From the monthly archives:

December 2006

Two Essays:Garden Bloggers Book Club

December 29, 2006

I was among those who suggested My Favorite Plant as a selection for the Garden Bloggers Book Club, and I am sorry to hear that so many found it not to their liking. I was an English major in college. I loved writing and I loved reading, so I thought it was a perfect fit. [...]

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What does a zone map really tell you?

December 26, 2006

History repeats itself. According to this article (in pdf format) by Peter Del Tredici* on the history of plant hardiness zone maps, there used to be two hardiness maps floating around, the Arnold Arboretum map and the map put out by the USDA. Donald Wyman first created what would come to be called the Arnold [...]

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Winterscape, Not Winter Garden

December 20, 2006

If you are the kind of gardener who snorts at books like The Garden in Winter or A Flower for Everyday: A Practical and Inspirational Guide to Year-Round Color in the Garden, have I got a book for you.
Books on winter gardening aren’t written for regions where daily routines include clearing snow and chiseling ice [...]

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In the Garden of Resolve

December 19, 2006

Gardeners know that the calendar year is an artificial construct. It’s not even so much that the new year really begins in spring, as that to everything there is a season. Consequently, I find the concept of New Year’s resolutions rather alien to my thinking and way of life. I am resolving to do better [...]

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New England Garden Events

December 15, 2006

Lookee here: a blog devoted to New England Garden Events. Events with big names, like Dan Hinkley, Rick Darke, Sean Conway, Gordon Hayward, Fergus Garrett . . . need I go on? If New England is your territory, or you’re going to be in the neighborhood, this is worth checking out. And just think, you [...]

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A Vegetable Wishlist

December 14, 2006

In her latest Washington Post column Barbara Damrosch writes
It’s raining seed catalogues and the forecast is for the downpour to continue well into January.
She then starts in on her vegetable wishlist, what she would like to see the “elves” at the “North Pole Experiment Station” tinker with in her favorite vegetables to make them even [...]

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Pushing the Possible

December 13, 2006

When growing food, the greatest obstacle a cold climate presents to the gardener is the short growing season. In a classic example of great minds thinking alike, here are two books that address that obstacle with similar approaches. All of the authors live in New England and were influenced by Scott and Helen Nearing and [...]

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The Vermont Gardener

December 8, 2006

I owe it to Rick Anderson of the Whispering Crane Institute to finally nudge me over to The Vermont Gardener and take a look. I had seen VermontFlowerFarm join the Gardening group at LibraryThing and had checked out the profile, but never got any further than that.
Turns out I’ve been missing a real gem. [...]

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The Million Dollar Garden

December 6, 2006

I’ve often thought my biggest hindrance to becoming a professional garden designer is my aversion to spending money, mine or anyone else’s. Consequently, I tend to filter out great-but expensive-ideas almost as soon as I’ve thought them, even at the risk of being penny-wise but pound-foolish. So it should surprise no one that I find [...]

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Books, Books, and More Books: Introducing the Cold Climate Gardening virtual bookstore

December 4, 2006

You may have noticed I have been writing a lot of book reviews lately. There is a good reason for that. I have been spiffing up my Amazon store. For those of you who don’t keep up on these things (and why should you?), Amazon has given its associates the opportunity to create virtual stores [...]

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Johnny Loves Me!

December 1, 2006

I mean, Johnny’s loves me. I happened to be looking at tomatoes online tonight (which is early for me!), and lo, I discovered Valley Girl! Despite anything anyone says to the contrary, I am going to believe this tomato was developed just for me. (I am a girl, and I am living in a Valley.) [...]

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