Site Contains: Links, Photos, Information (soon...), This Little Acre

LINKS

• Organic Gardening. Herbs. Etc.
  • Henriette's Herbal Homepage. The best herbal resource I've come across so far.
  • World of Herbs. Resource area on herbs, with further resources, recipies, etc.
  • Algy's Herbs, with resources, things to order, and a well-designed site. The emphasis is organic.
  
  
• Environmentalism.
  • Envirolink.
  • Whole Earth Review.
  • Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.
  • The Amazing Environmental Web Directory.

• Froggy Stuff (a subset of Environmentalism).
  • North American Reporting Center for Amphibian Malformations. Theories and photos.
  • Deformed Frogs in Minnesota. More info and photos.

THIS LITTLE ACRE

Location: Southwestern Connecticut, northern Fairfield County, almost into New York State. Zone 6 in Gardener Lingo.

The soil is rich (from years of hummus), but rocky. The land is nestled into a hillside, with many trees and their resulting shade. Some of the land is allowed to do its own thing, but there are various gardening sections, or "biomes", should we choose to use an ecological word inaccurately. It's the kind of neighborhood where people are allowed to think for themselves, and garden or not garden as they choose to see fit.

Luna Moth Photo Op

The Biomes:

• The by-the-road biome: I've been paying the least amount of attention to this one; there's poison ivy here, and it has only recently been reclaimed from years of non-cultivation. At the moment, it is adorned with a few shrubs, while annuals and irises await planting as I finish up with it. (There is also lawn here, as well as in other regions, but lawn is not what catches my eye.)

• The rock garden: This is the home of most of the herbs. A few small flowers, mostly annuals, also bedeck this location. A row of leaf lettuce takes over the far side. Herbs include feverfew (great for self-seeding in the most unlikely of places), tarragon, basil, sage, elcampagne, valerian, tansy, comfrey, and yarrow. Bee balm seems to be making a comeback. An iris has just come into bloom. Oh, and yes -- there are also rocks.

• The asparagus bed: As it says. Probably more shady than asparagus likes, but perhaps in three years I'll have a crop.

• The flagstone area: Is surrounded by impatiens of several varieties, lobelia (including the intensely blue "crystal lobelia"), lilies of the valley, and pakisandra. As one might guess, this is the really shady section of the yard.

• The fern area: A row of ferns against one edge of the house, to help with dampness problems.

• The cannas bed: These cannas come up yearly from bulbs, grow to 5-6 feet, have broad leaves, and intensely red flowers.

• The temporary bed: An oil tank lies below, and will be removed next fall. At the moment, it has snapdragons, chocolate mint, poppies, and a couple surviving sunflower seedlings.

• The walkway bed: A variety of plants and shrubs. Gladiolas are returning from last year, nasturium and parsley seeds have been planted; torenia, verbena, foxglove, gazania, wormwood, and lemon balm are doing well.

* A JPEG of lambs' ears, a low-lying soft-textured plant I picked up somewhere. This shot, taken with my new Canon, shows them off to good effect.

*A JPEG of a mass of lilies of the valley in the back yard. They're running out of space in a small region bounded by the wood porch and the flagstones in front of them.

*A JPEG of the walkway Scott and Karl built here out of stone on a gently sloping area. This photo is more landscape than garden-oriented, but the walkway harmonizes creatively with the area.

*A JPEG of the side porch and view from the yard during cannas bulb removal in the fall; down and dirty, and still not really garden-oriented, but does show that work gets accomplished around here. The cannas bulbs are sensitive to New England winters, and so are kept in a cool dark dry place for the winter, for replanting in the spring. The old leaves and stems become compost. The bulbs which get re-planted in April develop broad leaves and small, intensely red flowers. The plants grow to a height of around six feet, and make a great privacy break.

The cannas in bloom, huge plants photographed through the foliage of Canadian hemlock. They grow 4-6 feet tall, and hummingbirds love them.

*More to come.

And More! (Eventually...)

Return to Diann's home page.
Or, with your feet planted firmly in the rich humus, look up into Space.
Or, go inside and check out the Library.
Or, travel to gardens and the like in foreign lands, such as Scotland.
Or, bring the boom box outside with you, and listen to some Music.
Or, find yourself some free graphics.
Or, chase after a few cats.
Or, go find out what's so funny about cloning.

Last Updated: October, 1997.