Easter

This beautiful warm Easter day here at Fernwwod? I’ll make yeast rolls, roast the lamb, saute the asparagus, and I’ll assemble a salad. Oh, and also roast the turnip and the potatoes with plenty of garlic. Dessert will show up with guests. And in between pot stirring and dough kneading?, I’ll go out and scan every inch of the gardens for beauties like these ( which we have propagated in the greenhouse). Happy, happy day to everyone!

Anemonella thalictroides

Beauties Here In The Gardens…

So much time in the gardens and the nursery…. also the greenhouse. Thankfully we can stop and gaze at the real beauties that are blooming around us. Not much time for long posts, though here are just two examples of what we are really enjoying while weeding and potting. Oh, the great joy of the season!

Trillium grandiflorum

Anemonella thalictriodes
‘ Double White’

Anemonella ‘Schoaf’s Double’

Love this time of year! Everyday a new surprise in the gardens. The spring plants that are already blooming…delightful. And do we ever tire of seeing them, have less anticipation, when a new season arrives? Never.

Anemonella thalictroides
( Fernwood seedling)

Omphaloides verna

The hellebore, the hepaticas, the anemonellas and uvularia, are all in bloom. Trilliums are everywhere. This season we are actually offering a few double trilliums for sale. Come soon if you have your heart set on one, I think we have only five left. Some of the woodland peonies are ready to burst open. Always spectacular when they do. This past weekend with the nursery opening we were able to chat with customers, both new and old, discussing gardens and plants, and yes, the long winter was also a topic of conversation. I think gardeners have been just itching to tend their beds, look for new choice plants to add to the landscape, and to just dig in the dirt!

Rhododendron ‘Candy Pink’

Paeonia veitchii

Tomatoes to be planted in the hoop house

This will be another busy week here at the nursery. The vegetable gardens are getting planted, and soon we will be harvesting the very first greens and spinach ( kale also, of course). The tomatoes will be planted in the hoop house. Up in the sales area we continue to divide and pot plants. The display beds need attention on a regular basis now, so this chore gets put into the daily mix. The sheep will move to their summer pasture by mid week. Wait til they see the lush grass that awaits them, I’m sure it’s been on their minds. The three sheep I board for Sally will go home, along with her eclectic flock of (mostly) roosters. Can you believe that no one called me about adopting Rooster Rod? Yes, that’s right, Mr. Fancy Pants is still here strutting his stuff amongst the hens. He’s a bit ridiculous. I really expect to go out there one day to find him wearing bell bottoms. Tomorrow, I will go to the bus station to collect up our WWOOFER for the season ( to find out about the wwoof program , check out this site). Cristina is coming from Italy to spend a little over two weeks with us helping out here on the farm. Italy! Imagine that! Once she arrives and settles in, we’ll introduce her to the blog. We are really looking forward to her coming.
Well, that’s where we’re at here at Fernwood these days. We hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather, the bird song, the gardens, and everything else that spring brings to us.

trillium erectum

trillium grandiflorum ‘George Young’

Hobblebush

Mid May At Fernwood

View from the potting bench, looking over a portion of the sales area

Here we are midway through the month of May. Earlier on, we enjoy the slow procession of the very first plants to bloom, we’ve talked about these….. the hepaticas, corydalis, hellebores, and others that are designed to emerge before the trees leaf out. Now that the soil temperatures ( and night time temperatures, too) are really warming, the gardens are bursting. Here are a few examples of what’s growing in the gardens right now at Fernwood.

Rhododendron dauricum ‘Candy Pink’ and Magnolia stellata

Trillium grandiflorum flore pleno, growing with Anemonella thalictroides ‘Schoaf’s Double Pink’

Trillium grandiflorum flore pleno

Uvularia grandiflora

Anemone ranunculoides