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winter snaps
Scenes from a walk on a late January afternoon in Slaterville. Filed under: excursions, Slaterville Springs, the trees Tagged: excursions, low light, mostly Beagle, snow, the trees, winter
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a February bloom day
We have life! (and sun!) we have texture we have nuance we have a warm muzzle and one lonely little Begonia for a February Bloom Day Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Go visit to see what’s in bloom all over the world. Filed under: bloom day, Lucky Buddy Jake Tagged: bloom day, mostly [...]
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Forced Bulbs: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day February 2010
February 15, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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The bulbs that I am forcing have started to bloom. I put one hyacinth in a forcing glass into the basement on November 29th. I potted the rest up on December 5th. I brought them all up when I saw green tips emerging from the bulbs. I now realize this was too early. According to [...]
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Cut Flowers Are a Frugal Luxury
February 14, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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I had long considered flowers from a florist to be a frivolous expense. You couldn’t plant them, and had nothing to show for it when they finally shriveled up and died. Spend the same amount on groceries, and at least you’ve fed your family, even if it still seems like you’ve got nothing to show [...]
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Club Coyote
Night before last there was a wild party across the street. We were not invited, but all the neighborhood coyotes were. Winter has brought them closer to the house than we’ve ever seen, including trails right through the yard. Here’s the morning after scene. Our house is the one on the left. Bud and I [...]
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Black Plants: Book Review
February 09, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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Black Plants: 75 Striking Choices for the Garden by Paul Bonine is the kind of book that drives me wild. Seventy-five gorgeous plants and over half of them are not hardy for me. Wait. Maybe it’s just that half of the ones I want to grow aren’t hardy for me. I actually didn’t go through [...]
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January Thaw Discoveries: Plants
February 07, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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The January thaw of last week provided me with an opportunity to “check under the hood”–or, in this case, under the snow cover. It’s always thought provoking, prompting me to think about how different plants respond to this cold season. This snapdragon looked perkier the last time I saw it. I don’t think it [...]
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GOOPS! February 2010
In my first contribution to Joene’s Gardeners Oops Day, I will tell you something you’ll likely hear again: I procrastinated! This time, it probably cost me some nice plants. Late last spring we acquired a nice old stock tank, figured out some filler, and got it planted. Margaret at A Way to Garden made putting Hostas in pots [...]
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The Great Houseplant Census of 2010
February 02, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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Mr. McGregor’s Daughter, in an effort to promote domestic harmony*, has requested gardeners everywhere to tally up the number of plants they currently have growing inside. Here are my results: Outdoor Plants Wintering Over 1 rosemary 1 ‘Rehoku Sunrise’ carex (an experiment) 1 apple seedling (my middle daughter’s experiment) 1 orange tree grown from seed by my 16 year old [...]
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seeding alpine dreams
During hours & days in the mountains of the west, and now back east, I’ve spent almost as much time wishing i knew the names of the plants around me as thinking about a climbing or hiking destination. I’ve apologized to unknown trees as I gripped them for dear life while scrambling down a slope, [...]
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Seed City
The Ithaca Agway is the Sak’s of Seeds. Witness. There is a rack just as big out of frame left, and they are not finished putting them out yet! What does look complete is the rack of Botanical Interests seeds. I have a gift cert to buy from them directly, but couldn’t resist getting a few [...]
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Edible Blue Honeysuckle: A Fruit for Cold Climates
January 26, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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My first introduction to Clayton was his comment on my post about cold climate seeds. On his recommendation I checked out the links in his sidebar. That’s how I found out he grows edible blue honeysuckle, a fruit that is extremely hardy. I thought my readers would like to know more about it, so I [...]
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January Thaw: A Video
January 25, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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What happens when the snow melts in the middle of winter? I made a brief video to show you: Some roads and a few low bridges have flooded, forcing early school closings and rerouting traffic. A thaw in January is common, but rain doesn’t always accompany it. Sometimes it is brilliantly sunny, inspiring snowball fights in shirt [...]
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Seventh Annual Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium
January 22, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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Kerry Mendez just emailed me about the Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium: “Six dynamic garden lectures by nationally recognized speakers, great handouts, food, door prizes, and garden gifts. The event takes place at The Equinox Resort in Manchester, VT. Overnight packages and day only rates available. Speakers include garden designer Julie Moir [...]
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How Do You Know If A Plant Is Hardy?
January 21, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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I was just reading Graham Rice’s musings on plants that grow in the coldest climates. He observed that the resources he consulted did not agree on which plants were tough enough to take USDA zone 2. If you’ve been gardening for any length of time (which of course Graham has), this won’t surprise you. First, [...]
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the birds have flown
One of winter’s lonely ingredients is the dearth of birdsong. June’s predawn mayhem can make you crazy, but the January stillness is maddening, too. Two mornings ago, I thought I heard the screeching of our resident hawk, but didn’t see her and haven’t in a while. I miss her presence over the hills we walk [...]
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Ithaca Native Plant Symposium 2010: registration starts today!
The word is out about Ithaca’s 2nd Annual Designing with Native Plants Symposium. Since the 2009 event sold out fast, they’ve split it into two days, with Friday topics geared for landscape and green industry professionals, and Saturday “focused on the residential landscape more accessible to homeowners and gardeners.” Both days are open for [...]
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Winner of the Botanical Interests Seed Collection Giveaway
January 18, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
Filed under Articles
John Deal is the winner, chosen randomly by the random number generator. Thank you to everyone for participating! Botanical Interests will be holding other giveaways later on this year, so you will have other chances to win.
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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day January 2010
January 15, 2010 by Kathy Purdy
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There’s Nothing Blooming Outside The plants I saw two and a half weeks ago are buried under snow. No Houseplants Are Blooming The Christmas cactus that provided a bloom this time last year dropped its one and only blossom a couple of days ago. My Forced Bulbs Aren’t Ready Yet–Neither Hyacinths My forced hyacinth is just barely getting started: According [...]
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a forest of things
Reading over at The Sister Project, I came across something I knew the practice of, but never the name: commonplace book, a place to collect poems, quotes, lists, anything you don’t want to forget. Wikipedia calls them “scrapbooks filled with items of every kind: medical recipes, quotes, letters, poems, tables of weights and measures, proverbs, [...]
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Catch 22–degrees
I find this fascinating. And apparently the Game Farm Logger takes a lunch break ;) The season of weather watching has begun. Update: Click the link or image to go to the weather page to see the soil temp columns the commenters refer to. Posted in a seasonal shift Tagged: winter
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Renee’s Garden Seed Giveaway
February 28, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
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As a result of my membership in GWA, for the past three years I have received a media packet from Renee’s Garden. A free packet of seeds is always included in the mailing, as well as an order form listing every seed they’re selling that year, with an invitation to mark off which seeds you [...]
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50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants: Book Review
February 24, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
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I confess, when I first heard 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants by Tracy DiSabato-Aust was coming out, I was dismayed. I have the first edition of The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, which was incredibly satisfying because it was based on her own close observation and methodical experimentation. At the time it was published, it was very [...]
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When do I start tomatoes from seed in upstate NY?
February 21, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
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A reader contacted Cold Climate Gardening recently to ask: I live in area between Syracuse and Ithaca… near Cortland. I have tomato seeds–many different varieties. When should I start the seedlings to grow in peat pots inside the house? Is it too early? While I am at it…what else should I be starting? Thanks [...]
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A Tale of Two Flowers: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day February 2009
February 16, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
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Last week, before prices started to rise on flowering plants for Valentine’s Day, I picked up a pot of florist’s cyclamen to brighten up the kitchen–and to make sure I had a bloom for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. (Here’s the owl’s summer home.) There are hardy cyclamen that can live outdoors in the northern reaches [...]
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My blogging code of ethics
February 10, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
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I’ve been following with interest the debate that Pam at Digging started and which Mr. BrownThumb responded to. When I first started blogging back in 2002, you were lucky to find business people who knew what blogging was, and the idea that they would find enough value in your blogging about their product to give [...]
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Welcome, Syracuse readers
February 09, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
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Today my blog was profiled on Gina Chen’s Family Life Blog, based in Syracuse, NY. The Syracuse area played an important part in my growing up, where I made my first attempts at gardening at our home in Manlius. I bet the winter aconites I planted still bloom by the front steps and the daffodils I [...]
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The winner of the Botanical Interests seed giveaway is
February 05, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
Filed under Articles
Matriarchy of Ramping Up the Garden! She has already received instructions on how to claim her free seeds. Happy seed starting, Matriarchy! Those of you who didn’t win will have another chance next week at Garden Rant.
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Garden Bloggers Spring Fling 2009: Chicago!
January 31, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
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Last April, a couple dozen garden bloggers flew into Austin, Texas, wondering if they were nuts to meet up with a bunch of total strangers. In a word: no. First of all, they were not total strangers. Many of them had been reading each other’s blogs regularly, offering advice, compliments and sympathy in the comments as [...]
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Botanical Interests Seed Giveaway
January 29, 2009 by Kathy Purdy
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Congratulations to Robbie, who won some free seeds from Botanical Interests at Carol’s giveaway! Those of you who didn’t win have another chance. The giveaway here is just a bit different. First go over to Botanical Interests and look over their offerings. Then list the six seed packets (excluding the large packets) you’d like to [...]
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