Wink, wink, nod, nod. We’re still buried in snow. The temperatures are all over the range, but it is 27°F as I write this.
I’m grateful though because it didn’t snow on Saturday, and I was able to attend the New Hampshire Master Gardener Welcome Spring Symposium.
The first speaker was Benjamin Pauly who is the Master Gardener for the Woodstock Inn and Resort in Vermont. He kept our interests by talking about Gardening with intensity – Habits of the Highly Effective Kitchen Garden. His 2.5 acre garden provides the Resort Chefs with certified organic flowers, herbs, veggies and fruit. Most interesting fact shared – he waters plants when he puts them in the ground and possibly the second day, but after that he doesn’t water them. He leaves it up to Mother Nature.
Rock gardening was up next, and Joseph Tychonievich shared
his love of rock gardening and its wonderful small alpine plants. Joseph is a guest on public radio’s, The Splendid Table, and the author of three books about rock gardening, plant breeding, and a complete guide for gardeners.
He shared photos of rock gardens all over the world and the materials and methods needed to create, maintain, and enjoy a rock garden of your own.
After a delicious lunch and time for the silent auction, things got ramped up when Jim Sutton, the Display Designer at Longwood Gardens, took us on a slide tour of the gardens. It is currently Orchid Extravaganza at the Gardens. He also shared some of his favorite container and basket combinations that pack a real punch. I think he had a lot of gardeners ready to head for Pennsylvania. I know I’d love to visit and especially see the Green Wall which is 14′ high and 300′ long making it the largest in North America. Have you been to Longwood Gardens?
The day closed with Brie Arthur and Foodscaping 101.
Brie lives in a subdivision in North Carolina with the usual Home Owners’ Association rules and regs. While more people seem to be interested in planting a garden and harvesting produce to enjoy at their table, everyone doesn’t live on a farm. Brie consults with homeowners to help them incorporate edible plants into their current landscape. There are no raised beds in the front yard, but there may be some tomato and asparagus plants mixed in with the rose bushes. If you have a landscape with plants that require sun, then you can intersperse sun-loving vegetables with them in an attractive way. If you want help to incorporate delicious veggies in with your shrubs and perennials, check out Brie’s new book.
If you live in New England or are planning to visit, you might also want to check out this wonderful brochure: New Hampshire’s Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Trails. Tour trivia? My grandparents farm is now part of the #13 farm on the trail. 🙂
Happy spring everyone. 🙂
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Photo Credits:
Benjamin Pauly: Woodstock Inn and Resort
Joseph Tychonievich: Barnes and Noble
Jim Sutton: Longview Gardens
Brie Arthur: Amazon
NH Wine, Cheese & Chocolate Trails: Visitnh.gov
I adore Brie Arthur! She is well know in this part of the world for her enthusiasm for foodscaping, but is also an expert on ornamental plants, having worked previously at 3 of our region’s best nurseries, including Plant Delights. And what a wonderful person…just a joy to be with!
Sounds like a terrific program all the way around. I’m glad you were able to attend! Happy Spring:^)
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She was very knowledgeable and an entertaining speaker as well. I know I’ll be sneaking some veggies into my beds this year. 🙂
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So glad you were able to attend the Spring Symposium. They pack a lot into one day. I am blown away by B Pauly’s watering technique. I’m gonna try that myself. I have neighbors who never pull a hose out and their stuff doesn’t look any worse than mine!! Love rock gardens.
The Woodstock Inn and Resort…… Yowzer!! Only in my dreams!
Temperatures fluctuating here too, and we still have mountains of snow. Sigh…….
Happy Spring everyone!! 🌺🌻💐🌷🌹
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I love how gardeners always manage to find spring regardless of the hold on winter that Mother Nature won’t yield until she’s good and ready!
I like the idea of sneaking veggies into a flower bed! Fun to have the best of both worlds! I have window boxes and used ornamental cabbages in my fall arrangements one year. Not exactly the same thing because they were purchased and plopped in, but they sure looked nice nestled among mums and grasses!
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Sounds like a terrific day! Just the thing when there is still a lot of snow on the ground.
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Wine, Cheese and Chocolate? Oh, what a way to plan a trip 🙂
I’m glad you didn’t get snow bound again, Judy. I think that was winter’s closing act. Bring up the curtain on Spring and lets get those temps heading up.
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Seems like you had the perfect tonic to get you through the last weeks of winter! Xo Johanna
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No snow here, anymore, but it’s COLD! So good to share in a bit of your spring preparations. I would have loved that day.
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I thought of your Spring Symposium on Saturday and hoped that it was — like Calgon — taking you away! And it sounds to me as though it did. What a lovely escape from winter, and you didn’t even have to go by dogsled. Now if Mother Nature will just have a little mercy on New England…
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It is suppose to be down in the teens mid week. Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humor don’t you think? 🙂
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No sense of humor: just wicked. That’s awful.
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We are melting (melting, melting) and so far, no more storms are predicted. It’s the first day of spring, but the mud is everywhere, so I’ll save my dance for drying weather. I hope you are finished with the storms, too!
I’m trying to get up the strength of character to fix my garden this year. I think I’ll wait until the caterpillars are done foraging and then worry about it.
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The snow has melted off the roofs but that is about it. We’ve still got feet of it piled all around. I hope those nasty caterpillars skip your property this year.
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Yes, we had a warmer day in February then we do now for the first day of Spring, I feel your pain. 🙂 But Spring is coming!!
Glad you were able to go to the show on Saturday, sounds like it was full of good information.
A wine,cheese and chocolate trail… Now that sounds like a trail that I want to follow! 🙂
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You have lingering snow and Houston feels like summer has arrived. I don’t know which of us is luckier.
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We talked to family in Kansas, and it was 95 on Sunday. 🙂
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Judy, what a lovely post! I haven’t been to Longwood Gardens, Sally, of Lens and Pens by Sally, https://lensandpensbysally.wordpress.com/, lives near there and raves about it. I plan to go one of these days when on a driving trip to Philadelphia. All these presentations sound fascinating as well as useful. I”ll look for the books.
janet
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I think the idea of planting edibles among the flowers and shrubbery struck a note with many of us. I’m thinking that even someone like me could pull off a modest harvest with that kind of approach.
Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
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It makes sense once you think outside the landscape box. Flowers for the soul, foundation plantings for the house, and veggies or fruit for the table. Nice. 🙂
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Happy Spring to you, it sounds like you really enjoyed your day!
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Happy Spring! What a fun day!
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What a wonderful way to spend a day, listening to inspirational gardeners. When we built our home 12 years ago and began to establish our gardens we put in lots of Australian natives. They don’t have long life spans and as they died Mr ET replaced them with vegetables. Now all the beds in the back yard are veges and citrus trees. It’s nice to harvest our own produce.
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I know flowers feed the soul but veggies are wonderful on the dinner table too. 🙂
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He has flowers in the front yard and I have my rose garden so we’re all set.
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Glad that you all got shoveled out in time for you to be able to attend and enjoy this! 🙂
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Happy Spring, Judy! Thank you so much for sharing all of the gardening goodness you learned about on Saturday. We must keep Springtime thoughts in our hearts. It won’t be long now… ♡
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Sounds like an inspiring Spring Symposium…Benjamin Pauly’s idea of only watering once, or maybe twice for new plants, is the advice often given here in Australia, where water is so precious, and it brings on the Irish Catholic guilt for me, as I can’t resist giving them more!
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I don’t water perennials that are established, but I’ve never even considered not watering a vegetable crop. I may cut back a little this year and see if there is a dramatic difference. 🙂
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I’m glad it didn’t snow, too 🙂
Sounds wonderful, and I’m glad you shared it with us.
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Sounds like an excellent idea! I like the sound of a wine, cheese and chocolate trail.
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Sounds like a great range of speakers – glad you got to go. I’ve been to Longwood Gardens (LONG ago), it was impressive. I’ve been hankering to go to Chanticleer, also in PA. We need to organize a bus tour, so we don’t have to drive! 🙂
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I’m in. 🙂
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So glad you were able to get and go to the Symposium. It sounds lovely. I think I would have enjoyed the container and basket part. I don’t have a green thumb, but love well tended, and lush gardens.
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You would have loved the Longwood Garden presentation with their stunning containers and baskets. Right now their exhibits are full of the most gorgeous cascading orchids I’d ever imagined. 🙂
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I love those containers and baskets filled to the brim with different plants and flowers, but haven’t been able to keep one alive long when I’ve tried making one, and the few smaller ones I’ve purchased have just lasted a season. I’m really bad in the garden. I wish I had inherited my Grandmother’s green thumb.
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If only we lived closer I’d trade you gardening hours for photography lessons. 🙂
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That would be fun!! If only! 🙂
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Lovely day out, Judy. I’m so glad the weather held and you were able to attend the lectures. Wonderful speakers that will get you jazzed up for the upcoming growing season. Our trips to the greenhouse are about all we have right now ( in the way of gardening0…waiting patiently for the snow to melt and the temperatures to rise.
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You must be itching to see how everything weather the winter. Hope we both get some melt pretty soon so we can at least see the ground. 🙂
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Your conference sounds wonderful! I would especially like to know more about rock gardens–wish I could’ve been at that talk. And I think it’s so nice that your grandparents’ farm is still in use. My grandparents’ farm is abandoned and falling down and it seems such a sad waste.
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The rock gardening section was very informative to me because of the beautiful Alpine plants and the ability to have plantings that didn’t need the usual dose of water. Yes, it does warm my heart to know the cheesemakers live in my grandparents home and the farm land is part of this well known farm. 🙂
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The symposium must have been loads of fun Judy. I have been to Longwood Gardens but don’t remember the Green Wall–looks so peaceful and compelling. Brie Arthur spoke at my garden club this year and I bought some camellias from her. Happy melting!
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The green wall was apparently installed when they wanted to add restrooms but wanted it to be a ‘green’ experience. 🙂
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Oh, I would have been all eyes and ears at the symposium. I’ve been to Woodstock Inn, I listen to The Splendid Table, and I’m growing my young lettuces indoors waiting for a break in the weather. Checked out Stop 13 on the tour. Beautiful farm!
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What a great line up. I’m fascinated by the no-watering approach. Raised beds too? Even in droughts? Any secrets to it? Please share! I’m also in on a bus to Longwood and Chanticleer!
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His slides and what I’ve found on line shows everything growing in the ground. Here’s a link: http://honestcooking.com/taking-stock-farm-table-vermont-master-gardener-ben-pauly/ He had no advice about not watering – just the fact that he doesn’t. Really interesting to any gardener.
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Ohhh. I’m dreaming of spring🌸 after this post.
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This had a lovely collection of plantings, suggestions and pretty photographs, Judy! Thank you for sharing about ways to have plants around shrubs and I would like to try an inside pot of a miniature garden this year! 🙂
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This sounds like it was a wonderful symposium Judy with so many excellent presenters. I have always wanted to go to Longwood Gardens, and the Green Wall looks amazing! While the temperatures slowly rise up into the 50’s, I am longing for springlike temperatures here as well on Long Island. Thanks for the virtual tour!
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It sounds so wonderful. Thanks for sharing so much of your wealth. 🙂
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Just wow! Those orchids are just amazing – but then so is that first picture!
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Thanks for the visit. Just return from grocery shopping and the drive around Meridian was lovely. We even had snow this morning but the sun is out now.
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