GARDENING

2-11-2012 (all pics by Jud&Trish)

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous." --Aristotle

  My Meyer lemon tree has been doing fantastic.  It blooms twice, the flowers are wonderfully scented and the fruit large, bright yellow, and so juicy!  I pollinate using a small paint brush. I go from flower to flower (as a bee would do) several times a week. I have great success with this method here in New England where I can't put it outside until the nights  warm up, which can be late June.   I let it rest through the winter, watering only weekly and not fertilizing at all until late spring.

 

(Update July 2012) another crop of lemons growing well this summer.... still green but there are about a dozen on this small tree already and new flowers still blooming!

update January 2013

 lots of lemons this year!!!

still picking through the holidays

Pansies and daffodils are my favorite springtime flowers.  I've planted a multitude of bulbs over the years and the area along my driveway and under the Oak tree never fail to provide hundreds of blooms in March and April. They're so hardy, even our occasional late snowfalls can't stop their showy display.  I've planted day lilies right in between them so when the daffodil foliage starts to look wilted, yellow and pretty terrible the green day lily foliage covers it all up.  My favorite dealer for bulbs is White Flower Farm in Ct.

In early spring I put pots of pansies on the front porch to remind me of the coming season.  As the days get longer, I can pull on a warm sweater and enjoy some time on the

 front porch swing. 

 

"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides"

~W. E. Johns

By June the same view from the porch which is now stark and bare will explode with the color and scent of roses (here a Zephirine Drouhin climber, which is thorn less and a great choice for anywhere people walk close to) and 2 clematis (my favorite climbing plants) on my front arbor.  It's a favorite place to sit and read with a cup of morning coffee, cool tall lemonade midday, or restful glass of white wine after dinner.  I seem to do some of my best thinking out here.

Most New England winters start early and stay with a ferocity.  With an early snowfall my poor David Austin rose bush suffered but survived, albeit needing a severe cut back in the spring.  If you're looking for a rose with wonderful, old fashioned fragrance, please look into what he has to offer. (Most roses barely have any perfume these days.  He sells in America, check here for a local dealer.) http://www.davidaustinroses.com/america

 "Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise." ~Michael P. Garafalo

Occasionally we experience an unusually mild autumn with some plants being completely confused.  The climbing rose William Baffin was still sporadically blooming in November! This rose should probably be planted where it has a lot of room.  It's flowers are delicate looking and quite pretty.  It performs most of the summer but gets very wild looking, requiring tedious, heavy pruning to keep it in check. The clematis in the following pic has bloomed in November too,  even after I had cut it back hard.

I love watching the wildlife that visit my garden.  Along with evergreens, deciduous trees, and perennials, I make sure there's always fresh water available.  Buddleia, phlox, zinnia, and lantana, are just a few of the many flowers I continue to add so butterflies feel welcome.  Hummingbirds seem to visit my yard in the quiet late afternoons, sampling from the summer blooming wiegela bush which has grown to 10 feet and several scattered hibiscus trees.  Just having one hanging pot of fuchsia will guarantee their visit.

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"Gardening is renewing and refreshing to your soul, especially when you're doing it in a quiet rural setting. Accompanied by the nectar loving hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. Its easy for the gardener to slip into a restorative meditation." ~  author unknown 

A black swallowtail caterpillar liked the dill and parsley I planted last summer

 

I'll also be posting about my experience with container vegetable gardening last summer.  Mostly a success, I plan to repeat with just a few changes this year.  I used large totes to grow several types of tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, eggplant, basil, parsley, summer squash, and zucchini.

(8/2012 Update)

 A very successful yield so far this summer

 from the "earth boxes" 

This white hibiscus (Rose of Sharon) is from a cutting given to me years ago from the garden of my stepfather's mother.  It's presently about 12 ft tall and blooms profusely in late summer when other plants are looking tired.  It  brightens up a corner of the yard and "pops" against the tall evergreens beside it.  The hummingbirds love it's nectar and the mockingbirds just love to sit on it's branches and sing their songs.

       Note the hummer , not an easy photo to capture by the average layman.

I captured a pic of a sphinx moth as there are many that visit my garden through the summer months.  They are sometimes mistaken for a small hummingbird, but....                            hummingbirds are never brown.

I wanted to get a pic of this fiery sunset one evening.  When the flash went off automatically, I thought the shot would be ruined.  Happily, I was enchanted to see the interesting composition the lit garden in the foreground and the sunset as the backdrop made.

 "Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas."

~ Elizabeth Murray~

The window over my kitchen sink allows me to watch birds visiting the suet feeders.

This cardinal visits daily throughout the winter and spring months.


"My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather."  ~Terri Guillemets

Last spring I planted 6 new "endless summer" hydrangeas and can't wait to see them this year.  I have a couple of the Paniculata (Peegee) that faithfully give full blooms and also a Mophead that has spread tremendously in the spacious corner I gave it.  I'll be posting on these soon.

"To dig one's own spade into one's own earth! Has life anything better to offer than this?"
--Bryan Connon from the book Beverley Nichols : A Life

"But each spring...a gardening instinct, sure as the sap rising in the trees, stirs within us. We look about and decide to tame another little bit of ground."...Lewis Gantt