Now\’s the Time to be Preparing Your Perennial Beds By Deborah Clark NABBW’s Gardening Expert A Chinese proverb says, “To be happy for a year, get married. To be happy for a lifetime, grow a garden.” Is that a gloomy thought about marriage? Perhaps, though we know the Chinese still do it. But who\’d have thought gardening could be so joyful? Probably any gardener you ask… The pleasure of growing perennial flowers is that they keep coming back, bigger and more beautiful than before. The work needed to maintain a perennial garden is about the same as for a lawn,... Read More

The Garden in Snow By Deborah Clark NABBW’s Gardening Expert Looking out at my yard covered with a 10-inch thick snow blanket, it’s hard to imagine it popping with green life. The winter palette is subtle and today it’s predominantly white, with various branches showing their earth tones – grays, ochers, siennas, umbers. It’s now that you can appreciate the structure of trees and shrubs, with their various shapes and textures. The birch in the neighboring yard shows its frilly branches and exfoliating bark. The graceful curves of the oakleaf hydrangeas on this side of the fence... Read More

Perfect Vegetable Gardens By Deborah Clark NABBW’s Gardening Expert The dead of winter is one of the best gardening months. In fact, each winter, I create the perfect vegetable garden with rows of lush lettuce greens, bountiful bean bushes, tomato branches heavy with shiny fruit. And because these gardens have no squash borers, cabbage worms or Japanese beetles, I’m able to bestow surplus produce on anyone who’ll receive it. Although these gardens exist in my mind, they still require some effort and a good deal of planning. It starts with getting on the mailing lists for some good... Read More

Consider Fall Leaf Color When Choosing Your Next Plantings By Deborah Clark NABBW’s Gardening Associate Close your eyes and imagine a bed of tulips – translucent reds, saturated yellows, crayon bright oranges. Imagine the sun shining through these tulips, making them appear as  colored lights. Imagine these tulips 40, 50, 100 feet tall, a woods of tulips lining the road and you’re in a car driving through them on a beautiful, clear autumn day. What you’re driving through is an Eastern forest of oak and maple, ash and beech, tulip poplars and sycamores in the fall. Fall leaves are like... Read More

The Adaptable, Dependable Chrysanthemum By Deborah Clark In my inaugural garden post, I thought I’d start by talking about one of the most reliable late-blooming perennials in much of the United States, the garden mum (whose botanical name is chrysanthemum morifolium).  Its yellows, oranges, reds, rusts and purples echo the colors of autumn leaves and have come to symbolize fall. The plant is so reliable, so ubiquitous, and so easy to grow that we often overlook its long and distinguished heritage. Besides being good exercise and good therapy, gardening is also way to learn about the world... Read More

The Adaptable, Dependable Chrysanthemum By Deborah Clark In my inaugural garden post, I thought I’d start by talking about one of the most reliable late-blooming perennials in much of the United States, the garden mum (whose botanical name is chrysanthemum morifolium). Its yellows, oranges, reds, rusts and purples echo the colors of autumn leaves and have come to symbolize fall. The plant is so reliable, so ubiquitous, and so easy to grow that we often overlook its long and distinguished heritage. Besides being good exercise and good therapy, gardening is also way to learn about the world both... Read More