Wintertime is design time as the garden sleeps. Happily, I’ve been busy and we have three new scarves ready to order – Caroline, Mardi Gras, and The Blues. Another one is just back, Laura. Waiting for stitching. As thoughts turn to garden, I thought a couple links might prove helpful. Every year at this time I find a need to check again when that last frost might be passing through. Here is it again. And some thoughts about what to do when that happens! How about starting seeds indoors? I found this funky site. I heard this young man’s voice
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Ravishing Roses
Spring is coming and with it the promise of roses. Roses are challenging to grow in heavily shaded and/or wetlands. We have all of the above at our home in Litchfield but it doesn’t stop me from trying. I’m crazy about them. Related Images:
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Coming Up Green
Most everything outside is green right now (except for lazy azaleas with lingering blooms.) I took this hosta leaf photo and got some great ones with the sun playing through it in the early morning. My Paola pillow called Aquilina is headed for the sunlight. Aren’t we all looking for sun this time of year? Related Images:
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The First Flower of Spring
Skunk cabbage, aka Symplocarpus foetidus, is sometimes called the first flower of Spring. It’s not surprising that its flowers never fully emerge from their protective hoods (spathes)- because we know how cold and damp it STILL is in New England. Skunk cabbage has always been something I’ve alternately ignored or feared- especially if it’s encroaching on my gardens. It smells awful (exactly like a skunk) and lives in muck. My friend and nutritionist Alison Birks describes its habitat well in her poem: Symplocarpus Flowers in Spring– “A fetid odor wafts over tangled root masses– over dead leafy thick mats– over
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