While New Year’s Eve is traditionally reserved for partying, New Year’s Day is often a time of reflection—on the good and the bad of the past year and hopes, dreams, and plans for the year ahead. Most of those hopes and dreams take the form of resolutions. I’ll admit, my track record is no better … Continue reading It’s A New Year: What’s Your Plan?
Author: Deborah J. Benoit
Got Mulch?
Today I’m sharing a few words about one of my favorite garden helpers: mulch. You’ve planted your garden, watered the plants well, and stood back and admired your hard work. But is something missing? It is if you haven’t added a layer of mulch on top of the soil.You’ve seen it in bags at the … Continue reading Got Mulch?
Timing Is Everything
Did you ever notice how timing is one thing to always consider in the garden and in life? When you plant out those seedlings in the spring. When the rain comes (or doesn’t). When the last—sometimes very late—frost hits. The surprise of record high or low temperatures. And through it all Murphy’s Law plays its … Continue reading Timing Is Everything
Sunshine and Raindrops
After days of absolutely beautiful springtime weather, the forecast is for rain, possible thunderstorms, and “marginal risk of severe weather today.” True, the day did start out cloudy and gray, but outside the sun is now shining and the sky is blue with fluffy white clouds. Welcome to the Berkshires where guessing the season can … Continue reading Sunshine and Raindrops
May Day
The first of May has finally come and the garden has awakened. Daffodils are in bloom everywhere in the yard, a succession of early, mid, and late season bloomers. Tulips in brilliant orange and yellow accompany them, along with the last of the early flowering hyacinth. The peach tree by the woods is covered in … Continue reading May Day
How Time Flies
I checked in at the blog today to update my garden writing list of published articles and was shocked to see it’s been three months—three months!!!—since I last posted here. My, oh, my, how time flies when distracted by other projects. The good news is that The Gardener’s Plot is making its way along the road … Continue reading How Time Flies
What’s a Gardener to Do?
It’s January and winter has only just begun. Outside my window snow squalls are, well, squalling. True, here in the Berkshires the weather has been unseasonably kind so far, so I can’t complain about snow accumulating in the middle of January. We’ve had relatively mild temperatures, and the landscape has been decidedly brown—up until this … Continue reading What’s a Gardener to Do?
No Time for Resolutions
In January, the garden’s color palette is decidedly brown. Buds formed late last summer and fall on the lilac and other spring-blooming shrubs are far too small for their greenness to be easily seen. And while the grass in neighbors’ yards is still remarkably colorful this year, I’ve eliminated my lawn, replacing it with mulched … Continue reading No Time for Resolutions
Let the Countdown Begin
Autumn leaves have fallen. We’ve even had a bit of the white stuff, but it didn’t stay. In fact, neighborhood lawns are a brilliant spring green, even if the trees are bare and all the flowers in my garden have faded to brown, skeletal stems and seed heads that sway in the breeze.The last hours … Continue reading Let the Countdown Begin
Learn a Little, Share a Little
One of the great pleasures of writing about gardening is being able to share what I’ve learned. Every article begins with an idea regarding some interesting aspect of gardening. What comes next usually involves a good deal of research. I know enough about many subjects to know how much I don’t know.The Internet makes research … Continue reading Learn a Little, Share a Little
Pen, Paper, Plant 