The bumble bee is a conspicuous insect at this time of year. It is large, over an inch long, with lots of long hair colored black and yellow and/or orange. There are 47 species of Bumble bee in North and Central America, with maybe 15 species in the Catskills region.…
Mints are a huge family of plants with many representatives, both in the wild and and in the garden. Besides spearmint and peppermint, obviously mints, thyme and sage of the herb garden, and the beebalm (genus Monarda) one of the most popular flowers in Catskills gardens – all are members…
Hyacinths are flowers known and loved for their fragrance. In in the Catskills, these early spring bulbs are planted in the garden and are most effective when located near the doorstep, where their fragrance welcomes the passerby. Many millions more people buy hyacinths forced in pots, and are able to enjoy their…
This last week’s snowfall made a post about spring garden flowers seem somewhat unseasonal. During the warm spell preceding the snow fall, however, I sampled some leaf litter from my backyard, and I found some interesting critters doing their thing to help break down the fallen leaves from last summer.…
Maples are not considered by most folks to be a flowering tree. Most people won’t even notice them until the fallen flowers collect on the windshields of their vehicles. Close up, maples flowers are recognizable as flowers. Red maple and sugar maple are the two most common species here…
There’s an orgy going on underfoot. In that thin film of water that coats the ground on a wet day, the sex cells of these primitive plants are on the move. The mosses were among the first plants to live on the land, while seaweeds and freshwater algae remained in…
Some of the earliest blooming iris, in fact some of the earliest blooming flowers, are the iris commercially available as Rock Garden Iris or Dwarf Iris. They often bloom concurrently with crocus here in the Catskills, and are comparable to crocus in size at flowering time, at 4 inches…
Spring is beginning here in the Catskills! This post surveys the earliest spring flowers, blooming now or within the next few weeks. The plants producing these flowers are small but the flowers are relatively large and conspicuous, standing out sharply against the browns and grays of the winter garden.…
Clematis in the Catskills region are perhaps not the most often recognized garden plant, but Catskills gardeners know that they can be spectacular additions to our gardens here. Some varieties can be a bit fussy about their planting location, but once established clematis will become more substantial and flower for…
Why are daylilies such mainstays of our Catskills gardens? They are super sturdy and they survive most conditions but flower best in full sun. All daylilies are members of the genus Hemerocallis, which means ‘day-beauty’ (hemero– = day, –callis = beauty). The name refers to the transient beauty of the…
