Tiny Sun Disc daffodils Muscari John with Jade the Dog contemplating the wind challenged umbrella    Tom was here this afternoon and confessed that after the middle of June he is no longer interested in his garden. Is this a crime? No. Is it unfortunate? No. Does it make him a ‘bad’ person? No. It’s his garden and he gets out of it what he wants and that ceases to work the middle of June. Simple. Keep this in mind as the season progresses: this is your garden, no one else’s, just get out of it what you want.  That said I have managed to get my garden simplified to the point of ease. Really, I mean it. With a damaged knee I have discovered that help from Cecilia, Leah and John has been all it takes to get the job done. Does that sound simplified? That it took three people to get the job done? At least the maintenance will be minimal, especially since I can’t really get around for the next few weeks. The dandelions will thrive and the pollinators will be grateful. There you...

The gardening season is here, you have planned, prepared and now you get to actually plant! Early this morning, my favorite time of day, I set out all of the alliums. These include: Patterson onion (a nice storing onion and also good fresh), Red Wing (yes, we can grow red onions), shallots (Ambition). The fall planted garlic is up and looking ever so fabulous. You may recall that I questioned its viability after it came out from under mulch looking grim. The onions and shallots were all started from seed the end of February under lights in the guest bedroom. They were moved to the greenhouse the first of April, repotted into individual cells (four packs) and left to gain some heft which they accomplished with very little effort on my part. They look lovely. But then things got tricky. I have an uncooperative knee. Enter our granddaughter Cecilia and her friend Leah Dunn to the rescue. They showed up about 10:30 and planted every single brassica start, of which there are...

Hellebore ‘Ivory Prince’ in all its glory The very most perfect spring rain is in action at this very moment. It's luscious. It's needed. The ground is soaking it up. Spring is usually dry here in the Far North so a gentle rain is welcome indeed. The frantic wind of the last few days did no physical harm to the immediate landscape but methinks it plays with our mental health. Now we have the calming effect of this lovely rain.   I’ve been puttering in the greenhouse. Putter is not a word to be used in May when the garden is screaming for attention. But here I am, a victim of repetitive motion. Be warned: it could happen to you. Take breaks often, move from one task to another, going back and forth so as not to incur injury. Toss in some tried and true yoga poses. Take care of yourself.  Back to the greenhouse. I had just a few seedlings that needed larger pots. They were still in the single pots where I had scattered the seeds over the surface and allowed way too many to g...

I know, those of you living on Diamond Ridge are looking out on at least two feet of snow. I have the advantage of living here for 50 years, hindsight, history ~ the snow will go and you will garden. Your vegetable plot will catch up to mine. It all shakes out in the end. Believe me. Trust me. This is a snow load like we used to have. We lived at Mile 15 East End Road for 20 years, the snow came in early October and left, maybe, by early June. Gardening in the sub~Arctic is challenging. Keep in mind that we have chosen to live here. Think of the positives: clean air and water, natural beauty. Hold these thoughts close. The clumps of armeria that Molly gave me about three years ago provided nesting material and nutrition for rodents this winter. They truly loved it, as do (did) I. There are two more clumps in the West Garden that I can break up and spread around to fill in where the others once graced the edges with lovely blooms that last all season. I did a lot of dividing, buying, mo...

The beauty of gardening is there is often the opportunity for astonishment. Here we are, mid April, the snow is still deep at elevation and here at 396’   it lingers. Stubborn. But it is slowly revealing the perennial beds.   The urge to get out there and clean up last years spent foliage is strong. I leave it over winter to act as mulch and it does so with great success, but now I’m ever so tired of it. I want to remove it, toss it on the compost pile, let the minor bulbs shine.  But then the ‘what ifs’ start. What if the temperature drops even though the ten day forecast says it shouldn’t, who hasn’t been fooled by that one? So there I am, gingerly cleaning up around what I consider to be super hardy perennials, trying not to uncover the foxgloves that I really and truly want to shine this year and that will succumb to hard freeze like we had this morning.  There have been mysterious perfectly round holes in the snow. I guessed that they were the results of ro...

  ‘The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day. When the sun is out and the wind is still, You’re one month on in the middle of May. But if you so much as dare to speak, A cloud comes over the sunlit arch, And wind comes off a frozen peak, And you’re two months back in the middle of March.’ Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, 1926

FIRE!  DROUGHT!  TORNADOES!  INVASIVE SPECIES!  RISING SEA LEVELS! This list of doom could get long but I’ll stop. The worst scenario we have going at the moment is waking up this morning to a Currier and Ives Christmas card. You might feel like enough is enough but don’t fear the snow, its adding much needed moisture and nitrogen to our environment. It really won’t stay around much longer. By late this afternoon all of the new snow had melted and the existing snow was attempting to. Patience. The greenhouse is holding its own. There is a high/low thermometer in there so we have a good idea of what’s happening. Also the fan automatically comes on which is excellent. I’ve had the door open a couple of times already ~ not today. There is a tendency to ask too much of a greenhouse. You really don’t want it to get too hot. I like a low of 40F and no higher than 80F. It has proven to be more difficult to control the higher temperature. There are vents and, of course the d...