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Our Christmas Festivities
Clove-studded oranges, or Pomander balls, were featured on our Holiday table. We used to make these wreathes and Della Robia style decorations back in the 1960's and 1970's to exhibit at the Worcester...
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Will our unseasonably warm winter damage our plants?
Mayflowers for Christmas? It happened this December, but it with this plant, Epigaea repens, it's not completely unheard of - it's just rare. Records show that this has occurred in the past, in...
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A new Year, New Puppies, and, an Anniversary
My friend Glen Lord delivered the best birthday present ever to me - a generous load of antique Italian rolled rim Imprunetta clay pots from an old estate. I never realized that the rolled rim was...
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When I Win Power Ball Tonight, I'm Buying Thompson & Morgan
First, you need to know this: There are two Thompson & Morgan companies. One in the UK, the original, and one in the US and Canada, the portion of the company sold in 2009.My story began at...
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Mid-Season Citrus, Camellias and a Nice Clivia
Clivia from our collecting trips to Japan remain most prominent in our collection, but many of these seedlings have yet to bloom. Most, thankfully, are interesting crosses, such as this interspecific,...
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Carnationist Aspirations - Infatuated with Malmaison Carnations
Someone asked me recently if I ever feel as if I am going to run out of things to try growing, and when I thought about it, I somehow felt a little shocked - as if someone could ask " do you ever feel...
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I'm Starting a New Plant Society - Dahlias Anyone?
Proudly announcing the NEW ENGLAND DAHLIA SOCIETY. Please join if you are close to Worcester, MA!I'm so excited to be able to share this with you - I've decided to kick-off a new chapter of the...
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February Flora
As we are experiencing a rather mild winter, spring seems to be arriving earlier under glass. Many of these pots are old friends - going dormant during their hot and dry summer rest, and blooming...
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Gooseberries, Mignonette and Martian Regolith Simulant - My 2016 Projects
Gooseberries, once so popular in North America, were restricted during most of the twentieth century because of concerns that the  genus was a vector for a certain virus which affected white pines....
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More Camellias, Plant Propagation, and a Big Blog Honor
Pots of camellias blooming on the floor of the greenhouse - I just can't hold them back, so they will miss the Camellia Show at Tower Hill Botanic Garden this coming weekend ( but you shouldn't miss it...
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A Weekend at Americas Oldest Flower Show
An entrants camellias await being groomed and set out on the benches at America's oldest flower show, the 187th Camellia Show held by the Massachusetts Camellia Society held this past weekend at the...
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Guest Editing the Latest Issue of Pith + Vigor
Rochelle Greayer of Pith + Vigor quarterly and I are not only fellow bloggers, but we are friends, and we are neighbors. We both live in central Massachusetts. So, besides finding most any excuse to...
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Welcoming an Early Spring
Nemesia which was sown last October, begins to bloom as the days become longer. Well pinched and fertilized with a complex mix of water soluble 12 - 6 - 22 allows this species to now absorb and use...
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A New and Improved Better Homes & Gardens? Well, let's see.
I was sent a complementary copy of the newly rebranded Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Maybe it's because it's the gardening issue, but I have to admit that I like it. Do I sound surprised? Ready...
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First Day of Spring
The well know early blooming Iris reticulata 'Katherine Hodgkin', perhaps the perfect subject for my new camera (I'm switching from Nikon to Canon, so it's a bit like switching political parties. The...
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A Trip To Iceland
It's easy to see Iceland makes the top ten remote places to visit both with Lonely Planet and Unesco site lists.  We reach a ridge overlooking the magnificent Thjors River in the  Thjorsardalur valley...
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Exploring Planet Iceland
Our land speeder made traversing this planet rather easy, and...it played gay disco music from the 70's (which the native population apparently enjoys).It's not a stretch to imagine what it is like on...
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My Icelandic Immersion Ends
In my last post from Iceland, and before I return back to more traditional gardening posts, here are some of the various images from both the two cities of Reykjavik and Akureyi in the north.The snow...
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Winter's Late Departure Allows UsTo Catch Up
Those pots of Nemesia that I sowed in September, but then fussed a bit over by adjusting their pH, and monitoring their magnesium and calcium diet, are really taking off. Clearly, an alkaline soil and...
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How to grow primroses that return year to year
Primula elatior (this one grown by primrose expert Amy Olmsted in Vermont) as dug from the garden for a primrose exhibition, proves how resilient primroses can be in the spring, as all tolerate being...
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