Rugosa roses cheering up a gray and drizzly day in late spring. Blanc Double de Cobert, Rugosa Alba, & Hansa cozy up with Salvia May Night in a vintage glass dish. Rugosas are the champions of the garden for me. Strong & handsome plants with cheerful sweet-smelling flowers, plus tart and colorful fruits in the fall. The winter moths tried
to make a meal of my roses this spring but I have emerged victorious with only a few munched leaves. The garden is right now filled with frantically feeding bees and butterflies so I think I have done well in watching over my little piece of Earth.
2010
The desperation of the summer garden overwhelms me
Matching the rhythm of my rapacious need to climb, to twine, to spread
To fill every barren space with leaves and flowers and fruit
I eavesdrop on the morning conversations of a hundred little birds
And the hunting song of a red tailed hawk
I am but a caretaker of this abundant splendor
When we moved into our house a few years ago there was a lovely flagstone patio hemmed in by overgrown and unkempt bushes on all three sides. The effect was to almost smother the patio in green and brown as many of the branches had severe winter damage. We had to bring in an arborist and landscapers to take down an old dead tree and while they were working I lamented to the company owner how much I hated the patio bushes. He suggested that if I really wanted to get rid of them, he had all the equipment on site to do it. It took less than a minute of thinking for me to give him the go ahead. A few hours later, my patio stood naked in the bright sunshine. Upon returning home from work, my husband was in shock at the dramatic change in our little landscape, but I was already sketching the new garden.
The picture to the left is one of the prepared planting beds last year. I decided after many trips to Plymouth Plantation, Strawberry Bank, Sturbridge Village, and other local historical houses, that I would give the garden a bit of a Colonial feel. Below are some pictures from this year, 2010, and a list of plants we are growing.
Edible Plant List
Here is a list of some of what is growing in my edible landscape. Perennials are marked with *
Anise Hyssop*
Basil- Curly leaf, Lime, African Blue, Thai
Borage-blue and white
Calendula
Cilantro
Chives*
Currants pink champagne*
Dill
Garlic chives*
Lavender-Munstead*
Lemon balm*
Lemon Verbena
Marigold-Lemon Gem (self seeding)
Mint*
Nasturtiums- Peach melba, Alaska
Nepeta-Walkers Low*
Oregano*
Red Gooseberries*
Rhubarb
Roman Chamomile
Rosemary
Strawberries- Alpine, Fragroo, Allstar, Tarpan*
Sweet William (self seeding)
Shiso-purple & Green
Sage varieties include: Pineapple, Tri-Color, Pink-Blue-White flowering *Golden*,May Night*
Sorrel-red & green
Tarragon
Thyme-Lemon, English, Wooly, Creeping red*
Verburnum High Bush cranberry*
Violas- Coconut sorbet , Starry Night, Rebecca, Jumpin Jack*
8 varieties of scented geraniums
Heirloom tomatoes
Celery
Peppers
Peas
Potatoes
Rugosa Roses*
