Green Mountain Gardener

In the month of March we begin the shift of seasons.  Closing the door on winter and opening another to spring.  During the winter months, we have enjoyed the quiet grace of the scenery displayed in shades of black and white.  Color is often captured only in fleeting glimpses.  In Northern Vermont, March brings forth only the earliest and most subtle signs of spring that will soon unlock a very different landscape.  I can’t help but begin to look for these signs of rebirth, those that we have been missing such as the earliest of blooms, and the return of thunderstorms, Witch Hazel, snowdrops, pussy willows, honeybees, and even mud season.  I anticipate the arrival of my favorite season, though there are many things that I will miss about winter.  The blanket of snow makes everything appear fresh and clean.  Trees are exposed and we have the opportunity to study their gnarled and bare branches.  Sun and shadows are much more prominent in the landscape and often go unnoticed during the warmer months when our eyes are diverted by all of the surrounding color.  But, the melting snow brings the arrival of those blissful earthy smells.  Here in the north, we so appreciate these very subtle promises of the new season, and know that we will soon enjoy the sounds of songbirds and peepers, orchestrating the return of warmer and longer days.  It seems as if almost overnight the trees begin to bud, and the grass is green once again.  I find myself paying frequent visits to the window and the garden, looking for any subtle changes.  New leaves are poking out from the soil around the Phlox, and the Peony buds remind me that the flowers will soon return.  We wait with much anticipation for the early and vivid colors that will soon return, those offered by the daffodils, crocus and early tulips.  Spring is once again upon us, and it is a time to appreciate all of the many changes taking place.  I hope these final days of winter hold many promises of the new season in your garden.

Spring offerings from a Hellebore planted last year…

Bloom Day is celebrated on the 15th of every month.  For a look at what is blooming in gardens around the world, visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens.

I would like to extend a big, warm thank you to everyone for participating in my drawing, and your thoughtful words which helped to make this Blogiversary so special.  It is my pleasure to announce and offer my CONGRATULATIONS to Frances of Fairegarden, who has been selected to win a copy of Lives of the Trees, An Uncommon History by Diana Wells. Frances, if you would be so kind as to contact me with your mailing information via the link at the top of my blog, I will get this out in the mail to you asap.

I feel as though I must offer my sincere apologies for my lack of blog activity over the past couple weeks.  While I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to return to school at this stage in my life, I am enrolled in a fairly rigorous program which at times does not afford the luxury of free time.  I am looking forward to catching up with all of you over the next week, while I enjoy a winter break.

May your hearts be filled with love this Valentine’s Day!!

The month of February marks the three year anniversary of the Green Mountain Gardener blog.  It is a time of celebration, but more importantly, a time to thank all of you.  In February of 2007, I began my blog with the idea of creating an online journal.  And, quite frankly, I was bored after being marooned inside a tiny apartment due to a snowstorm that dumped over 2 feet of snow over the course of a single day.  And so it went, blogging about all sorts of nonsense, such as squirrel invasions, maple syrup, and an entire summer spent with painters outside my windows, and being hidden from their view only by a thin layer of plastic… and it was hot, dammit, so I had to keep the windows open, but with that brought the blaring of the Violent Femmes… “Why can’t I get, just one…. ” well, you know the rest.

I do not remember exactly how I was first introduced to blotanical, and the amazing gardening community it holds.  But, after moving to our house, I do remember that I desperately wanted to begin a garden of my own, and I was really rather clueless as to how I should begin.  I soon discovered the world of garden blogs, many of which contained beautiful writing, a wealth of information, advice, questions, and the most amazing photography. I was delighted by a community of gardeners that were supportive of one another, passionate about gardening, enjoyed writing, and grew some of the most amazing gardens I had ever seen.  I became a member of blotanical in September of 2008.  I felt a bit intimidated in the beginning, both as a new gardener and a new garden blogger.  What could I possibly write about that others would find interesting?  Well, surely some of those early posts left little to be desired, but yet I was met with encouragement, gracious comments, and there were a few that were kind enough to add my blog to their list of favorites.

This post is to show my appreciation to all of you, as this blog wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable if it weren’t for those of you that take the time to visit.  I so enjoy each and every comment left and those who have gathered here to join me in my passion for gardening.  You have helped me to become a better gardener, a better writer, and you fill me with enthusiasm and inspiration.  I hope to enjoy many more years sharing in this adventure with you, and taking delight in my virtual visits to your gardens.  To celebrate this time, and the wonderful people I have met, I would like to have a giveaway for a wonderful book which I recently discovered, Lives of the Trees: An Uncommon History, by Diana Wells.

Diana Wells has a gift for finding curious information about the naming of plants and creatures in the natural world.  Here, she explores our love for trees, and those featured are in alphabetical order all the way from Acacia to Yew. Wells talks of our relationship with trees, investigating their names and meanings as well as their legends and lore.  Beautiful illustrations by Heather Lovett grace the pages featuring the leaves, needles, flowers, nuts or fruit offered by each species.

“Because they are larger and older than we can ever hope to be, because they give shade, wood, food, and shelter, and because they stretch from earth to heaven, trees have been our gods since before recorded time.”

One tree featured, the Japanese Cedar, has the most interesting tradition that surrounds it, called forest bathing. Apparently, today in Japan it is still common for Japanese businessmen to enjoy this ritual:

“You go into the forest and soak yourself in the trees,” she says. “I live where there are woods and I will [do that] quite often and let the trees feel as if I’m part of the forest. It’s very, very soothing — it’s beautiful.  It would help us if we were more familiar with trees,” Wells says. “I think if we did that, it would cement the bond, and it would help all of us. We need the trees and they need us.”

If you would like a copy of this beautiful and inspiring book, I will be holding a drawing the old fashioned way – putting names into a hat and plucking out one lucky winner on Valentine’s Day, February 14th.  If you would like to be included in the drawing, all that is required is to leave a comment requesting that your name be added to the hat.  Deadline is February 13th at midnight.

Rebecca at prefer to be In The Garden has invited us to take part in a Rainbow Challenge, displaying photos from our gardens that make up the colors of the rainbow.  I have been inspired this year by many of you, and by a book  titled Fearless Color Gardens by Keeyla Meadows, to begin a color journal.  This is a great opportunity to dive right in.  I am passionate about color, and will be exploring each color and the feelings or moods they evoke, as color can set the mood, feel, or tone of our entire garden, or an area of our garden.  I would love it if you would join me in my exploration of each color, and perhaps find peace with a color you dislike.  For the past couple of years, I have been working at making peace with the color red, and have been successful to some extent – I planted some things last year such as Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and Papaver orientale ‘Beauty of Livermere’ both of which have deep, blood red blooms.  I look forward to exploring my hesitation with this color, as well as its attributes.

I found this giant toadstool in the woods behind our house. It looks like a good place to rest… (if you were a toad). This is the last of my fall-like photos. Winter is definitely upon us here in Vermont. We got our first snowstorm yesterday – the end of the storm that even made its way to Louisiana. I’d say we got about 8″ of snow at our place. After work yesterday I was really looking forward to coming home and taking the dog for a walk. She goes nuts in the snow… she jumps into snowbanks, bounces around, and sticks her whole head in the snow if she smells something curious. It is really quite amusing to watch her having so much fun.
This is my last weekend of class. Yipeeeeeee!! This past semester I was taking Anatomy and Physiology II and English Composition. It was an enjoyable semester, although very time consuming, as you can see with my lack of posts for the past month or so. I will be taking my last test tomorrow. It is always a little strange for the first week or so after classes end. I find myself with all of this time on my hands and not really quite sure what to do about it. But, I am looking forward to doing the things that I have been missing. This winter I would like to do some knitting, and I would really like to learn to quilt. The quilting will include learning to sew, because I am pretty much clueless when it comes to operating a sewing machine. I could probably find the “on” button, but that’s about it. In addition, my pastels are collecting dust in the spare bedroom. Oh yeah, and I have been itching to go spend an entire day wandering around Barnes and Noble reading books and sipping a fancy coffee…