As I’ve written many times, my calendars, both old and new, help me be a better gardener. As we have noted before, the UMass Extension Garden Calendars provide daily gardening tips, hints, reminders and information for our Northeast growing conditions. Each month features: An inspiring garden image; daily sunrise and sunset times; phases of the … Continue reading 2018 UMass Garden Calendar
Articles
Enduring Summer Plants
Several years ago, the National Garden Bureau issued a list of plants that will withstand dry, hot summers. Once again we share some of them with our readers. Long lasting annuals or perennials have many similar qualities. They are heat tolerant and drought tolerant. Some of these are best grown from seed. Some searching may … Continue reading Enduring Summer Plants
Mayor’s Garden Contest
The annual “Mayor’s Garden Contest” is a citywide celebration of urban gardening in Boston. The contest recognizes gardeners who have helped beautify Boston’s neighborhoods. The contest is part of Mayor Marty Walsh’s citywide beautification initiative. Yours truly fondly remembers many years when I was honored to be a judge in the late Mayor Menino’s garden … Continue reading Mayor’s Garden Contest
A Gift to Remember
Through the years I’ve received hundreds of gift plants from friends and family members. Each was treasured, either as a houseplant or an outdoor garden specimen. Some have grown and flourished and sadly, some died off. And then, there are those that have been “rascally” and have tried “to take over the world,” such as … Continue reading A Gift to Remember
Art in Bloom at MFA
The Boston Museum of Fine Arts celebrates the return of spring with Art in Bloom, Saturday, April 29 to Monday, May 1, 2017. For more than 40 years, the festival has paired art from across the MFA’s collection with floral interpretations created by 50 New England-area garden clubs. Art in Bloom launches with an Evening … Continue reading Art in Bloom at MFA
National Cabbage Program
Each year Bonnie Plants, the largest producer of vegetable and herb plants in North America, delivers cabbage plants across the country to third grade classrooms whose teachers have signed up for the National Cabbage Program. Bonnie Plants initiated the program in 1996 around their headquarters in Union Springs, Alabama, with a mission to inspire a … Continue reading National Cabbage Program
David Austin Roses
We have always been intrigued by beautiful roses, especially repeat-flowering fragrant ones with pink blossoms. So, it was exciting to receive information about one of the two new 2017 spring introductions from David Austin Roses, named ‘The Ancient Mariner’. Inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the hybrid, bush-type … Continue reading David Austin Roses
Poinsettias Are Holiday Favorites
The plant we know today as the poinsettia has a long and interesting history. The fact is, that the lovely plant many of us place in our homes during the holidays was once used as a fever medicine. Native to Central America, it flourished in an area of southern Mexico known as Taxco del Alarcon. … Continue reading Poinsettias Are Holiday Favorites
Honorary Medals Awarded by MHS
Over the years, we have been honored to attend many of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s wonderful Honorary Medals Dinners. The Society has been conferring medals on individuals and institutions regarded as “important contributors to the art and science of horticulture” since the turn of the 20th century. At its most recent event, the Society presented … Continue reading Honorary Medals Awarded by MHS