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A Way To Garden

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margaret roach, head gardener

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dreaming of: lathyrus vernus, the spring vetchling

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Lathyrus vernus, purple formIFEEL ENTITLED TO ANOTHER ROUND OF MAKE-BELIEVE, since the tenacious winter dared to deliver yet another ice storm this week, just when I had spied an entire square foot of soil and thought we’d turned a corner. This time, the stuff that dreams are made of: I’m imagining the vivid blooms of Lathyrus vernus, the spring vetchling, bouncing on their wiry stems in a sunny spring garden. Want to pretend along with me that brighter days are already upon us? This plant profile of one of my favorite little perennials promises to help.

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19 comments
March 9, 2011

comments

  1. Stan Horst says

    March 9, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    It really does help to look at such beautiful pictures. I’m sitting inside today, working on my computer, listening to it sleet here in Virginia. Hopefully this won’t stick around long. I know we’ll see warmer days soon! Can’t wait!

    Reply
  2. Susan {florali} says

    March 9, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    It’s charming. I wonder how it would do in California? I’m thrilled to find your blog!

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      March 9, 2011 at 12:51 pm

      Welcome, Susan. I have read that it ranges as warm as Zone 9, but California is so diverse, I don’t know what conditions you have. You could inquire at Lazy S’s (link is in the sources above) and ask if they have any insight. I got my plants from Seattle many years ago, so I know it does well up that way.

      Reply
  3. Marion says

    March 9, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    I too have this in my garden, but it has never looked as beautiful as yours… perhaps this year will be the year!

    Reply
  4. Christine says

    March 9, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    Great blog, Margaret. As soon as I discovered this site, it moved way up on my favorites list!
    This looks like a fun, little perennial. Any sense of whether the deer would gobble it up?

    Reply
  5. Chen says

    March 9, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    Great post, I have a pink form kicking around (neglected) in the garden for a few years. The plant profile you wrote gives an accurate and good description of its characteristics. It did self-sowed a couple of plants for me. Is it a long-lived perennial; should I try to divide it before it disappears on me?

    Reply
  6. Cindy Peacock says

    March 9, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    I’m a city girl that is passionate about gardening. I live in N.C. so its a wee bit warmer. I love this time of year when the bulbs are just up. All the perennials are just peaking out of the ground. Its like seeing your old friends again. And each day you walk around the yard you see more and more. The birds are louder and very busy. The oaks are showing tiny buds and they are just a few weeks from bursting out.

    Reply
  7. Roy Klehm says

    March 9, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    Hi,
    Daffodils just coming up here and first Snowdrops showing color…..but it has been a real winter.
    Congratulations on your shift of life’s priorities. We sort of have this but are still tied down to our small business efforts
    Sarah says hi……Roy

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      March 9, 2011 at 5:52 pm

      Welcome, BJ Smith. Glad you like!

      Welcome, Roy — nice to see my old friend here today! Nothing but snow here still, but soon…hopefully!

      Reply
  8. BJ Smith says

    March 9, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    Beautiful…my favorite!
    Thank you

    Reply
  9. Lisa @celebrate CREATIVITY says

    March 9, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    Love the photo and it makes me even more ready for Spring.

    Just read a blurb on your new book. Congrats, it sounds like a good read.

    I’ll be sure to pick up a copy and when I finish it, I’ll put it on my bookshelf right next to my (autographed) copy of A Way to Garden.

    Enjoy your day!

    Reply
  10. Mary M says

    March 9, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    sooo pretty . . . wonder if it would survive in Central Florida?

    Reply
  11. Jean | Delightful Repast says

    March 9, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    Margaret, I was drawn to your site because I’ve been trying to find a way to garden again for the last few years. I love to garden. Digging in the soil soothes my soul like nothing else, but it has been crowded out. The only thing I managed to plant last year was a tomato plant or two (failed due to the weather), but any self-respecting cook/recipe developer/food writer and blogger should have, at the least, a small kitchen garden! And a few flowers for the table. I shall add yours to the list of Blogs I Visit and surely it will inspire me.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      March 9, 2011 at 9:49 pm

      Welcome, Jean. Yes, food gardening is as satisfying as it gets, as primal and basic. Nice to “meet” you, and hope to see you again soon.

      Reply
  12. Cheryl says

    March 9, 2011 at 10:38 pm

    One of my spring favorites, too! Delicate & pretty, well behaved – not rambunctious, just the thing our eyes like to see after the long cold winter. I’ve learned to be careful when weeding nearby….there are almost always a few seedlings in there. Thanks for the post. I’ll have pleasant dreams tonight and perhaps tomorrows rains will wash away some more snow.

    Reply
  13. Kathleen says

    March 10, 2011 at 7:40 pm

    Hi Margaret, just wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed reading your new book, “and I shall find some peace there” . I also enjoy visiting here to catch up on the latest garden gossip. blessings,Kathleen

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      March 11, 2011 at 7:49 am

      Welcome, Kathleen, and thank you. How nice! Yes, we have some gossip to share, and hope you’ll jump in regularly as spring approaches. Nice to “meet” you.

      Reply
  14. Camille says

    March 13, 2011 at 9:12 am

    I am currently obsessed with this plant!!! Because of you! Thank you! I can’t wait to grow it in my garden this year! I have the seeds goin’ in the greenhouse :) -Camille

    Reply
  15. Matriarchy says

    March 13, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    I just scored some seeds for this in a seed-trading forum. Can’t wait to give it a try. Love when I can actually get my hands on something you’ve made me drool over.

    Reply

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Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

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mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

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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