Posts made in May, 2013

Dandelion: Easy to Grow

Posted by on May 30, 2013 in edible, Unmowed Blog | 2 comments

Dandelion: Easy to Grow

All winter and spring I try and try to get plants to grow. I pamper cranky houseplants, sprinkle seeds into pots and encourage them to grow into seedlings. I cheer for each crocus that pokes up through the snow, celebrate each brave hint of green, the first blade of grass, the first violet… Then BAM. The end of May hits like a freight train, and now we have to spend the rest of the summer beating the plants back. Everyone’s out on their riding mowers, trying to get the lawn under control. With all this rain, the grass is growing so fast you can almost see it. The weeds are already eating the...

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Rain, Rain!

Posted by on May 24, 2013 in spring, Uncategorized, Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

Rain, Rain!

Long ago, I used to work with a gentleman some of you may remember–a very gentle man, named Ray Falconer. He was a meteorologist, the weather guru on public radio, and he used to give the most amazingly detailed and enthusiastic weather reports I’ve ever heard. Rain, sun, cloudy, mild, hurricane, fog, hail, whatever–the guy just loved weather. If you bumped into him and casually remarked “Nice day,” you had to be prepared to listen to a twenty-minute dissertation on high pressure and warm fronts. Anyway, he once told me that in the course of his research he had looked over the statistics for...

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Celandine: Sweet Young Thing

Posted by on May 17, 2013 in flowers, spring, Unmowed Blog, winter | 0 comments

Celandine: Sweet Young Thing

One of the best things about writing a blog is that it gives you a reason to look at everything with new eyes.

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Bee Balm: A Good Bet

Posted by on May 11, 2013 in flowers, plant parts, seeds, Unmowed Blog, wildlife | 0 comments

Bee Balm: A Good Bet

I admit it. It’s an addiction. The first step is admitting it, right? Much as I love nature and wild things, I just can’t pass up a greenhouse. There’s something about all those plants, spread out in a wild crazy quilt of color. The sheer gorgeousness of the exotic blooms. This is Gade Farm on Route 20 in Guilderland. I park the car and walk inside, vowing not to buy one more plant. Usually, in twenty minutes I’m staggering back to my car loaded down with petunias or what-have-you. But this year I drifted away from the magenta and purple and scarlet of the annuals, and checked out the...

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Poison Ivy: The Furry Plant

Posted by on May 9, 2013 in adaptations, plant parts, Unmowed Blog | 5 comments

Poison Ivy: The Furry Plant

Poison Ivy: “Hairy vine, a danger sign.”

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