About me: I discovered the Garden Website in October 2002. I love this website as I have found many people that share my passion for gardening. I have made some wonderful swaps by mail all around the country. Also, I have enjoyed local plant swapping events in New England. I am so pleased when I can find a happy home for my extra seeds and plants. Every gardening season I am enjoy the bounty of my trades. I have wonderful salad greens, many types of squash, unusual tomatoes, new woodland plants, and interesting flowers all thanks to Garden Web trades.
I garden in hilly Central Massachusetts. My area has winter temperatures as low as minus 20F. I have spent a lot of effort in seeking out microclimates on my land so that I can try growing less hardy exotics. I have a southwest-facing slope underneath a large pine tree where the grass stays green most of the winter. The snow melts quickly here. I think of this site as being zone 5/6. I have a garden that receives hot summer sun on the southern side of the house where I have my best success with castor beans, peppers, artichokes, and eggplants.
I have several types of gardens to match my soil conditions. The house is built on ledge and there is terrible soil. Also, building codes required us to bring 30 dump trucks of sand to the site for the septic system. Therefore, I have a few yuccas and a cactus garden in my backyard. At the edge of the woods away from the house I grow shade tolerant plants such as hosta, chervil, sweet woodruff, magnolia vine, and Hellebores. My town is rural and my house is surrounded by acres and acres of forests and fields. I appreciate the native woodland plants and the wildflowers in the open fields.
Where there is soil instead of ledge on my property, I embrace edible landscaping. I love to eat what I grow and enjoy looking at the plants. My favorite edible landscaping treasures are my persimmon, elderberry, medlar, sea buckthorn, and pawpaw trees. No fruit tree sprays are necessary for producing fruits from these plants. I am very disappointed with my plum, apple, and cherry trees, which are very disease and pest prone, and as a result yield little or no fruit.
The gardens connect me with closest people in my life. There are peas that my children devour raw outside. Through adopted roses I cherish the memory my late mother-in-law. I love to share my extra vegetables with my coworkers who live in apartments in the city. My coworkers are very grateful and sometimes give me chocolate treats as a thank you gift. I derive great pleasure in growing exotic and tasty vegetables and fruits that you can not buy at the grocery store. The pawpaw fruits make for very interesting conversations. Overall, gardening is an essential part of my life.
My zone is: z5 MA
I garden in hilly Central Massachusetts. My area has winter temperatures as low as minus 20F. I have spent a lot of effort in seeking out microclimates on my land so that I can try growing less hardy exotics. I have a southwest-facing slope underneath a large pine tree where the grass stays green most of the winter. The snow melts quickly here. I think of this site as being zone 5/6. I have a garden that receives hot summer sun on the southern side of the house where I have my best success with castor beans, peppers, artichokes, and eggplants.
I have several types of gardens to match my soil conditions. The house is built on ledge and there is terrible soil. Also, building codes required us to bring 30 dump trucks of sand to the site for the septic system. Therefore, I have a few yuccas and a cactus garden in my backyard. At the edge of the woods away from the house I grow shade tolerant plants such as hosta, chervil, sweet woodruff, magnolia vine, and Hellebores. My town is rural and my house is surrounded by acres and acres of forests and fields. I appreciate the native woodland plants and the wildflowers in the open fields.
Where there is soil instead of ledge on my property, I embrace edible landscaping. I love to eat what I grow and enjoy looking at the plants. My favorite edible landscaping treasures are my persimmon, elderberry, medlar, sea buckthorn, and pawpaw trees. No fruit tree sprays are necessary for producing fruits from these plants. I am very disappointed with my plum, apple, and cherry trees, which are very disease and pest prone, and as a result yield little or no fruit.
The gardens connect me with closest people in my life. There are peas that my children devour raw outside. Through adopted roses I cherish the memory my late mother-in-law. I love to share my extra vegetables with my coworkers who live in apartments in the city. My coworkers are very grateful and sometimes give me chocolate treats as a thank you gift. I derive great pleasure in growing exotic and tasty vegetables and fruits that you can not buy at the grocery store. The pawpaw fruits make for very interesting conversations. Overall, gardening is an essential part of my life.
My zone is: z5 MA
GardenWeb Member: chervil2 - October 23, 2002
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