Plant bulbs now for spring bloom

Plant bulbs now for spring bloom

Depending on where you live, there can be a month or more after the snow recedes in spring until we see flowers. Planting spring-flowering bulbs shortens this window and packs a ton of color, contrast and liveliness against a backdrop of the slowly awakening earth. Spring- flowering bulbs are an incredibly hopeful presence in a time of cool temperatures and unpredictable forecasts.

Warriors in the garden create the best garden in years

Warriors in the garden create the best garden in years

The blessing of a rainy spring has brought great joy to me and my mature garden. I’ve been musing, with this “best garden in years,” about how long-lasting so many of its offerings are. We’ve been in this home for 23 years now, and some of my plot’s stalwarts have been here even before that. As we age and yet still want a beautiful landscape, we depend more and more on these tried and true warriors of the plant world.

Readying for winter

Readying for winter

The forecast mentions snow and I’m hoping I’ve done all the necessary tasks to relax and forget gardening for a few months. This is a good question: what is required to set the garden to bed for another season? This very day I placed the last of my spring bulbs in their snug homes for the winter. The last of the leaves have pretty much all come down. Fortunately, I have helpers to clear them up.  

In The Garden

In The Garden

In the past few columns, we’ve visited the finer and perhaps more colorful of the garden’s inhabitants. These are the icing on the cake, so to speak. But there needs to be structure and strength before you add icing. This is what gardeners refer to as the “bones” of the garden. 

Coming soon to your neighborhood: Spring!

Coming soon to your neighborhood: Spring!

The natural world is awakening. March entries from my garden journal prepare me for the vicissitudes of the month, when lions and lambs interact frequently. From 1998: Snow cover generally gone since early February. Huge snowstorm on March 22. In 2001: Town Meeting Day Storm cancels Town Meeting and dumps 30 inches of snow on Burlington, fourth greatest snowfall on record. Also three snowstorms after March 25!