WRCH blog from The English Lady for the week of June 30th, 2008
Well folks, we are really into the heat of a New England summer, which is to be expected as the Summer solstice was a week ago. On Tuesday last I was supervising the position of about one hundred or so plants on a project down here on the shore. I did not realize the sun was so warm until I felt a bit of a burn on my neck and made a note that for any other time on site this season I will have my sun umbrella, a chair to take the necessary breaks although I did have lots of water.
This particular project will be completed in the next couple of weeks and the transformation has been outstanding from a hill behind the home that was completely overgrown and unmanageable to a set of stone stairs, retaining walls and a patio on the second level; the stone work being done over the winter.
On the patio level the stone wall on either side of the steps will be the home of two water fountains; behind on the hill and surrounding the patio and down the stairs the home owners will be surrounded by ornamental trees, grasses, flowering and evergreens shrubs and drifts of perennials. Off the patio itself the fragrance of lavender and Russian sage will perfume the air.
The soil has been nourished with organic aged manure, organic cockadoodle doo, a pre-emergent for weeds has been applied and in ground irrigation has been extended from the spray irrigation on the grass to the soaker hose irrigation in the borders. A fine bark mulch will be applied to keep the weeds down and help retain water in the soil. Water is so important to protect the homeowner’s investment and to keep the plants flourishing.
For all of you gardeners, watering is so important during the growing months, particularly if you recently planted trees, shrubs and perennials. If you do not have an in ground irrigation system, soaker hoses in the borders can nevertheless be installed and attached to the water spigot line. With regular hose watering you lose 40% to evaporation; with soaker hoses the water goes straight to the roots of the plants where it is needed and keeps the water off the foliage, which can encourage disease.
You can still use a sprinkler on the lawn but conserve water by only watering the lawn when the green glow begins to fade. Also when you cut the lawn, leave the clippings on the grass, which contains nitrogen. Also leave the grass blades at three inches in height; the sun hits the higher blades, which makes stronger roots, and the shade below helps retard the weeds.
I picked some of my white Moon glow roses today and noticed a few bugs; so tomorrow I will spray with Pyola an organic spray from Gardens Alive and apply a second feeding of Roses Alive from the same company. I also need to spray Goose Chase from Bird-X to keep the Northern geese with their droppings away; this is another organic product, which is a taste aversion, an extract from the Concord grape that has been used for food flavor for many years.
On Saturday I gave my Garden Earth lecture at Connecticut College for the Bonsai Asian Arts festival; this Bonsai exhibits were just wonderful. I so admire the patience and determination that goes into this oriental art. My colleague Jack Vercelli and I then drove over to Groton Long Point for some fish at a restaurant there. There were many people on the beach but soon began to leave as the fog swept in very quickly. I hope all is going well in your garden and I’ll see you there again next week.
WRCH blog from The English Lady for week of June 23rd, 2008
I was walking around the garden yesterday between thunderstorms and noticing that the petals on my roses, which are blooming quite profusely, are turning brown on the edges before they are fully open. The reason for this is that we have been getting too much moisture in the form of rain and not enough sun to dry them off, which is causing some damp rot.
This problem is really noticeable on the roses as their petals are more fragile and therefore more vulnerable than some of the other species. If you remember we had a similar wet spring last year with not as much sun as we would like and consequently our vegetable crop especially the tomatoes did not do well?
This year the daffodils did very well as we had some early spring sun and not too much rain, then we had a whole period of rain in May which is usually a dry month and little sun, so the iris bloom was not as good as other years.
I’m sure that global warming and all our mucking about with the planet and therefore the atmosphere is causing this unpredictable weather pattern. But believe me folks, I am not complaining about New England weather after seeing what the people in other parts of the country have had to deal with – tornadoes, floods, mudslides and fires. But on the other hand I hope the sun comes out soon so that you and I can enjoy the bloom through the gardening season here in New England, which is short enough as it is.
I contemplated going to White sands beach in my town of Old Lyme this weekend. But changed my mind as the thought of getting in the car, lugging my chair, the cooler and my beach bag over the sand and being surrounded by all kinds of noise; although its happy noise for the most part. But it was not enough of a temptation to persuade me to leave the south side of my house with the peaceful sound of the bubbling stream, the easy dappled shade of the maples, the fragrant honeysuckle along its banks and the marvelous assortment of birds that are attracted to my garden.
I knew that come Monday I would be busy designing landscapes, choosing plants from nurseries and all together in the thick of things for The English Lady LLC so I decided to spend the weekend in lazy contemplation, sitting by the stream, thoroughly enjoying Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander”, the first in her series about the eighteenth century adventures of Jamie Fraser and Claire Beauchamp.
When I took a break to stretch my legs or get a cup of green tea with honey I meandered up the hill from the stream to the house and through the garden. I always have my pruners handy in my pocket to clip a wayward branch, deadhead a spent bloom or cut a few blossoms for the house. I am very lucky to have this garden oasis which I have tended for the past eleven years. It is literally my vacation outside the door and I feel really blessed. Living on the shoreline, the soil is sandy and I have nourished and built the soil structure year round with organic manure and as a consequence have a wonderful planting environment. Here we go again, it’s another thunderstorm but I’m sure the sun will shine on my roses some time this week after all its now officially sun and still June.
It was lovely being on air with all of you once again, on Thursday last, and I received lots of emails, which I will endeavor to reply to as soon as possible. This Saturday June 28th at 2.30 p.m I am giving my Garden Earth Lecture for the Bonsai and Asian Arts Festival, Cummings Art Center at Connecticut College. If you happen to be in the area I would love to see you there.
WRCH blog from The English Lady for the week of June 16th, 2008
I am so glad that triple digit weather did not continue to bring us into an early stifling summer. I turned the water on for my borders about 6 a.m. each morning and then again around 6 p.m in the evening. Normally I water only once a day but the plants were literally gasping especially my Hydrangeas, which are, in case you are not aware is a wetland plant.
Believe me I am not complaining about our New England weather after seeing the news reports about flooding, fires and tornadoes in other parts of the country. We have gone from one extreme to the other now as today Monday I pulled out a warm sweater to start the day.
Last Tuesday I gave my Garden Earth lecture for a fundraiser at St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford for the Chrysalis Center. With the temperature hovering around 98 degrees here on the shoreline I asked my associate Jack Vercelli to check out the air conditioning at the college. On arrival I was delighted to find the foyer and theater, wonderfully cool, especially as I generate a lot of energy doing my lectures and work up quite a sweat. In spite of the heat outside a large enthusiastic audience attended the lecture; many of who were my WRCH listening fans. And this group of gardeners like my other audiences made a commitment to throw away poisonous pesticides and herbicides and nourish their gardens organically with only organic products especially aged organic manure year round.
On Thursday I went to Suffield to meet with a lovely lady, whose daughter had given her a two-hour consult with me as a Christmas present. I so enjoy imparting garden knowledge to all of you who are so interested in making that little patch of earth around your home beautiful. Again I stressed to this lady the one important ingredient for this garden was the application of aged organic manure. Manure to rebuild soil structure – the bones and muscles of the garden. As luck would have it, I noticed a sign “Manure for sale” outside a farm a quarter of a mile down the road in Suffield. I got on the phone to let the client know and she said she was going there immediately to order a truck load – I did caution her to tell the farmer to give her from the bottom of the pile – the aged stuff.
My peonies continue to bloom in my field and every year I invite friends and neighbors to pick some peonies. The moles that set up residence in the field do not like vibration or noise so with all the folks tramping over the field the moles soon disappear to another garden. For mole or any pest problems and all organic products check the organic products page on TheEnglishLady.com
This morning I am once again visiting a tree farm in Durham whose plants I use on many properties. And I will conclude our conversation for today as I hear we are getting some very strong thunderstorms later and don’t want to get caught in the deluge. However I will see you on the radio this Thursday with the gang between 8 and 9 a.m and look forward to talking with you and giving solutions and advice on the garden.
WRCH blog from The English Lady
for week of June 9, 2008
Well, we went from the sublime spring weather of warm days and cool nights to the ridiculous of hot and humid of at least 95. The constitution certainly gets shaken up with such an extreme change and yours truly is no exception. After being brought up in a temperate English climate; after all these years this quick change and extreme heat is not my cup of tea. However, c’est la vie – so I say to myself “get on with it Maureen”!
I just went down into my field to pick a few of my hundreds of peonies that have begun to bloom; even though it’s three in the afternoon the height of the heat, I could not resist. The peony bloom does not last for long and if we get a few of those thunder storms with heavy rain they will get battered down quickly. For all of you with peonies in the garden, keep them well watered and after they finish blooming apply a dilute application of organic fertilizer to give them a boost for next year.
Also my David Austin English roses have begun to bloom and I know many of you have roses or desire to have them; so here’s a bit of info to help you along. Roses are not the troublesome creatures you have been led to believe; especially if you are using my old favorite – Big Brown or more commonly know as aged organic manure in the soil.
I was lucky enough to grow up twenty miles from David Austin rose nursery in the U.K. I love David’s English roses and always used them on our projects in the U.K. and in our company The English Lady LLC. David Austin English roses are a cross between old roses and modern hybrid teas. They are repeat bloomers (giving you much more bang for your dollar); they have the old rose fragrance as well as a blend of Tea, Musk, Myrrh and fruit. Roses blend beautifully in a true mixed border of small ornamental trees and shrubs, small evergreens, ornamental grasses and perennials – the look of an English border of “organized chaos”.
Some of my favorites are a peachy pink “Shropshire Lad”, which is my home county in the U.K., Abraham Darby with shades of apricot and yellow, Evelyn another apricot with the most wonderful fragrance. Fair Bianca is a pure white rose with a hint of heliotrope, and Heritage which is a soft clear pink with overtones of fruit and honey on a myrrh background.
Healthy growing practices will ward off any problems for roses. Check TheEnglishLady.com for the organic products page for rose sprays, rose food etc. Make sure you have plenty of organic aged manure or compost in the soil and good drainage. Do not plant the roses too close together as they need good air circulation. Keep the roots cool and moist with fine bark mulch, aged organic manure or well-rotted compost. Clematis makes a fine companion to grow with the roses as they enjoy the same growing conditions. Water deeply at least once a week (more often if we get a very hot (like now) or dry spell). Feed the roses once a month until mid August then stops feeding so they can go into a slow dormancy.
Collect and destroy all fallen rose leaves, as these can harbor disease. Never compost diseased leaves.
I hope this information was useful and encouraging for you to include roses in your garden. Don’t be put off by woeful tales of finicky creatures, beware of the thorns and you will be amply rewarded for your efforts.
I’ll see you on the radio with the gang on Thursday next June 19th and look forward to answering your questions. Stay cool and hydrated!
WRCH blog for week of June 2, 2008
What a lovely spring we are having between the copious rain, gentle sunshine and cool nights its great for the plants and us. On Saturday I was sitting by my stream on the south side of the house and saw the largest raccoon I’ve ever seen; the size of a medium size dog with her babies. The wildlife behind my stream in my wetlands is wonderfully varied between the birds, rabbits, beavers, deer and fox to name a few.
At this time of year, it’s great to be busy outdoors on our landscape projects. May is often a dry month, which impedes the spring growth of the plants, so this year with all the rain we have been very fortunate.
I just looked out of my window and don’t know why I bother to clean my car, between going to the tree farm in Durham where the dust changed my car from green to brown and then today, I have a yellow pollen covered car; well, I suppose a change is as good as a rest!
I don’t mind that either but allergies this spring have been terrible for everyone, including yours truly. I don’t usually get afflicted with allergies, unlike Ian, especially when he working on a job site and is literally nose to branch with the trees and sneezing his head off. However, I suppose that’s the price we pay for being in this wonderful profession, not a high price considering all the joy we get.
It was my pleasure to be on air with all of you and the gang at WRCH the other Thursday; I have such a good time talking with you and answering your gardening questions. I notice from some or your emails that you are taking to heart my advice about nourishing your garden organically – keep up the good work.
I want to tell you about an excursion that Ian and I made to Massachusetts to check on some large trees for a project here in Connecticut. Usually I am very efficient, calling the tree farm before we visit. However, we needed these trees within a week and as fate would have it we went on a Friday so my end of week fatigue was setting in. Consequently when Ian and I arrived in Massachusetts and drew up at the tree farm we were faced with a padlocked gate and no one in sight. Ian looked at me in his own inimitable style and said “Mo, did you not call first”? Silence reigned from my side of the car; Ian just shrugged and pulled out his umbrella, I dragged on my raincoat and over the five bar gate we climbed. That was not my idea of fun, but seeing we had come so far and noticing the set of Ian’s shoulders I resigned myself to the trek ahead and hoped there were no big guard dogs in the vicinity.
Not a soul or big dog in sight, but the trip was not wasted. We saw some lovely trees and shrubs. We decided against the evergreens we had come to see for this project but knew we would be in touch with that tree farm in the future.
Ian did not grumble, just occasionally giving me an “I can’t believe you did not call look. But the saving grace for me was that I had packed lunch for us. One thing I know from years of being around my son is that he is quite civilized if you feed him. If he’s hungry you may just as well make for the hills!
Back into Connecticut we drove, with the rain pounding down to call on another wonderful tree farm in Granby. A gentleman I have worked with for years was waiting for us (because this time I called before we left Mass.) and within an hour we were able to choose just the trees we needed and even had a laugh or two.
I certainly got my exercise that day although trudging through the mud in pouring rain at the end of a long busy week is not exactly my cup of tea. Talking about tea, I just realized its 4 p.m. and time for a cup of Earl Grey, so I will say ta ta for now and see you next week.
WRCH blog from The English Lady for the week of May 12th, 2008
I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,
…White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;
Fast fading violets covered up in leaves;
And mid-Mat’s eldest child,
The coming musk rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.
~John Keats 1795-1821
Well last Monday, began with me having a head cold – just my luck to be lumbered with sneezing, temperature and the most unattractive red nose. However, the show must go on and as my stepfather always said he never minded having a bit of a cold when he was on stage in the 1920’s because it made his voice dark brown and dirty! Sorry dad, I think my voice is just fine without the sniffles.
By Wednesday, I had rallied quite a bit and on Wednesday evening had the pleasure of lecturing to the Greater Hartford Real Estate Association at Adams Mill Restaurant in Manchester. The lecture was entitled “Curb Appeal” in which I gave the audience some pointers on the do’s and don’ts of landscaping in order to capture a share of the market for buyers and sellers. And how to give a property a sense of home and value by having it professionally landscaped without breaking the bank. They were a great group of people who found the information very useful and of course had other questions about their own gardens, which I am always happy to answer.
On Thursday I was interviewed on WTNH Channel 8 by Sonia Baghdady and thoroughly enjoyed the experience even though it went by too quickly.
Friday rolled around and I felt I was just about over my cold; then I saw the weather forecast; torrential rain and wind! I donned layers of woollies, grabbed my umbrella and motored with my associate Jack Vercelli up to Hillstead Museum to give my Garden Earth lecture at their May Market. We were located in an open carriage house and after anchoring down our photo boards showing lovely gardens The English Lady has installed we waited for our audience. At 1.30 the start time of the lecture, we had two brave souls; then suddenly there was a rush of people from the tearoom and tents, their raincoats and umbrellas flying ran in and sat on the damp chairs. I suggested that perhaps we should do a few jumping jacks to warm up first; but all went well and no one opted out before the end, even though all were shivering including yours truly. I must admit it took me a while to warm up after I got home but a cup of lavender tea with honey helped tremendously and as always it was for a good cause.
Saturday, the sun was shining, my nose had stopped running and out I went to the barn to stir my manure tea and fill my sprayer with Goose Chase from Bird-X. This concoction is an extract of the Concord grape and is used to flavor many food products but to the Northern Geese, it’s a taste aversion. I knew I needed to spray fast because I noticed earlier in the week that there were three females, one male and nine babies. Yes, they look cute but their droppings are a smelly mess; particularly annoying when one steps in it and brings it into the house, which I did on my rush to get indoors on Friday evening after the Hillstead Museum affair.
Sunday, I picked some lilacs from the garden and saw that I need to hack down some of the wild roses, which are beginning to choke the lilacs. I think that may have to wait a while because if Ian sees me with a hack saw he would have a fit. I keep telling him I’ve been doing this sort of thing all my landscaping life but I know he’s just being protective.
Hope all is well with you in your garden; the rain is certainly nourishing and I hope you have pulled some weeds, put down aged manure and the cock-a-doodle-doo organic weed pre-emergent – start from the ground up folks and I’ll see you on air this Thursday between 8 and 9 a.m. with the gang. There are always more organic methods available at www.TheEnglishLady.com
WRCH blog from The English Lady for the week of May 5th, 2008
Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
Thomas Nashe 1567-1601
Happy Cinco de Mayo to everyone. And what a lovely sunny day it is for this celebration. Talking about celebrations when I was eight years of age (yes, I can remember that far back, folks) I was crowned May Queen for the day on May 1st in my town of Shrewsbury in the U.K. The crown was made of Lily of the Valley and Violets and I wore my pink seersucker dress that my Aunt Eva had made for me for Easter. All my young school friends went a “maying” dancing around the Maypole holding onto brightly colored ribbons and singing.
I am very glad that I was not born centuries earlier because in pre-Christian days the May Queen was crowned with Hawthorn and in British folklore their white flowers were regarded as omens of death or disaster if brought into the house – perhaps as a memory of human sacrifice of the May Queen required as part of the May Day ritual by the Druids.
Well we had some very nourishing rain for the last few days and by last Friday I had enough of it especially as I needed to wear a woolen turtleneck sweater on Saturday when I met friends for a movie in Madison. By the way if you want to be inspired by some great “ older” individuals see the movie documentary Young at Heart. This New England senior citizens chorus has thrilled audiences worldwide with their interpretations from The Clash to Cold play. The average age of this group is 80 and I came out of there not only uplifted but determined at least for this last weekend not to complain of any aches and pains for a while. Perhaps if I do feel sorry for myself after too long a day on a job site I can bring their example to mind.
Sunday, I went into town and noticed my local ice-cream shop was open for the season and could not resist treating myself to my once a year cone; it was delicious and called American Apple Pie, a combination of vanilla ice-cream and small chunks of apple pie. I was going to eat it in the car on the way to my local beach but realized I would probably be wearing it before I reached the beach. So I sat down on one the café benches and thoroughly enjoyed the cone, chatting with all the local townspeople I knew.
Then on to the beach, where I sat on the rocks with my book, enjoying the sunshine, the sea breeze and the smell of the seaweed for an hour. I always feel as if I’ve had a mini vacation after an hour at the beach; it blows away all the cobwebs.
Later at home I sat under my old Easter Red Cedar with a cup of earl grey tea, enjoying the perfume of my Carlesii Viburnum (Korean Spice Viburnum) which thanks to the sunshine opened its blooms and wafted the fragrance across my herb garden. The white blooms on the crabapples glistened in the sun and the peonies in my field are about two feet out of the ground; in a few weeks I will pinch off the side buds so that I get large blooms on the stems. Don’t worry about the ants when you spot them on the buds they do no harm and of course apply some aged manure around the base of the plants.
Check TheEnglishLady.com for my May tips for all the info you need in the garden at this busy time of year including all about rose care. See you on WRCH on Thursday May 15th
,8-9AM with Allan, Mike and Allison. Enjoy the lovely weather and your garden.
WRCH blog for The English Lady for week of April 28th, 2008
Along the blushing borders bright with dew,
And in you mingled wilderness of flowers,
Fair-handed spring unbosoms every grace:
Throws out the snowdrop and the crocus first;
The daisy, primrose, violet darkly blue,
…And lavish stock that scents the garden round.
~James Thomson 1700-1748
I was talking with my half brother in England yesterday. He had just returned from Abersoch in North Wales; where he had taken my 98-year-old father and my 86-year-old stepmother for a few days to the coast. The Welsh mountains rise above a coast scalloped with cozy coves and gently curved beaches of fine white sand. Fishing boats and sailboats jostle for room in the small harbors and stone-towered churches rise in ancient splendor protecting as they have for centuries the folks in the villages below. Flowers nod in greeting from doorway gardens and an occasional palm tree waves in the breeze. It sounds like the Mediterranean, does it not, this Welsh coast where people have been vacationing since the 18th-century when doctors first recommended sea baths as a cure for gout, rheumatism, and what generally ailed one.
This time of year is particularly pleasant on the coast there; the madding crowds of summer have not yet descended, the temperature is for the most part a pleasant 70 degrees (unless of course an unexpected storm blows in from the Irish Sea). Abersoch, where the family was last week, is a tiny and isolated village perched at the very end of the Lleyn peninsula in the northwest and the neighboring small villages of Llanbedrog and Aberdaron are among the best-loved seaside towns of North Wales. This is where yours truly spent many a vacation following World War II, making sand castles, eating cockles and mussels and the occasional treat of an ice cream cone.
Okay, I’ll stop reminiscing and return to this side of the pond. Today I feel as if I have webbed feet to match my ducks in the stream. I’m not complaining, as we certainly need this rain; my garden is soaking it up like a sponge and just called out thank you to the heavens. May can be a rather dry month, so I hope we get some more moisture; especially for you folks that have been planting and transplanting evergreens in April.
I just love the way a garden looks after a good spring rain, all the buds are bursting and structure of the garden is just as beautiful as the blooms and leaves. And probably many of you have been making new lawns, patch seeding and reseeding some bare spots. I hope you applied some organic aged manure to the soil, as well as some lime, good seed (not cheap stuff, you reap what you sow) organic grub control and fertilizer.
Check TheEnglishLady.com for the organic products page. If we do not get much rain in May, gently water the grass seed (not a gush or you will wash the seed away) and you should have germination in a couple of weeks. This Wednesday I am giving my Garden Earth lecture at GE Consumer and Industrial Green fair in Plainville; its great that many companies are now interested in green products.
I hope the sun shines on Saturday as my son Ian, who is my business partner, and I are going to a May Kentucky Derby party to benefit the capital projects and services of Child and Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut. My stepmother asked me to put a little bet on a horse for her if there is a grey #4. I will probably read form as we had a racehorse in the U.K. and our trainer taught me how to read form. That’s if I can remember, as it’s been many years between races. But it’s a bit of fun and the event is for a cause close to my heart.
Anyway back to this afternoon, I have to pop down to my stream between down pours and fill the bird feeders. After that I’ll make a cup of lavender tea with honey as its already past 4 o’clock. For more garden info check my May tips on TheEnglishLady.com, which I know, will be of help to you.
WRCH Blog by The English Lady for week of April 21st, 2008
The spring is one of my favorite seasons, not only because of the warm sunshine, light breezes and all the trees, shrubs and spring perennials getting ready to burst on the scene. As I look out of my office window the lovely multi-stem Serviceberry tree (other name is Amelanchier Canadensis or Shadblow) is almost ready to bloom.
This tree is a lovely native tree with soft grey bark; cream panicles followed by small bright green leaves and later pink fruit, which is caviar for the birds. T tree blooms when the Shad fish run in the Connecticut River and I can then partake of Shad roe and the shad fish (just be careful of the bones).
The Magnolias are looking magnificent; I only hope it does not rain for a week or two so that we can enjoy their blossoms. The forsythia is shining like the sun wherever one looks and of course the daffodils have sprung up through fields and in borders. Make sure you give them some organic food like bone meal and keep the food off the foliage.
One of the most enjoyable parts of my work, although I enjoy all aspects, is visiting the plant and tree nurseries to choose the trees for our projects. I visited one the other day that has been around for many years and the gentleman, Timmy, who owns it, is one of the most knowledgeable tree growers and is a pleasure to know.
When I started The English Lady, LLC here in Connecticut in 1992; I asked Timmy if I could bring my crew to his farm and would he teach them, through hands on work, how to properly prepare a tree for digging, how to dig and wrap and tie the root ball properly. That experience has brought great results through the years with little to no planting problems.
When I was there the other day it was such a joy to see the wonderful specimens he continues to grow. I took many photos and walked many a row being careful not to fall in unexpected holes. I will meet with him again this week and together we will choose the trees I need him to dig in the next few weeks. Among those will be a Crippsii false cypress, which has feathery evergreen foliage of bright gold. Another will be a Foxtail Spruce whose rustic branches show unusual new growth and the bushy blue needles are twisted; a most unusual addition for a landscape. There will be a number of other trees, so I know I will be chewing on a lot of dust and sneezing from tree pollen before the day is over; however, one takes the good with the not so good.
It was lovely being on air with you and answering your gardening questions. Enjoy being out in the garden in this great weather. Check out my May tips on TheEnglishLady.com in about a week so that you can keep abreast of what to do and what not to do in the garden. But for now take a look at the April tips.
In a different vein entirely I helped out at the Child and Family organization annual sale at the Groton Technical School this weekend; this is a wonderful organization that helps women and children in need. By the look of things I believe the sale will show some good profit, which will go to this cause. This Thursday the Child and Family organization of Essex, of which I am a member, is holding their fashion show fund raiser at the Griswold Inn in Essex; and that event always does well as what woman does not want to see some lovely clothes.
And last evening was the first night of Passover and my friend Diane friend invited me to a Seder. It is always so interesting to partake of the ritual of reading from the Haggadah and to join in as each item is addressed from the Seder plate. My son Ian’s favorite item is Charoses, which is a mixture of finely chopped apples, nuts and cinnamon mixed with a little wine, which he spreads on the Matzoh. The meal was delicious consisting of Matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, brisket of beef with roasted vegetables and some peach sorbet and fruit as a finale. I don’t think after that meal that I need to eat too much today.
Have a great week and check TheEnglishLady.com for organic products source page, deer resistant plants etc
WRCH BLOG THE ENGLISH LADY WEEK OF APRIL 14, 2008
Last Thursday I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The sun shone and its warmth surrounded me. I felt as if I was reborn; I thought that as I’m a bit older that this particular winter really seemed to drag on. But whoever I talked with at my Garden Earth lectures, friends and neighbors in my local A & P store, young and old all felt the same. Of course the country being in such a mess does not help the equation.
But that lovely day I decided to play hooky and sit outside in the garden with my book and cup of green tea with honey. A woman who used to work on our crew now helps me in the garden came in to start work on my garden maintenance. She is still able to do that work but not the heavy labor. We carefully removed the winter debris and organically manured the borders. I also decided to move three of my David Austin roses from the west side of the house to the south side; last year they got lost behind one of my hydrangea bushes that really put on a growth spurt.
Roses are not the troublesome creatures many have been led to believe and I particularly like David Austin roses (David and I went to school together in the U.K.; his rose gardens and business are at Albrighton about twenty miles from my home town). He has bred his roses for their delicate colors, fragrance and their repeat blooming ability. As many of you know from the program I am really into fragrances (and not only manure) and I really enjoy the old rose fragrance of some but tea, musk, myrrh, fruit and a whole variety of other fragrances; I feel that none can rival them in this respect.
Some of my favorites which I have in the garden are Fair Bianca, a pure white rose, which is ideal for the front of the border or a low hedge, the fragrance of this one is like heliotrope, Heritage, one of the most popular is a soft clear pink at the center while the outside of the petals is almost white and the fragrance is a combination of fruit and honey on a myrrh background. Take a look at www.TheEnglishLady.com for any beautiful plant and garden photos to brighten your day.
Check TheEnglishLady.com in the May tips where I will name and describe some other favorites that I know you will enjoy as well as rose planting and care information.
I gave my Garden Earth lecture to two lovely groups of people last week; the first at Plainville library with a great turnout, which included at least fifty percent of my radio listeners and on Friday, I was at the Babcock library in Ashford again with a high percentage of listeners. It’s wonderful that people tune in from all over the state for my advice and also say they enjoy the humor and repartee amongst the gang and me.
I was very thankful that one of my company associates Jack Vercelli drove. Jack, who is my son’s father in law, accompanies me to all my lectures, setting up the photo boards with pictures of lovely landscapes we have done, signing people in and giving them a raffle ticket so they have a chance to win one of my laminated garden designs at the end of the lecture.
Anyway we arrived at the Ashford exit off interstate 84 and I noticed there were no signposts for Ashford. Luckily, Jack, as he always does, checked on the library there the day before as he was driving to Boston. If he had not been with me I might have ended up somewhere in Massachusetts. I finally saw the Ashford sign just as we were entering the village. The library is a beautiful building about two hundred years old with a stone façade; in the lobby is a colorful cardboard birthday cake commemorating Babcock’s birthday. As always the response and commitment to my plea to dispose of all herbicides and pesticides was unanimously received. I’m so pleased that my mission to heal the planet through organic gardening is hitting home and I finally arrived home after a two hundred mile round trip, with a stop off at The Chowder Pot in Hartford for a bite to eat, and beat Friday night’s heavy rain.
This week I am in Hamden on Tuesday lecturing and then look forward to answering your questions when I am on air this Thursday the 17th between 8 and 9 a.m. See you then. TheEnglishLady.com has all the tips you need for this month as well
WRCH blog from the English Lady for week of April 7th, 2008
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
William Wordsworth
In the sheltered spots by walls and fences and south facing slopes I am finally seeing the daffodils of Connecticut emerge from the awakening earth. By the way when your daffodils are about four inches above ground sprinkle some organic bone meal around the base to feed them; be careful not to get the fertilizer on the foliage.
About a month ago I had my first daffodil fix for the year from my local
A&P and noticed that the label said from the “UK”. The daffodils bloomed in my home county of Shropshire in the U.K. six weeks ago. Now the cherry trees are blooming, the early viburnums and the leaves are once again on the trees. It won’t be long for us; the temperature is going up even as we speak into the mid fifties by midweek.
I have been photographing and measuring some properties in different parts of the state this last week and wherever I trod on the grass I encountered the molehills. Moles have been epidemic the last few years. Take a look at TheEnglishLady.com and click onto the Organic Products page for mole repellent and grub control; now is the time to cut both species off at the pass; the grubs when they are in their larvae stage and the moles before they can settle in to feast on the earth worms and co. and then go onto to make a banquet from your plants.
On a different topic; I just got off the phone with my stepmother in the U.K., who told me that Dad was in hospital last week with a touch of pneumonia and at his age at 98, the doctor wanted to prevent it from getting worse. The National Health Service in the U.K. is just fantastic; I hope we can come up with something similar here for all of us. My family has nothing but good to say about the care they have been given throughout the years when it was needed.
I am continuing to give my Garden Earth lecture to so many lovely people who following the lectures tell me they are now committed to healing the earth, the gardens and the planet organically. I am asking all of them and you to dispose of all herbicides and pesticides. The effect these have on you, your family and pets is the same as second hand smoke. Take a look at TheEnglishLady.com under Appearances and come to one of my lectures; this week I am in Plainville and Ashford.
Back in the garden, the second most asked question I receive (following the “why don’t my hydrangeas bloom question”) is on deer prevention. Now on TheEnglishLady.com there are lists of deer resistant trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. I hope this will help you when planning and planting your gardens this spring so that they won’t be attracted to your lovely plantings.
Exciting news; I heard at the end of last week that I will be on Channel 8 WTNH on May 8th and I will keep you posted what time I will be on; Take a look at TheEnglishLady.com under Appearances; yetanother opportunity for yours truly to spread the word on gardening and doing it the right way, organically. Spring is my favorite time of year; I think it’s partly because of not being able to garden outdoors for so many months but also the freshness and new life of spring energizes one as the leaves, buds and flowers appear. I’m off into the garden; stay in touch and email me with any gardening questions; I love to hear from you.
WRCH blog from The English Lady for week of March 31st, 2008
Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.
So if it’s raining, have no regrets,
Because it isn’t raining rain, you know, (It’s raining violets,)
And where you see clouds upon the hills,
You soon will see crowds of daffodils,
So keep on looking for a blue bird, and list’ning for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.
World War II song by Al Jolson
Do any of you remember that song? It brings to mind the warmer rain we get so often in April and the violets nestling beneath my Apple tree in the field. This morning I went out to fill my bird feeders before the heavy rain, in a temperature of 38 degrees, which certainly did not remind me of warmer rain as it trickled down the back of my neck. However, nestling against the foundation of my house on the south side I noticed that some of the periwinkle blue flowers of my myrtle ground cover were beginning their bloom; perhaps the winter will let go its hold soon after all.
It was nice enough that yesterday I took my friend’s dog for a walk on the beach; she’s staying with me for a week while my friend is away in North Carolina. I then decided to call my folks in England before it got too late (they are five hours ahead of us).
Not only are they five hours ahead of us time wise but they are six weeks ahead of us for planting. The temperature in my home county of Shropshire in England is very mild; it’s been in the upper fifties and low sixties for about three weeks now. The daffodils finished blooming a month ago and yesterday, my stepmother and stepbrother had just finished putting out the bedding plants. Dad at age ninety-eight was sitting in his lawn chair with a cup of tea, supervising of course.
They started the annual bedding plants such as geraniums, lobelia, alyssum, begonias, impatiens, verbena and many more (some from seed and some from cuttings taken from last year’s plants). For the last few years they have enjoyed a Victorian bedding garden in the front of the house. A Victorian bedding design has annuals of similar looking species and color planted in quite intricate patterns. This year, my parents designed a large circular plan interspersed with smaller circles throughout. They are still very enthused about the garden and Dad often says that when he dies, we should just dig a hole in the garden, roll him in and he will be at rest in his favorite spot.
Today, now that the planting is finished and the forecast is for 65 degrees; mum is driving dad up to Aberdovey, a small fishing village on the North Wales coast about sixty miles away. There they will breathe in the sea air and enjoy some cockles and mussels dressed with malt vinegar from a vendor on the sea front. It would be nice to be there with them for a few hours enjoying their company, having some laughs and the taking in the view – perhaps later on in the year?
Yours truly is too attached to the landscape here in New England in spring; I pruned down my Butterfly bush,
smoke bush and ornamental grasses a few days ago and re-edged the borders. I’ve also acquired my organic manure for making my manure tea. Look at TheEnglishLady.com at the March tips for the manure tea recipe; its wonderful stuff for all your plants.
I am still doing my Garden Earth lecture series throughout the state and you can find out where I will be if you look at Events and Appearances on TheEnglishLady.com; this week I’m at the Guilford library and next week in Plainville and Ashford. Hope to see you there. Enjoy the garden; I hear it’s going to be in the fifties the rest of the week.
The English Lady’s blog for week of Monday March 24th, 2008
It was lovely to be back on air with Allan, Mike and Allison and all my listeners on Thursday last; I’m so glad to speak with all of you to help with your gardening questions and to hear your enthusiasm. Our company has always been eco-conscious since we began here in CT in 1992. My family has always been eco conscious in their work on the landscape. The gardens of Powys Castle in Wales, where the family began their training in landscape has flourished naturally for hundreds of years; of course there was no such things as chemicals back in those days. Powys is considered the best example of seventeenth century gardens in the British Isles.
The mission of my Garden Earth lecture series that I am doing throughout the state is to reconnect our mind, body, and soul to Mother Nature through your own garden while protecting our planet from the neglect it has undergone. Take a look at http://theenglishlady.com/pages/appearances.htm and come to one of the lectures in your area and allow me to show you how your garden can flourish organically and with that doing your bit to help the planet. More lecture locations are being added all the time so keep checking.
An organic product source page is now up on TheEnglishLady.com and I hope you will throw away any pesticides, herbicides or any garden product that is not organic. The effect of those poisons for yourself, your children and pets is like second hand smoke and we know what that does to your health.
Anyway back to today in New England. I was just feeding my Clivia plants with seaweed emulsion and wanted to include a photo for your enjoyment.
My best friends who used to live in Lyme gave me the plants five years ago when they moved to California (it was 83 degrees there yesterday, I wouldn’t mind a bit of that warmth at the moment). The Clivia are about twenty years old; they summer outdoors from June through September and then I bring them inside and winter them in an cool room. It’s an old farmhouse and the room on the north is great for wintering certain plants that need the cool for dormancy like the Clivia and also for keeping my apples cool so that they last through the winter. The room on the south side gets a lot of afternoon sun so that one is great for forcing bulbs like the Narcissus.
While visiting my friends in California last April we took a few days to visit the Pacific coast from Palm Springs. We rode around some roads in Santa Barbara to look at lovely estates and in front of one home under huge Mimosa trees were dozens of Clivia with their riotous orange bloom. On the whole I’m not a fan of a lot of orange in the landscape but the combination of the green leaves of the trees, the dark rich brown of the trunks and the orange bloom in the shade was remarkable. So that’s why I am particularly conscientious in the care of my Clivia here in Connecticut, which begins to bloom in March, a first touch of spring. We all need some bloom at this time of year so check the stores and see if African Violets are around yet? They come in lovely pastels and are easy to grow indoors; it will lift your spirits until the daffodils bloom. I also have some crocus blooming in a sheltered spot off my barn wall as well as snowdrops; just the beginning of things look forward to. Luckily the Daffs will begin to peek through at the end of April. Ian took this photo last spring.
I stopped by to see how our team is doing on our construction project and it looks great. 
I can’t wait to see it complete with plants, lights, and fountains. We began with 19 tons of wallstone. In a few weeks look for a page on Deer resistant plants and also a page on natural home remedies for plant and pest problems. on my newly renovated website TheEnglishLady.com I’ll speak with you again on the radio on April 17th 8-9AM to answer your questions. By then you will be out in the garden, hooray!
WRCH BLOG - THE ENGLISH LADY WEEK OF MARCH 17, 2008
Spring Flowers
Along the blushing borders bright with dew,
And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers,
Fair-handed spring unbosoms every grace;
Throws out the snowdrop and the crocus first;
The daisy, primrose, violet darkly blue………
Then comes the Tulip race…
No gradual bloom is wanting; from the bud
First-born of Spring…
The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom.
James Thomson 1700-1748
Ian and I had a business meeting in Stamford last Friday afternoon had were soon reminded about Friday traffic on the highway. After 2 hours on 95N in a seventeen-mile backup; we realized how lucky we are to be living and working on landscapes in New England, away from all that stress and strain. God bless all of you who do it! And I’m sure that many of you are glad that computers were invented so that you can now at least do a portion of your work from home. Ian is an excellent driver and I only had to white knuckle it once when we swerved to avoid an eighteen wheeler that could not make up his mind which lane he wanted to travel in.
It was so nice to be home and still daylight at five o’clock so I took the opportunity to walk around the house checking the borders and whom should I come face to face with? The Northern Geese are back, only two of them as of Friday last. However, I remembered the three families with five to seven kids in each group from last year and the mess their droppings made on my driveway and in the field. My first thought was to cut them off at the pass, in as much as, come Saturday morning I would get out my goose repellent spray which is non toxic. I think you know that yours truly and our company is very eco-conscious and has been since we began here in CT in 1992, so you will not be discovering prostrate geese in the garden. The main ingredient is a flavoring that has been used to flavor soda and other food products for years. It’s a taste aversion that, in this case, can be applied to grass or plants that make that plant very unappealing to geese.
Last year big hearted me waited to direct them to another home to brood and roost. I’m sure some of you would have done the same; taking pictures of those little geese in their fluffy brown finery who were so cute as they struggled on little legs to keep up with the adults. It did not register that in little over a couple of months they would be as big as their parents and dropping loads of “you know what everywhere.” Yes I’m an advocate of manure, as you all know, but that goose stuff is not up my alley!
Our newly renovated website TheEnglishLady.com will have a source page for organic and eco-conscious products and items so that you will easily be able to track them down.
I noticed this week the temperature will be in the mid forties and as it’s mid March and I don’t have snow on the ground; it’s nearly time to cut last year’s shoots on my Butterfly bush to two or three buds or shoots from the base. Unless you want to thin out or reduce the size of the permanent framework of the shrub, do not cut back into the older wood. Also prune your Smoke bush and ornamental grasses to about six inches from the ground and apply a two-inch layer of aged manure, peat and or compost around the base of all the above-mentioned plants.
Then after a cup of Earl Grey tea; if time, energy and daylight allows; we will begin re-edging the borders. A clean edge makes such a difference to the look of a garden and the longer I can be outside making a start on things; I will be like a kid in a candy store. Don’t forget to check TheEnglishLady.com for my monthly gardening tips and articles.
And just to let you feel good that you live here even though it has seemed a long winter; take a look at these photos that a friend from Maine sent me with snow more than half way up his windows and doors, about eight feet of it.
Let’s begin our gardening conversation for this season on my monthly radio show with the gang here on WRCH this Thursday March 20th, the first day of spring, from 8-9AM. You can always listen the show from your computer here on WRCH.com. I’ll see you next time in your garden.
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WRCH BLOG FOR WEEK OF MARCH 10TH, 2008
There was a roaring in the wind all night;
The rain came heavily and fell in floods
But now the sun is rising calm and bright;
The birds are singing in the distant woods;
Over his own sweet voice the stock-dove broods;
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