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margaret roach, head gardener

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doodle by andre: white out

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IWAS FEELING A LITTLE ADRIFT (IN A DRIFT?) MYSELF. I admit it. And then this doodle showed up from Andre Jordan, and I was like, yes, that’s it: I feel lost. No wonder, when I can’t even see the pathway ahead of me. Ah, snow. “I would like it to stop snowing now,” Andre told me the character in the doodle said to him, but at that time it was barely January, and snow is actually a kindness to the plants that sleep beneath it. Sigh. How are you holding up over there, friends, in the snow that will never melt, it seems? Shall we send out a search party?

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25 comments
January 7, 2010

comments

  1. LiriopePisces says

    January 7, 2010 at 7:00 am

    Our first snow of the season started last night around 7PM. Right now, it’s gorgeous…changes the dead brown and muddy color scheme. Also, I received 4 catalogs in the mail yesterday, so I’m dreaming big and content right now.

    In my part of the world, February is the cruelest month: part winter, part spring.

    Reply
  2. andre says

    January 7, 2010 at 8:47 am

    we’ve had yet more snow last night and the weather man is saying it ‘s 3 degrees but the wind makes it feel like minus 20.

    at this moment the plans for our garden (new plants . new fencing) seem a long way off.

    Reply
  3. Karen says

    January 7, 2010 at 10:07 am

    Thank goodness for seed catalogs! Even though I live in the city and can’t order a fraction of what’s in them, browsing and dreaming of my “someday” place upstate helps keep me toasty and warm while the wind and cold rages outside.

    Reply
  4. Susan says

    January 7, 2010 at 10:25 am

    Andre,
    Happy New Year, Thursday’s have never been the same since you have arrived at Margaret’s door.
    We are expecting more snow tonight, but the weather men/women cannot get the inches correct, so I will wait and see. Seed catalogs and projects will get me through the long road ahead.

    Reply
  5. Abby says

    January 7, 2010 at 10:47 am

    The snow hasn’t accumulated enough for x-country skiing – maybe today! If Andre put a bird bath in front of the gardener in his cartoon, it would be a picture of me replenishing the drinking supply for my winter friends.

    Reply
  6. Wendy says

    January 7, 2010 at 10:53 am

    I find that knitting through the winter keeps me content to let the weather do what it needs to do while the gardens get a good sleep!

    Reply
  7. Wendy says

    January 7, 2010 at 10:55 am

    PS: I also get a lot of winter entertainment from the birds, bunnies and deer; so that helps, too ;-)

    Reply
  8. chigal says

    January 7, 2010 at 12:30 pm

    Half buried and expecting more snow through tonight, in Chicago, which would be fun if only it were the weekend. On the plus side, I seem to be winning the war against the aphids that managed to get inside and attack everything. I was contemplating starting this year’s seeds in some kind of a bubble.

    I’m thinking about climbing snapdragons or purple bells, for the hummers this time — something vertical that will bloom early and often. Maybe a climbing rose … that’s the cabin fever talking. Containers only, here.

    Reply
  9. Kristina says

    January 7, 2010 at 12:43 pm

    Here in Nebraska, we are beginning to think we are living above the Arctic Circle! The air temps are 5 below with a windchill of 45 below! Thankfully, the garden catalogs have begun to arrive and I’ve been sitting by the fireplace, dreaming of things to come!! :)

    Reply
  10. cara says

    January 7, 2010 at 1:01 pm

    Here on balmy Long Island, it’s in the 20s (by day at least), with snow thick on the ground. I’m making do by adding to my garden library at thrift shop sales and devouring the information therein. By spring, I’ll be far more educated on such subjects as mixed hedgerows, and ready to go!

    Reply
  11. estyn says

    January 7, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    Not too bad here in the Rondout Valley. I’m enjoying being able to see the tracks of anyone who has been wandering in the garden. Deer, cats, squirrels galore. Also, apparently, the UPS man who used the yard as a shortcut.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      January 7, 2010 at 3:13 pm

      Welcome, Estyn. All the tracks show here, too — I love the ones from birds in a fresh snow, like hieroglyphics. See you soon again.

      Reply
  12. Johanna says

    January 7, 2010 at 8:09 pm

    After the past week, it seems old hat when the weatherman says “6-12 additional inches by Saturday evening.” I think we’ve had a couple of feet since New Year’s Eve. But I did receive an envelope of zinnia seed packages from Johnny’s, inspired by Margaret’s beautiful red and lime ones last summer. (Mine are all the pinks. I love pink!)

    Reply
  13. Esther Griess says

    January 7, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    Today we’ve had a very cold day; as I’m writing this, my husband is keeping me posted on the outside temperature (Thank you, dear…:~( ) with a -8 F and a 10 mph wind. Although we have not had any fresh snow today, the wind was blowing, they said, between 20-30 mph. making travel impossible for us. The country roads we travel were blown shut once again and yesterday when we were feeding the cattle, we already were stuck once and that was plenty. I like winter (shhhhh, can’t say it too loudly) but I do feel sorry for the wildlife and the animals without shelter. How did our grandparents and great-grandparents do it? They had thicker skin, I swear. Always look forward to your blog, Margaret.

    Reply
  14. Sylvia W says

    January 7, 2010 at 9:10 pm

    We have had snow pretty much constantly since a week or so before Christmas, here in my little corner of the Catskills. Every day it seems a new dusting (or more) appears, so it is really pretty, but also very cold – single digits at night, maybe to 20 in the day. Deer, rabbit, and innumerable bird tracks all over the place, but most notable where I put out food every day. I’ve had my nose in the big seed catalogs, but this year I am probably doing my ordering from the local seed bank ;-)

    Reply
  15. marianne says

    January 7, 2010 at 9:39 pm

    “A way to garden” in winter for all those dreaming of spring…..
    Last fall I decided to pot my tulips instead of putting them in the ground. This affords feeding 3 times as recommended, removing them when they are unsightly, thwarting squirrels (I have them in the garage until spring) and placing them where ever I desire. Sooooo, CHristopher Llyod said you can leave tulips until as late as December… So in the first week of January I thought who dreamt this up??? Me! I put up 500 tulips in many many pots! I had a great time in the garage (complete with layers of clothes on) “gardening” and was happily pleased that I had thought up “a way to garden” in the winter!

    Reply
  16. Karen says

    January 7, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    With the snow piled up outside I am sewing and farming virtually.

    Reply
  17. Cyn says

    January 7, 2010 at 10:21 pm

    Two weeks ago we were 20 inches deep in beautiful insulating snow. Within a week, it was mostly gone, leaving mud and small snatches of white in the northernmost pockets of the garden. This transplant of ours from the Hudson Valley to Northern Virginia is going to be quite an education in a new way to garden! Dare I say I miss the single shovel wide icy walkway from the back door to the bird feeder? Do I prefer the muck? I miss NY!

    Reply
  18. TC says

    January 7, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    “A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST SATURDAY.”

    Reply
  19. bavaria says

    January 7, 2010 at 11:46 pm

    Love the snow! It gives me time to read, and I have just finished reading the most wonderful book,
    ‘Making More Plants’ by Ken Druse.
    Absolutely fascinating and beautiful!

    Reply
  20. Mary Jane says

    January 8, 2010 at 1:14 am

    I love Andre’s work, this one so sweet. I worked all November to have closure with the garden while putting away hoses, buckets, furniture. I’m not good with endings, ever. (Gardening has helped.) Dec. first finally said “thanks, sleep tight” to the plants and creatures. Every day since I look out at bare branch sculpture in the snow, and know the garden is still there.
    Just the other day I envisioned spring flowers in bloom.

    Thanks, Margaret, for helping us all keep watch,
    MJ in Providence RI

    Reply
  21. Margaret says

    January 8, 2010 at 8:07 am

    Welcome, Esther. Thicker skin would be good, for certain. :) Many days here one just has to sit tight, as there is no safe way to go anywhere, either. Ah, winter: the supreme test of patience.

    Welcome, Sylvia. I am crazy about the birds tracks in the snow; little hieroglyphics. The great Victorian-era naturalist John Burroughs (who lived in the Catskills, too) called them stitching on the coverlet, as if it was a white blanket covered in fine needlework. Love that.

    Welcome, Marianne. I miss Christo, as Christopher Lloyd was called, and love the idea of your tulips experiment inspired by his instruction. Let us know what happens…fascinating.

    Welcome, Karen. Hahaha. Virtual farming is always good; my sewing skills are not something anyone would encourage, however (just could never master that or knitting…I am too impatient with handwork). So I write, and read, and binge on dvd’s from Netflix. :)

    Welcome, Cyn, relocated to new ground (and weather). Yes, I prefer if it just stays frozen till spring and there are no mucky meltdowns, and there are narrow tunnels here for me to go about my rounds as you describe: to the feeder, the bar, the car.

    See you all soon again; and to all the familiar faces, a warm hello in these colder months. Remember — we are gaining on it. It’s not dark at 4 PM anymore! Progress.

    Reply
  22. Deirdre says

    January 8, 2010 at 1:52 pm

    You don’t want to know that it’s been in the low fifties here, and I was out moving shrubs around this week, do you?

    Deirdre

    Reply
  23. dahlila says

    January 21, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    Oh, that looks like me out there, except here it’s mud. Rain, rain, rain. Absolutely need some sunshine. Even the plants look quite soggy. :-)

    d.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      January 21, 2010 at 7:17 pm

      Welcome, Dahlila. Oh dear, mud season, eh? Ours will be here in another 6 or 8 weeks, some years worse than others. Hold on; spring will come. See you soon again, I hope, and no mowing in the muck, right? :)

      Reply

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Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

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