Cinderellas, snowballs, goblins and knuckleheads. Knuckleheads? You know them by their all-encompassing name: pumpkins. With fall arriving just last week, farm fields and farm market tables are groaning with pumpkins, those multi-colored signs of the season from the Cucurbita genus (the Latin word for 'gourd').  While orange sugar pumpkins and big jack-o’-lantern pumpkins are commonly seen in fall displays, there are many more varieties available for eating and decorating. Perhaps one of their most appealing attributes is their names. With…

If your natural surroundings are anything like mine, there is an untapped bounty of plants unrecognized for their nutritional and medicinal benefits. That’s what Sarah Lucas — a farmer, forager and teacher with Harlem Valley Homestead in Wingdale, N.Y. — told me when she visited my home. Almost everything I dismissed as a weed — noxious or benign — has a useful side, we just need to recognize it. Goldenrod, dandelion, garlic mustard, lady's thumb, knot weed, dock, even my…

For some perennials, it is especially difficult to move or divide them. You plant them, they thrive, then you decide to uproot them and they just don’t want to go there. Perennials that would just as soon be left alone include Baptisia, lupine, Oriental poppy, milkweed, Russian sage, goatsbeard, red hot poker, and peony. To learn ways to increase your success, our go-to horticulturist Ruth Clausen provides tips. When you move them and how you do it is critical. Learn…

A tussie mussie or nosegay is a small bouquet of scented herbs and flowers. For centuries, going back to Elizabethan times in England, a nosegay was carried by women to defend against noxious smells from open drains and unwashed bodies, which brought the risk of plague and fever with them. Later tussie mussies were used to convey messages, using the language of flowers to communicate things like loyalty (blue violets) or innocence (white violets). Books about the symbolism of flowers…

Have you ever thought of creating a garden composed of flowers grown with the express purpose of being cut for floral arrangements? That's a cutting garden.  Once cutting gardens have been established, they tend to be low-maintenance projects that require just a little time each week for weeding and watering. How to Create a Cutting Garden Preparing the Site-- Like most successful gardening projects, cutting gardens require a bit of planning.  You can create a cutting garden within a vegetable…

The steps I put in leading down to the pond and stream are made of wood.  I chose to make wood steps because the cost of a stone path would be prohibitively expensive. The stones themselves and the labor to move them into position, given the length of the hillside (40-50') and the inaccessability of the site to a delivery truck, made that approach very expensive. After installing the wood steps I was happy with the choice as I felt…

I've often heard that the showy, sun loving plants we call geraniums, are actually not geraniums but are pelargoniums. It's confusing, so I asked horticulturist Ruth Rogers Clausen for some clarity. Here's what she had to say. Geraniums and pelargoniums belong to the same botanical family: the Geraniaceae. However, the common name “geranium” is often used incorrectly in reference to members of the Pelargonium genus. There are multiple species in each genus, most of which are resistant to browsing deer…

I’ve heard it said that it’s easy to have a fabulous garden in the spring, but having a fabulous garden in the middle of summer is more of a challenge. Summer brings stress for many of our plants, from hot weather to drought to drenching thunderstorms. Last year we had an unusually long dry spell in the middle of summer here in New England and my hydrangeas took a visible hit. I was afraid of depleting my well if I…

Watching the hummingbirds at my feeder is always a joy. Being in the Northeast I get ruby-throated hummingbirds, the most common here, and last year three females vied for the nectar in two feeders, one in front and one in back of my house. This year there is at least one male among the females. The hummingbirds are just one of the pollinators I try to support. In spring I don’t mow the dandelions, ajuga or the buttercups to allow…

Last year the ornamental cherry tree on my property had the most glorious blooms and this year it didn’t. The same with my lilacs. On the other hand, my crabapples bloomed beautifully this year but last year they were so-so, and I expect they will be so-so again next year. Many trees and shrubs need a “rest” year. Some of this is part of the mystery of nature, but often there are other explanations for why our trees and shrubs…