Cold Climate Gardening

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. George Africa writes with gentle humor and a real love of plants–all plants–and everything in the natural world. I particularly enjoy his adventures with Karl the wonder dog. (There’s a bit of affectionate sarcasm in that moniker.) George and his wife have been running a professional nursery for decades, so interspersed with his quiet meditations you’ll find some excellent garden advice, …

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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 The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents mind boggling.

I have no idea of author Francis Cabot’s net worth, nor whether he inherited most of it or single-handedly multiplied the family fortune. All I know is this guy has a lot of moolah, and he knows how to use it, at least from a gardener’s perspective. Les Quatre Vents has been in Cabot’s family for over a century, but he did not start his own work on the gardens until 1975. The estate, which is reckoned in square miles, not acres, would be squarely in USDA Hardiness Zone 3 were it not for the moderating influence of the St. Lawrence River, which is broad enough at that point to be considered an inland sea. Not the type of climate most people would consider ideal for creating a world-class landscape.

I should make that plural: landscapes. Rock gardens, Japanese gardens, woodland, perennial borders, potagers, orchards, magnificent views, intimate spaces–this place has it all. About the only thing missing is polar icecap and steamy jungle, but the rope bridges certainly lend that kind of tropical ambience. Yes, rope bridges. Two of them.

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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 stocked with products of the associate’s choosing. When visitors to an associate’s aStore click on something they find there, and purchase something in the same visit, the associate (in this case, me) gets a commission.

All well and good, except hardly anyone buys anything. That’s okay, because …

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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.) Assuming it works as advertised, it sets fruit under both extreme heat and extreme cold, matures early, and is crack tolerant. It’s also supposed to be productive and flavorful. And it’s not a tiny tomato. It’s only everything I’ve ever wanted in a tomato! (Hopefully, it will prove itself worthy of that title next year.)

And, in case anyone is wondering, I have …

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