As the effects of climate change (or, as some call it, “climate weirding”) hit home, home is where we contend with it, up close and personal. How can we, as gardeners, create landscapes and gardens that withstand multiple stresses brought on by these changes and extremes? What can we do on our own home turf […]
It’s an exciting time in the garden. April’s below-average temperatures may have given all of us cause for concern, but it’s caused surprisingly few ill effects in the beds and borders. Plants of all types are shaking off their winter…
And While You’re in the Neighborhood, Enjoy Other Regional Attractions Sometime during this garden season, we hope you’ll visit our display gardens in the Morris section of Litchfield, Connecticut. Depending on the timing of your visit (or visits), you’ll find…
By Cheryl Whalen, Head Gardener The arrival of spring brings with it fresh starts and new beginnings. Now is the time to peruse the gardens, making note of which plants survived the past winter’s trickery and also mourning for a…
Large portions of the northeastern United States have experienced a difficult turn in which the normal weather patterns for March and April have been roughly reversed, with a series of soft, warm spring days in March followed by the recent…
By Cheryl Whalen, Head Gardener The first two or three weeks after potting tuberous begonias I don’t expect to see anything happening. I check in on the potted tubers weekly, providing water to the occasional pot if the soil has…
Marc Hachadourian agrees that his job makes a lot of people envious. As curator of orchids at the New York Botanical Garden and director of the garden’s Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections in Bronx, N.Y., he cares for more than…
After weeks of unseasonably warm weather here in Morris, CT, the White Flower Farm Store opened Monday, March 21, just in time for what we hope was the last snowstorm of the season. We were spared the worst, and the…
Lilies are one of the truly great garden plants for their flower forms, diversity, extended season of bloom, graceful stature, and reliable disposition. Their bulbs can be planted in spring for bloom the same year, or in fall for bloom…
At this time of year, we’re always reminded of the benefits of having a variety of spring-blooming shrubs and trees in the garden. We’re midway through winter, and although it’s been a remarkably mild one here in the Northeast, the…
In the high heat of summer, the large, showy blossoms of Hydrangeas fill gardens and vases with long-lasting color. These versatile shrubs also do a great deal to add structure to garden beds and foundation plantings, and they make superb…
Sometimes, we all need a little lift. When we closed the White Flower Farm Store for the season last November, it was clear it was time for a makeover. The dwarf conifer hedge was dwarf no more and was threatening…
By Cheryl Whalen, Head Gardener Gardening season in Connecticut begins in February. Outside my window, the ice-crusted snow still blankets the sleeping garden beds. Maybe it’s too early to garden in the earth, but at my desk, gardens are in…