Cold Climate Gardening

I bought my peonies at Reath’s. They definitely are not the cheapest, but I am hoping their quality will be worth the price. A long time ago I fell in love with a photo of the herbaceous peony ‘Bev’ (Fine Gardening May ‘91) and Reath’s is one of the few places that carry it. And […]

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Kath, which peonies are you getting and from where? What are especially fragrant lilacs? I am getting a Charles Joly from Hortico. What’s with the colchicums? I admit I am not aware of their charms.

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I weeded half the asparagus bed yesterday. It hadn’t been weeded at all this season because of my hospital stay and then Deirdre being born, and since it hadn’t been weeded it was never mulched. The asparagus seem to be doing okay despite the neglect, although some are leaning way over, which makes me think […]

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It’s raining, it’s pouring . . . and I couldn’t be happier. Hope to get lots of gardening done this week.

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We got rain last weekend, but not near enough to help the garden. I keep waiting for the soil to get truly soaked through before doing any weeding. Sometime soon I expect to get a delivery of two peonies, and I’d love to plant them in well-watered ground. But according to the Drought Monitor, we […]

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Planted Colchicum atropurpureum in the ell of the house this past Saturday, and I see something, either cat or renegade chicken, has dug up the tag. {Sigh} This is especially a problem as I’ve planted many different varieties in the spot. It’s sort of a nursery bed for my pet colchicums, as I think it […]

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I’ve been reading Lilacs for the Garden by Jennifer Bennett. It’s a much more approachable book than Fiala’s Lilacs: The Genus Syringa and has detailed information on numerous cultivars and species. I’ve discovered lilacs that bloom earlier and later than the ones in my garden, especially fragrant lilacs, especially hardy lilacs, and lilacs that do […]

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