This is my regular post about what is blooming in the garden on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, the 15th of each month. Due to an unseasonably warm month of March, we are about two to three weeks ahead of schedule. There is lots going on in the garden! I’ll just show you a few of [...]
I’ve been eating a lot of my favorite early spring vegetable the past few weeks. Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is the earliest vegetable harvested from the garden each spring – a sure sign that the gardening season has begun! One of nature’s perfect foods, asparagus is elegant yet easy to prepare. It is equally good [...]
Well, I knew it was too good to last. The amazingly warm weather we were having has given way to more normal, cooler temperatures. Our summer preview is over, and it’s back to regular spring weather. Of course the fabulous Hellebores from the Hellebore Gold Collection, above, have been blooming since February. They don’t care [...]
It is garden bloggers bloom day again – the 15th of each month, when garden bloggers everywhere show and tell what is blooming in their garden. I always look forward to the pansies and violas, like the violas above, that bloom early in the season. It is a sure sign that spring is on it’s [...]
The brassicas are plants from the family Brassicaceae, also known as the mustard family, or sometimes called the cabbage family. This group includes many delicious vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and kohlrabi – in addition to mustard, of course. The kale plant, above, overwintered in my garden this year. Turnips and Chinese [...]
First a howling blizzard woke us, Then the rain came down to soak us, And now before the eye can focus – Crocus! – Lilja Rogers, New Hampshire poet, 1901-1998 The first week that I see crocus blooming in the garden, I start off my horticulture class by showing this poem with a picture of the little [...]
I was making Italian wedding soup in the crock pot for dinner tonight when I decided to pick some kale from the garden to use (in place of spinach or escarole) in my recipe. Still picking greens from your garden, you ask? Credit the warm winter we’ve been having! And kale is the hardiest of [...]
It’s always exciting to look through the seed catalogs and dream of what you want to plant in the garden this year. But with so many choices, how can you decide what to order? It can all seem overwhelming! Here are a few tips on how to approach your seed ordering in an orderly fashion. [...]
It’s Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (GBBD) again. Thanks heavens! This is a great reminder for me to post a blog. I’ve been hit-or-miss at posting since I broke my collar bone last spring. It still hasn’t healed completely, and this has really restricted my gardening efforts. Whch has made me loath to blog. Not logical, but true! So the [...]
Conifers are trees and shrubs that bear cones instead of flowers. Conifers add structure to the landscape. And because most are evergreen, they are especially appreciated in a barren winter setting. Think how naked my garden shed would look without the evergreens in this image! The large plant to the left is a blue spruce, Picea [...]