As I’ve written and said many times before, my calendars, both old and new, help me be a better gardener. That’s because my favorite, the UMass Extension Garden Calendar, provides daily tips, hints, reminders and information for gardening in our Northeast growing conditions. I collect them from year to year and never throw them away. … Continue reading UMass Extension Garden Calendar
According to Paul Ecke III, our gracious host during a 1998 Garden Writers Association visit to the Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, California, more than 80% of all flowering poinsettias in the world at that time got their start at the Ecke Ranch. Their production facilities spanned more than 40 acres of greenhouses. Mr. Ecke told … Continue reading Poinsettias Are Holiday Favorites
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has announced that the “Boston Blooms with Daffodils” beautification initiative will distribute 20,000 daffodil bulbs this fall to volunteers for planting on public ways citywide. “I thank all of our Boston Blooms volunteers for their work planting daffodils in our neighborhoods,” Mayor Walsh noted. “I look forward to when the … Continue reading October Planting of Daffodils
Mid to late summer is an ideal time to plant seeds for “a second gardening season” that can be as productive as your major early spring plantings. For a delicious and very nutritious cornucopia of fall meals, late summer is the time to plant juicy lettuces; cool-season aromatic herbs (dill, garlic chives, chervil, cilantro, arugula, … Continue reading Gardening for a Second Season
Peonies are native throughout the northern hemisphere and have been cultivated for centuries both in Europe and Asia. Like most perennials, they take three years to become fully established in our gardens. They follow the well known truisms: first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap; or first year roots, second year shoots, third … Continue reading Sharing Information About Peonies