Category: Judith Irven

Judith's garden: It's time for lilacs

Posted on May 23, 2019 |

• Garden
• Vermont

By Judith Irven

Spring arrived late this year. Then suddenly this week, and seemingly overnight, “Lilac Time” came to the Vermont.

I am talking about the well-known Common Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris), those wonderfully hardy shrubs beloved by northern gardeners, with their unforgettable fragrance and colors ranging from pure white to deep purple.

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Judith's Garden: Prelude to spring

Posted on April 8, 2019 |

• Garden
• Vermont
• Featured

By Judith Irven

We are now well past the Vernal Equinox, that precise point in the calendar when, all over the planet, daytime and nighttime are essentially equal.

This celestial marker, which occurred this year on March 20 at exactly 5:58 p.m., is also meant to signify that we have somehow magically passed from winter to spring. 

But in reality, as we all know, new seasons do not appear on command at predetermined times.  Spring, in particular, always seems to arrive both slowly and gently in Vermont.

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In the dead of winter, Vermont's Flower Show gives us spring

Posted on February 21, 2019 |

• Vermont
• Featured

By Judith Irven

After this cold and somewhat erratic winter many of us have a touch of the “winter blues.” I know that I, for one, am positively aching to see and smell some welcome signs of spring. However, in my own garden, I must wait until mid-April before spring actually arrives.

But this year — in less than two week’s time — winter weary Vermonters have a delightful treat in store — our very own Vermont Flower Show will be held March 1-3 at the Champlain Valley Exposition Center in Essex Junction.

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Judith's Garden: Pleasures in the winter garden

Posted on December 17, 2018 |

• Goshen
• gardening
• Vermont
• winter

By Judith Irven

Winter is the season of short days and dark nights when, even at midday, the sun gives little warmth as it rides low in the sky.

By now my fall garden chores are done, my tools hang neatly in the toolshed and I have mostly retreated indoors.

I am lucky enough to have a small cool greenhouse which becomes my indoor winter garden and, from October until May, is home for my potted camellias. Camellias flower from December to April — when our outdoor gardens are covered with snow — making their beautiful blooms all the more special.

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