This Spring Garden is Emerging Slowly

Litchfield, Connecticut flowers are still flirting with Spring. I took this photo in May 2015,  after a hard rain. This year, I lost most of my tulips and the late bloomers are just coming in. The peonies have thrown up shoots and buds, waiting to be staked before their heads fatten and fall over from heavy, sweet flowers. And yes, the Japanese beetles are getting their fill on the last emerging hybrid lily leaves. I find and squash those bugs whenever I can. Pests. Related Images:
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Garden Design

I don’t know about you, but my flowers have been funky this Spring. They seem to have been arrested by a premature warm spell followed by snow. The azaleas have just started to bloom, but in a manner I’ve never seen. They’re flowering at the ground level. All other buds are still tightly closed. I have three or four azalea bushes in different colors all doing the same thing. Time to start a new garden! Related Images:
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Back to the Garden

It’s hard to believe we were away from home for two weeks in search of pillow sales at High Point Market, NC. It’s great to be back  in Litchfield, which means a welcome return to the gardens. Paola Pillows started in the garden. I’ve missed that time. I’m sure people garden for all different reasons. The escape into quiet beauty is right up there. At the same time, isn’t it also about indulging in the work of your hands? The pleasure of just putting your hands and body into it. Less so your mind. The actions of gardening bring comfort.
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Rushing Spring

I admit I’m rushing Spring again. I can’t help it! Truthfully, it’s way early for hydrangea. These flowers bloomed in Connecticut in 2015. It’s a lot closer to daffodil time later in April. Isn’t it interesting how just the picture of flowers makes you feel happy? Related Images:
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Guilty as charged

The skunk cabbages have sprung and I’m in love. I spent most of the day outside Saturday, after dutifully planning to stay inside to work on my High Point pillow booth. Instead, I raked the garden, loaded in wood and cleaned the pellet stove.  Oh, the guilt I had to beat back. The sun came out today and melted most of the last  (?) Spring snow. Related Images:
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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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Azaleas and NYC

Just for the record….The azaleas are officially- in bloom in Litchfield, Connecticut. I feel happy…when I see them coloring the landscape. 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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