I came into gardening through the kitchen door. I loved to cook long before I began gardening, and while my yard does have a lot of annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees, the plants that I feel most attached to are food plants — tomatoes, cherries, green beans, even cucumbers. That is not to say that my vegetable garden is meticulously…
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For many northern gardeners, the recent bouts with frost have come too soon. I don’t want to say good-bye to my flowers yet, and I have dozens of green tomatoes still on the vine. When a light frost struck the garden last night, I decided it was time to take action. The most recent issue of Northern Gardener has an…
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Putting the right plant in the right place is an adage in gardening — and a true one. (Maybe all adages are true?) I’ve written about it before, but more evidence of right plant, right place showed up in my garden this summer. Last year, I removed some shrubs in a back bed that were damaged in a storm and…
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Today marks the fifth anniversary of My Northern Garden. I started blogging in September 2007 at a time when garden blogs were sprouting up like dandelions in May, five years after Kathy Purdy started Cold Climate Gardening, which is probably the oldest garden blog for northern gardeners. While I’ve often written about trends, plants and tips from experts, most of…
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I like to buy garden art and ornaments from local artists. The works are often different from those you see in stores, and it’s more meaningful when you know where a piece comes from and who created it. In the past, I’ve bought a metal trellis from Jennifer Wolcott and two local gentlemen designed and assembled the pergola in my…
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