‘Twas autumn, and the leaves were dry And rustled on the ground And chilly winds went whistling by With low and pensive sound. Seba Smith (Major Jack Downing) And so we come to the rituals of fall. Let’s talk about one of the most enjoyable ones first. I have always… Continue reading
“Among the peaceful harvest days An Indian Summer comes at last.” Adeline Dutton Train Whitney There has been no frost here yet this season. Apparently Indian summer is technically the warm period following a killing frost in the fall. But there were a couple of two degree nights and… Continue reading
“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date…” Shakespeare Sonnet 18 The summer of 2017 has certainly been a season of rampant growth in the garden. To get to my tomatoes to stake them recently, I had to clear away several groupings of annual poppies. These had grown to the… Continue reading
“Gardeners are not normal people. They don’t give in easily because ever since they learned to grow things they’ve coped with the failures as well as the successes. They rise to a challenge.” Mr. McGregor by Alan Titchmarsh This… Continue reading
“Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.” Boris Pasternak It was certainly a surprise to most of us that we received such a huge amount of rain this spring. I don’t think I have ever seen a spring with so many shades of green and so much… Continue reading
“Forsythia is pure joy. There is not an ounce, not a glimmer of sadness….in forsythia. Pure, undiluted, untouched joy.” Anne Morrow Lindbergh It is a toss-up this year as to what has been more spectacular: the daffodils or forsythia. I was afraid that the forsythia would be damaged by the… Continue reading
“To anyone who has spent a winter in the north…the first hint of spring is a major event….to appreciate it, you must wait for it for a long time, hope and dream about it, and go through considerable enduring.” Sigurd Olson, The Singing Wilderness Just before what I hope was… Continue reading
The spring comes slowly up this way, Slowly, slowly! A little nearer every day. – Katherine Tynan Hinkson – Maybe a poem referring to spring is a bit optimistic considering that all outside is a blanket of ice and snow. A friend said to me recently that winter… Continue reading
The Ganaraska savannah is still dry when we headed toward mid-summer. A little bit of rain fell in late July but not enough to put an end to my constant watering. I have been filling and refilling large plastic olive barrels with water pumped from the creek to water the… Continue reading
