Uncategorized
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Welcome 2021
Happy New Year, gardening friends! Here’s to healthy, productive and peaceful 2021!
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Suspended Springtime
Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ Springtime started her seasonal flirtation early this year. Way back in March —when she should have been roaring— spring was soft as a lamb. But as T. S. Eliot said, April is the cruelest month, and in 2020 we find ourselves in truly uncharted territory. As I stood blinking in the […]
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Time for Heart Warming Comfort Food: Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash & Italian Sausage
Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Optional Plant-Based or Regular Italian Sausage Winter weather returned to New England this first week of Spring, and I’m about warm up some of last night’s left-over gnocchi to fuel some heavy shoveling. Something about spring snow makes me crave comfort food, and this dish warmed me right […]
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The Peace of Gardening Meditation
Viburnum x bodnantense “Dawn”, Buds Reflected in Secret Garden Water Bowl When I think back to times of struggle and uncertainty in life, the garden has always been my sanctuary. In the quiet of early morning, surrounded by the hum of bees and birdsong, my mind finds calm. I need my hands in moist dirt, […]
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The Light of Spring
Hamamelis x intermedia “Arnold Promise” .. . A light exists in spring Not present on the year At any other period. When March is scarcely here A color stands abroad On solitary hills That science cannot overtake, But human nature feels. It waits upon the lawn; It shows the furthest tree Upon the furthest slope […]
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Welcome Spring
Smith College Botanic Garden Spring 2019 Bulb Show Although there’s still snow and ice outside the door, my calendar –and muddy road– tells me that Spring will officially begin later this week. Welcome, sweet, light season. We northern gardeners are more than ready for your return! SsssS… Article and Images copyright Michaela at The Gardener’s […]
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Winter Fruit Gratin with Rum Raisins
Sugar-Dusted, Rum-Soaked, Winter Fruit Gratin It’s 7 a.m., February first, and I’m sitting beside a roaring fire, watching the hot pink sunrise. So far, I’ve done nothing more ambitious than scatter bird seed and add a couple of birch logs to the wood stove. My outside thermometer reads -1F. Mornings like these always stir the […]
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Frost Flowers & Gifts of Cold Weather
Frost Flowers: Gift of Still, Cold, Dry Winter Air Mid-Winter in north country can be brutally cold –I’ll be the first to admit that single digit and sub zero temps aren’t my favorite– but if you’re willing to bundle up and explore, you’ll find that even the most frigid days have their beauty. Frost flowers […]
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A Rendezvous with Exotic Beauty: Camellia Confessions on a Winter’s Day
Camellia japonica ‘Tama-no-ura’ in the Camellia Corridor at Lyman Conservatory. My House Favorite. Camellias are not cold hardy, and although there are a few exceptions (recent introductions claim survivos in USDA zone 6), they are considered zone 7-9 plants. Perhaps that is why these alluring beauties haunt my dreams. Why do we long for that […]
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Here Come the Citrus!
Calamondin Orange Trees Blossom & Fruit Simultaneously, Providing Sporadic Harvests Throughout the Year and a House Filled with Seductive Scent It’s citrus season here in my indoor eden, and although the harvest does not include larger fruits, these Meyer lemons, Calamondin oranges and Key limes still pack a powerful punch. Is there anything more uplifting […]
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Sweet & Spicy Southwestern Frittata: Vegetarian & Delicious!
Sweet & Spicy Southwestern Frittata Warms Chilly Winter Days On these dark, chilly winter days, I often crave something hot and spicy to warm me up and get me going or to provide cozy comfort after a raw afternoon spent sanding the driveway. With a freezer full of colorful summer vegetables —like corn and bell peppers— big, fluffy frittatas […]
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Welcome Stick Season: In Praise of Beautiful Bark & Colorful Twigs
Cornus sericea : Fire in Ice In New England, winter is often referred to as stick season. It’s not a term of endearment. November, December, January and February are long, dark months, and by March we are truly longing for the green leaves that won’t appear ‘til May. Six months is a long time to live without color and […]
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Happy New Year & Welcome 2019
Acer palmatum Wears a Cloak of Ice Welcome, a very warm welcome indeed, to 2019. Last year was a tough one, filled with great loss, and I am eager to turn the page. Although we must wait until March for rebirth to begin in the garden, extra minutes of daylight have already begun to add […]
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Song of the Solstice
… SOLSTICE GREETINGS … Winter begins today at 5:23 p.m. EST (22:23 UTC), and although we’ve been experiencing wintry weather for more than a month in Vermont, shortening days remind me that the long, cold season has only just begun. The next week or so will be filled with baking, cooking, eating, drinking, socializing and […]
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Winter Wild: Eastern Bobcat Sighting
One of my favorite things about the start of this quiet season is feeding birds and squirrels on the back terrace. Sipping coffee and watching noisy, red squirrel antics and beautiful birds gathering seed is a great way to start the day. The breakfast crowd varies from year-to-year, and sometimes, I get an unusual morning […]
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Early Winter
Secret Garden, Mid-November Winter arrived early this year —more than a month early, with 8″ of snow on November 15th, to be exact— leaving me a bit underprepared. Mother Nature decides when the seasons change, and she couldn’t care less about our plans. Those bulbs you bought on sale in late October? Guess you’ll be […]
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A Bit of Seasonal Hocus-Pocus
Blood-Red Leaves and Blackened Wings? Must be the Season of the Witch . . . Whispers of Fog Fade the October Garden Muting Golden Hues to Bronze and Rust Whilst Chilly Raindrops Shimmer the Autumn Weaver’s Webs Lengthening Shadows Darken Pools & Haunt Mirrors But Fear No Evil Spirits. Through Misty Glass, Ezekiel Guards the […]
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Second Thoughts & Encores . . .
With a Backdrop of Golden Clethra alnifolia and Side-Show of Blackened Rudbeckia Pom Poms, Glistening Asclepias tubersoa (Butterfly Weed), Parachutes Await a Breeze Some things in life are one-hit wonders, and others are worth a second thought or three. When it comes to gardening in a cold climate, I’m always looking to get the most […]
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These Last Golden Days
Monarch on Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ With little more than a week of summer remaining, I find myself looking back on the season with a twinge of sadness. Although I adore autumn, I wonder how it arrived so quickly. Spring was late this year, and our hot, rainy summer went a bit too fast. When did […]
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Misty Glasshouse Dreaming
Favorite Dreary-Day Escape: Seeking Inspiration at Lyman Conservatory, Smith College Botanic Garden, Northampton, MA Melancholy mornings, moody afternoons and long, rainy weekends; I can think of a hundred-and-one excuses for a trip to Smith College’s Lyman Conservatory. But when spring is this raw and wintry weather so unrelenting, I really crave the warm, humid comfort […]
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Baking, Calamondin Orange Tree, Canning, Citrus, Indoor Eden, Indoor Gardening, Recipes, Uncategorized
Calamondin Orange Marmalade: Homemade Beauty for Breakfast . . .
Beauty for Breakfast: Calamondin Orange Marmalade & Vintage Roses I really, really wanted a vacation this winter, but fate had other things in mind and personal responsibilities held me close to home. So, I’ve been giving myself mini-staycations to compensate a bit. These weekend retreats —usually nothing more extravagant than a new book, homemade pâtisserie or […]
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