Category: Uncategorized
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finding the soul of the place
“Spirit of site”, a loose translation of what the ancients called the ‘genius locii’ , leads the designer to find and reveal ‘the soul’ at a piece of earth commonly called some body’s property. I think tapping into the spiritual energy of a place essential for the design process to create a beautiful, functional, and earth-friendly landscape that…
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flower hunt
Millions of children hunt brightly colored eggs this morning. Not to be left out, my child within hunts the new spring flowers that daily appear in my garden. The lovely witch hazel that provided so much delight and hope mere weeks ago in cheerless March now wears her petals as bright yellow carpet. The pounding rain of Monday and…
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No ‘Lions, tigers, or bears, Oh my!’
We humans hold contradictory emotions about nature. We love and fear it and the dichotomy is most likely hardwired into our very DNA. While we find renewal in beautiful natural places, we need it safe. No lions, tigers, or bears! Dorothy’s frantic prayer as she entered a woodland of Oz. And ours as well. And yet, spending…
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It’s Witch Hazel, Forsythia blooms later
Early March forty five minutes west of Boston, witch hazel brightens the late winter landscape. This year it’s adding its cheer in early March–other years it appears in February.Wherever possible I use this native in planting combinations as the first blooming shrub. The small newly planted rhodies in the background will grow to create a contrasting backdrop…
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Bluebirds’ Annual Visit
Mid-February a traveling flock of Bluebirds visits the Rhus typhina grove edging the wetland behind my house. (Aside: is a massed drift of a native shrub called a ‘grove’? To this morning’s tired brain -Winter Olympics held me beyond my bedtime last night- the term ‘grove’ works better than ‘massed planting’. The Rhus looks like a grove of…
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Revisiting ‘Snow Flowers’
Sometime ago I encountered an enchanting description of a small Japanese village’s winter festival that celebrated the way plants catch snow. The novel’s author called the snow that was captured in nooks and crannies, branches and seedheads, branches and buds, ‘Snow Flowers’. Ever since I look at fresh snow differently.
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Snow Reveals a Japanese Maple Graced by Winter
This maple wears snow beautifully, don’t you agree? The image gives us the opportunity to see form differently and find a plant without leaves gorgeous. In an earlier post (Mid-November Tapestry) I showed it in late fall–the plant’s leafless branching structure revealing the spotted leaf lungwort still in leaf beneath it. In summer,the Acer p. ‘viridis’s dissected foliage…
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Remembering Late Summer
It’s snowing today and quite beautiful. I’m enjoying the woodland view from the comfort of my home and grateful for it. Within my view the indoor garden features the stunning blooms of ‘Dancing Queen’ Amaryllis that I showcased in this blog last January. Two other varieties are promising flowers and some ‘Paperwhite’ narcissus just might bloom and…
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Winter Light and Shadow
It’s cold out there–in the teens. Yet as I dart to my car I can’t help but notice the morning light illuminating the hydrangea’s winter form. One lone blossom that I didn’t cut for my vase indoor before the hard frost. (I’m still enjoying those blossoms by the way). The snow’s blue in shadow and…
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Looking Inside
If you tire of the beautiful winter wonderland, look closely at your friend’s or your own indoor plants. P.S. Wondering what this plant is? Echeveria gibbiflora. My friend Marylyn–a horticultural diva– grew this succulent. It’s in the same family as the jade plant. “Echeveria gibbiflora ‘Carunculata’ is quite distinctive. This cultivar has very blue colored leaves with…