Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) has a delicious fragrance and attracts a diversity of wildlife to shuttle its pollen about. Here at Flower Hill Farm there are numerous stands of milkweed in the fields and gardens. When the dainty balls of florets begin to pop, an audience of butterflies, bees, ants, and birds take notice. Spiders settle in and wait but these predators are not the only danger to visiting insects. Some of the pollen sacs or saddlebags attach and will not come off the tiny feet of … [Read more...] about The Allure of Milkweed
Hot Colors of Cool August Butterflies and a Bestiary of Birds
What is normal or average anymore? It seems that days are spread out more like a delicately hand-stitched quilt laying loosely across a large bed . . . not in triangles or squares but in free-form patterns that hardly relate to one another except in hues. Vivid colors, with a play of values, fills the eyes and dreams of those that slip beneath basted layers of wrinkled cloth . . . pieces torn and recombined.Such are our New England August days, once felt to be the warmest of the summer. Somehow … [Read more...] about Hot Colors of Cool August Butterflies and a Bestiary of Birds
Hot Colors of Cool August Butterflies and a Bestiary of Birds
What is normal or average anymore? It seems that days are spread out more like a delicately hand-stitched quilt laying loosely across a large bed . . . not in triangles or squares but in free-form patterns that hardly relate to one another except in hues. Vivid colors, with a play of values, fills the eyes and dreams of those that slip beneath basted layers of wrinkled cloth . . . pieces torn and recombined.Such are our New England August days, once felt to be the warmest of the summer. … [Read more...] about Hot Colors of Cool August Butterflies and a Bestiary of Birds
Back To Cooler Garden Days of June ~ Roses, Mauves, Reds and Bluebird Broods
July has been a sultry mix so far with last night's "humiture" becoming more bearable or wearable I might say. I find it amusing that a former weatherman and gardener of the name George Winterling developed what we know as the 'heat index' . . . where the temperature of the air and that of the relative humidity are combined to come up with 'how hot it feels.' Well, we have all been feeling the heat wave and riding it as best we can. Back awhile ago, I promised to share the mauves and pinks … [Read more...] about Back To Cooler Garden Days of June ~ Roses, Mauves, Reds and Bluebird Broods
Back To Cooler Garden Days of June ~ Roses, Mauves, Reds and Bluebird Broods
July has been a sultry mix so far with last night's "humiture" becoming more bearable or wearable I might say. I find it amusing that a former weatherman and gardener of the name George Winterling developed what we know as the 'heat index' . . . where the temperature of the air and that of the relative humidity are combined to come up with 'how hot it feels.' Well, we have all been feeling the heat wave and riding it as best we can. Back awhile ago, I promised to share the … [Read more...] about Back To Cooler Garden Days of June ~ Roses, Mauves, Reds and Bluebird Broods
