McLean: Daffodils are blaze of glory in Dartmouth
Spring is flexing her muscles, and so are we. The drabness of winter is gone and April is working hard to perform miracles all over again. What better way to observe the proceedings than to take a walk?
View ArticleFrom the ground up: A tribute to New England's greens
Rowing along Fairhaven's shore last week in a whaleboat, a fellow oarsman commented on the reappearance of the foliage, noting how beautiful it looks as it emerges amid the architecture.
View ArticleLaura McLean: Grow with your garden
Now that everyone is out in the garden again in full force, it's a good time to review the ins and outs of basic design.
View ArticleFrom the Ground Up: Surprises are always springing up
Some of the most common plants have the potential to impress. They are not the main attraction, but do serve an integral piece to the garden layout like the chorus line or supporting cast of a show.
View ArticleLaura McLean: Mattapoisett Garden Tour well worth it
Take a drive through Mattapoisett and you'll think you stepped into a summer catalogue. White picket fences. Sailboat studded harbor. Bathers at the town beach. Evening band concerts. And of course the...
View ArticleFrom the Ground Up: Marion garden tour links earth and sea
How do they do it year after year? One can't help wonder, as the 10th annual garden tour opens this Friday, July 13, in the lovely hamlet of Marion, where the sea provides a glorious backdrop. Just as...
View ArticleFrom the Ground Up: An oasis in the city
The heat and humidity. The roadworks. The dust and din. It's all part and parcel of summer in the city. But enter the West End backyard of Ernie and De Tavares and you're not in New Bedford anymore.
View ArticleLaura McLean: A look at the 'it plants' from the Marion tour
Garden tours are great at showcasing plants that we know and love, but the real delight is making new acquaintances along the garden path.
View ArticleWhen garden and gardener are one
Oftentimes people say that pets and people look alike after spending many years together. I would submit that likewise, gardeners and their gardens share a similar scenario. The garden's personality is...
View ArticleLaura McLean: Doing the dirty work? Use the right tools
As I continue weeding a 500 square foot patio for the third straight day my hands look and feel 100 years old. Ugh! The rough brick and cobblestones, tenacious weeds and the occasional disruption of...
View ArticleLaura McLean — From the Ground Up: A summer place ... Methodist...
Roll back those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer! As always, I am just beginning to get wound up and the season starts winding down.
View ArticleLaura McLean — From the Ground Up: Fall presents a garden of decisions
Yesterday's gone. Summer merges into fall and pieces of that summer may still glimmer, but for the most part it's a new season with plenty to keep us perched in the present. Although, there is nothing...
View ArticleLaura McLean — From the Ground Up: Music, family bring Christmas home
Sometimes gardening takes a back seat to life. And so, this past week, numb from planting hundreds of bulbs, I took a break.
View ArticleLaura McLean — From the Ground Up: Winter poses mind game on gardeners
Being in a cold state of affairs at the break of the New Year, resolutions tend to revolve around home improvement, weight loss and healthy eating ... nearly everything except the frozen earth outside....
View ArticleLaura McLean: Snow brings real benefits for our plants
Snow, as any New Englander knows, is a great facilitator to sports and play. It's the stuff that gives us snow angels, snowmen, sledding, skiing and snowshoeing.
View ArticleLaura McLean: Love and flowers go hand in hand
For the true romantic, flowers are the ultimate wooing device on this very loverly of holidays. Palpable and fragrant, their petals speak a tender language all their own, and their impact is certain to...
View ArticleLaura McLean: Stormy days, reflective nights
The wrath of Nemo has given me pause to reconsider how I live. Although unscathed by the brute force of nature last week, I have considered how it might have gone down. Yes, my devil-may-care attitude...
View ArticleLaura McLean: Planting the seeds for a greener future
If seeds set the growing season into motion, then seed catalogs are the precursors to the process — igniting the twinkle in the eye and a rush of the blood in the gardener who has been biding her time...
View ArticleLaura McLean — From the Ground Up: Good day to get your green on
St. Patrick's Day is a day to flaunt your greenness. On this day I'm 100 percent Irish and can practically trace my roots to some ancient Gaelic scribe or warrior queen. I'm certain of it especially...
View ArticleLaura McLean: Spring song sung blue
I'm all hibernated out, losing patience with the weather and wondering ... if Canada has a springtime, why don't we?
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