“Sit by the fireside with Sorrow” Shelley There was no frost here in the valley until late October. I can’t remember another year when the morning glories and other frost tender flowers were still going while the leaves were turning colour. Some of the usual fall garden jobs have been… Continue reading
“I saw old Autumn in the misty morn…” Thomas Hood During the three days of heavy rain at the end of September we had an unbelievable seven inches of rain here in the valley. Greens planted in July for fall soup are coming along nicely. So far the deer haven’t… Continue reading
“Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify.” Thoreau I recently came across an idea that I intend to try next year that appears to make growing tomatoes simpler. A gardener in Maine got the brilliant idea (probably not original to her) to grow tomatoes around a vertical ring… Continue reading
“August’s harvest is rich, with all the heat-loving crops coming into full productivity…” Bob Thomson, The New Victory Garden I’m choosing to be positive about the garden in August. The trials of the spring with its late snow and frozen tomatoes have been consigned to the past. I have almost… Continue reading
“Parnassus has its flowers of transient fragrance.” Dr Johnson The porch triffid, aka Nicotiana sylvestris, continues to confound visitors. Many people have asked me what on earth is that giant plant with drooping white flowers. If you have only seen the very dwarf forms that are sold as bedding plants,… Continue reading
“I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.” Lucy Maud Montgomery At the end of spring and beginning of summer the poets narcissus is the last daffodil left standing. It’s an old and fragrant variety that doesn’t bloom until the cool… Continue reading
“For May is full of flowers” Robert Southwell Like a lot of people I rushed out and cut daffodils before the late April snowfall. My rational mind knew that all the spring bulbs are unaffected by snow and freezing temperatures. But there I was anyway cutting masses of daffodils to… Continue reading
“A sad tale’s best for winter.” Shakespeare February, it seems to me, is the lowest point of the year. One can hardly believe in February that it’s still winter. The saving grace of February is that it is the short month and it marks the start of the countdown to… Continue reading
“From winter, plague and pestilence, good Lord, deliver us!” Thomas Nashe It has been a quiet winter so far here in the valley. I brought in the porch wind chimes before the last big wind storm and they will stay inside until spring. The last few winters I have left… Continue reading
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