You All Things Merry & Bright – Happy Holidays Michaela
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Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Gardens, The Seasons, Winter, Winter Garden
Dreaming of a White Christmas …
Sometimes Dreams Really Do Come True … An Early Morning Welcome to Wonderland with a Garden of Sleeping Beauty, Blanketed in White! Fresh Snow Coats the Secret Garden Door Like Fine Ivory Lace And Could There Be a Merrier Welcome to Christmas … Than a Pretty, Snow-Coated Entryway? All Stonework Featured Here is by Vermont Artist […]
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Welcoming the Winter Solstice …
Winter began just after midnight today, December 22nd, and I like to celebrate the arrival of the new season with candles, bonfire and a toast to longer days and shorter nights ahead. Learn more about the history and science of the Winter Solstice by visiting EarthSky.org. A Warm Welcome to the Wonders of Winter ! […]
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Climbing plants, Color in the Garden, Conifers, Decorating Ideas, Decorating the Garden, Ferncliff, Fire Pits, Fire Pits and Fire Sculpture, Flower Seeds, Frost, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Paths, Garden Structures, Gardening Inspiration, Perennials for Winter Interest, Planting Techniques, Plants for Texture, Sculpture, Sculpture and Features, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Shrubs for ornamental fruit, Shrubs for Winter Interest, Shrubs with Colorful Twigs/Stems, Shrubs with Textural Bark, Steps and Stairs - Stone, Stone Sculpture, Stone Walkways, stonework, The Seasons, Viburnum, Walkways - Stone, White & Silver, Winter, Winter Garden, Winter Gardening, Winter Solstice
Sparkling Texture & Dramatic Structure: Creating A Beautiful Winter Garden …
The Entry Garden at First Light in Early December, After a Dusting of Snow I often wonder why I bother to mourn the end of autumn when there’s so much magic and beauty to be found in the garden during this quiet time of the year. As we near the winter solstice, I find myself […]
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Native Plants, Nature, New England, The Seasons, Winter
Sleeping Beauty in Sunlit Snow …
December is such a busy month —days of rushing here and there; shopping, baking, wrapping gifts, hosting and/or attending parties— that it’s easy to caught up in the chaos. The calm beauty of nature —sleeping beauty in sunlit snow— is my sanctuary … Photos from a Quiet December Morning in the Forest Surrounding My Garden Photographs and […]
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Winter Garden Preparation, Part Two: Buttoning Up Beds & Borders …
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegatus’ Tufts Play Against the Blazing, Sunlit Red of Cornus alba ‘Siberica’ November is always a busy month in my garden, and this year —with various weather and health set-backs— has been particularly challenging. If you regularly follow this journal, you’ve probably noticed that my entries have been a bit less-frequent. I’ve been […]
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seed starting, Seed- Saving, Seeds, The Seasons
Savoring Days & Saving Seeds …
Sun-Warmed Beauty: Bittersweet-Laced Pumpkins November can be a truly glorious month. With sunlight dancing through butterscotch leaves and morning air fragrant with the musky scent of autumn, it’s hard to believe that just last week, we had two feet of snow on the ground. I’m making the most of these warm, golden days; planting bulbs […]
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Lighting, Paths and Walkways, The Seasons
Romancing the Season’s Velvety Nights: Candles Flicker & Darkness Falls …
Lanterns and Twining Bittersweet Add a Bit of Romance to Long Nights There’s a chill in the air tonight as I light my fire; woodsmoke curling to the twilight’s blue hour. Darkness falls so early now, and tomorrow it will begin even sooner. At two o’clock in the morning, November 6th, we turn our clocks […]
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Bittersweet November …
A Forest of Warm-Colored Beech Leaves in Snow Reminds Me a Bit of Melted Butterscotch on a Dish of Vanilla Ice Cream … Looking out my window this morning at first light —snowdrifts sculpting a strange landscape, still dotted with red and gold trees— I find it hard to believe this is November. If you […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Ferncliff, Frost, Fun in the Garden, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Glamorous Gardens, Halloween, Home, Late Autumn Garden, Nature, New England, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Gardens, Shrubs for Winter Interest, The Seasons, Vermont, White Witch, Winter, Winter Garden
The White Witch’s Early Winter Trick: A Morning of Sparkling Autumn Treats
The Trick of Winter: Cornus kousa Fruits & Fall Foliage in Early Snow It seems the White Witch of Winter decided to pay us an early Halloween visit last night. Far more accustomed to her raven-haired sister at this time of year, we were all taken a bit by surprise. And though it’s much too […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Ferncliff, Glamorous Gardens, New England, Pumpkins, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Gardens, Shrubs for fall color, Shrubs for Winter Interest, Specialty Pumpkins, The Seasons, Trees for Fall Foliage, Winter, Winter Garden, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Autumn Swirls in a Dance with Winter: A Fleeting Glimpse of Frosted Fantasy …
An October Snow Squall Temporarily Coats the Scarlet Leaves of This Brilliant Viburnum with Fresh Frosting (V. plicatum var. tomentosum ‘Shasta’) A Different Kind of October in the Secret Garden A First For Me; Damask Roses in the Snow (‘Rosa De Rescht’) Candy-Coated Autumn Colors … And Jewel-Like Leaves, Flash Frozen in Time Snow Kissed […]
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Autumn, companion planting, Cooking, Garlic, Halloween, Herb Gardening, Onions, Plant hunting, Plant Propagation, Plant Spotlight, Planting Techniques, Preserving Herbs, Putting Food By, Root Cellar Storage, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Bavarian Purple, Spanish Roja & More: Selecting & Planting Gourmet Garlic …
Gorgeous, Gourmet Garlic! Bulbs, Clockwise from Top of Ceramic Bowl: German White, Russian Red, Bavarian Purple & Spanish Roja. On Table: Two Heads of Doc’s German & One Each of German Red & Music. In Basket: A Combination of All Garlic Varieties, Plus Continental. Creatures of the night, beware: I grow garlic! Garlic and onion […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Autumn Garden Design, Ferncliff, Fragrance, Gardening Inspiration, Native North American Woodlands, ornamental grass, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Garden Room, stonework, The Seasons, Witch hazel, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Misty Mornings & Golden Afternoons: The Burnished Beauty of Indian Summer
Soft Light Through Morning Fog at Woodland Edge Indian Summer —that deliciously warm, golden season between the first, light frost and the killing freeze— is like a sweet dessert after a perfect meal. Oh how I delight in these last, precious weeks of mild weather. Usually, I host an open studio and garden tour in […]
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Celebrating the Autumnal Equinox: Welcome to Fall’s Colorful Splendor …
A Fiery Sugar Maple Welcomes Autumn on My Country Road (Acer saccharum) At last, Autumn has arrived, and she’s just beginning to unpack her suitcase of fall finery. Already, her musky perfume fills the air; swirling in a fine, foggy mist throughout the valley. There are so many things to look forward to at this […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Autumnal Equinox, Berries, Bird Friendly Gardens, shrubs, Shrubs for early spring blossoms, Shrubs for fall color, Shrubs for ornamental fruit, Shrubs for Winter Interest, Shrubs with Colorful Twigs/Stems, Shrubs with Textural Bark, The Seasons, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Falling for Autumn’s Slow Color Shift …
The Brilliant Vermillion Fruits of Tea Viburnum (V. setigerum) are Striking Against this Silvery-Mauve Screen of Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’ in My Garden With two large garden design & installation projects to button up before the end of the year, fire wood to stack and countless post-Irene repairs to tackle, it seems the weeks are […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, The Seasons
September’s Soft, Autumnal Serenade … The Beauty of Japanese Windflowers
Anemone x hybrida ‘Serenade’ in My Garden Ah, September; low, golden light, amber colored fields and fragrant orchards laden with fruit. I love this time of year, especially in the garden. Some of my favorite colors come to life in late summer and early autumn; bold red, burnt orange and bittersweet, saffron and gold, plum, […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, companion planting, Ornamental Berries and Fruit, ornamental grass, Perennials for Autumn, Plants for Texture, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Gardens, Texture, The Seasons
First Hints of a Changing Season …
Shimmering Bronze Beauty in the Morning Light: Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ As the last days of summer swirl by in a golden haze, the first hints of a changing season have begun to appear in my garden. Dusk settles in this quiet forest clearing a bit earlier each evening, and although days are still warm […]
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Musings On A September Morning …
A Lovely September Sunrise (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’ with Rudbeckia hirta seed pods and Viburnum trilobum ‘Bailey Compact’) September, October and November are my favorite months in the gardening year. Late summer and early autumn —as well as that magical, indescribable, post-frost warm-spell known as ‘Indian Summer’— are spectacular seasons here in New England. This […]
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Chartreuse, Climbing plants, Color in the Garden, companion planting, Dark Plants, Garden Design Photos, Honeybee Friendly Gardening, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Native Plants, Perennials for summer, Plants for sun, Plants for Texture, Studio Garden, Summer Flowering Combinations, Summer Flowering Perennials, Summer flowering shrubs, The Seasons, Vines, Vines - Perennial, Wildflowers and Meadows, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Late Summer’s Bold Crescendo …
The Large Drift of Native Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) in my Garden Glows Bright as the Late Summer Sunset After the recent rain –almost overnight it seems– the gardens have exploded in a new wave of bloom. Stepping out with my morning coffee, I am seduced ’round the corner by the sweet and spicy fragrance […]
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The Seasons, Wildflowers and Meadows
Summer Lost and Found …
A Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly (Limenitis arthemis) Visits Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) in the Wildflower Meadow Where is summer? Has she flown? No, not yet. The days of this sweetest of seasons may be sliding by, but butterflies still float in meadows and ripe berries fill sunny hillsides. Though a touch of cool melancholy can […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Birds, Black Leaves - Trees, Black Plants, Color in the Garden, companion planting, Dark Plants, Extending the Growing Season, Ferncliff, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Hydrangea, Perennials : Vermont, Perennials for Autumn, Perennials for summer, Plant Spotlight, Planting Techniques, Plants for shade, Plants for sun, Purple and Maroon Foliage, Summer Flowering Combinations, The Seasons, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
The Loveliest Ladies of August: Summer’s Beautiful, Late Bloomers are Well Worth the Wait …
Blush-tinged blossoms and gorgeous, season-spanning foliage make Hydrangea quercifolia one of my favorite native plants (shown here with Juniperus squamata ‘Holger’ and the lingering blue flowers of Adenophora confusa) . Check out this shrub’s autumn coloration here! After last night’s much-needed rain, I awoke to the sound of hermit thrush, sweetly singing in the hemlock […]
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