No Resolutions, Just Plans

No resolutions this year, just plans. The end of the year is almost here. Last year at this time, we were still reeling from a 14” snowstorm that was followed by 3” of rain on Christmas Day. The madman claims he doesn’t remember any of this. I guess that’s why we write everything in the gardening journal. As the madman says, “Never trust your memory.”

Last Year’s Resolutions

If you do remember, last year at this time we announced our three gardening resolutions: 1. Water more; 2. Don’t rush the season; 3. Harvest what you grow. To his credit, the madman gets three stars. A year ago, when we made those resolutions, we fully expected COVID to release its grip on our lives. That never happened. And, although we are not really superstitious, we have decided to try something different to make COVID go away.

This year, we are not making resolutions. Instead, we are making plans. It’s the same idea, they just seem a little more flexible. And, these days, it’s a good idea to be flexible. Besides, if we have to break plans, we won’t feel as bad.

Plans for 2022

So, here are our plans for 2022. Before we do anything else, we plan to stay up on our COVID protections. You know, boosters, masks, social distancing… The madman wonders if any of you realize how difficult it is to play a clarinet through a mask.

On a personal note, we plan to be there in person to celebrate the birthdays of our three grandsons – this FaceTime/Zoom stuff won’t cut it anymore. So, while two trips to southeastern Connecticut will be a piece of cake (no pun intended), we will be planning a road trip to Maine in June. Coincidentally, grandson Teddy lives 2 miles from the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. How convenient.

But, that’s not the only road trip in our plans. Since COVID has a habit of hitting us with variants like Delta and Omicron, any road trip will be by car. The madman refuses to get into an airplane. Fortunately, we can find plenty of gardening related destinations within a day’s car ride. We’ll have to start slowly since we haven’t driven far since our last road trip in December 2019. In fact, our longest car trip has been one hour (no gardens, just grandsons Liam and Patrick).

Longwood Gardens

We are still working out the details, but here are some of our 2022 garden-related plans. Our ultimate plan is to go to Longwood Gardens and spend at least a couple of days. Longwood is the brainchild of Pierre DuPont. Located in the Brandywine Valley of Pennsylvania, this gardener’s mecca sits on 1,100 acres which Mr. DuPont started acquiring in 1906. Today it stands as a testament of what you can do with a vivid gardening imagination and unlimited funds.

Once on the grounds, we lose all track of time as we wander through the various gardens and ever changing exhibits. There’s no one best time to visit Longwood Gardens because one season is as exciting as the next. However, the garden fountains we love don’t start operation until May 5. The madman tells me that Bruce Munro will return to the gardens with his light installation this summer. Dates will be chosen carefully for our visit.

Blue Trail

Right now Longwood is the only garden we are looking at that will require an overnight stay, so let’s take a look at some of the other gardens we plan to visit. We figure it will be spring before COVID sorts itself out. That’s okay because not much will be blooming until then anyway. As much as weather permits, we plan to explore some of the Blue Trail system in Connecticut while we wait for warm weather.

We plan to visit two gardens in Massachusetts and two gardens in Connecticut. Of course, this is the minimum, we know we’ll add more as the year progresses. But, at least this is a start.

Garden in the Woods

As Mother Nature comes to life in the spring, our first adventure will be to Garden in the Woods, the home of the Native Plant Trust. Here, on 45 acres of glacially sculpted terrain in Framingham, Massachusetts, you can find all sorts of native woodland plant varieties. In its 90+ year existence, it has amassed quite a collection. An example of this is the Trillium collection which boasts over 30 different species. Guess who loves these three-petaled ephemerals? Yep, he does.

Garden in the Woods also propagates tons of native plants to help people establish their own native collections. With our fragile ecosystems, it is never a good idea to traipse through the woods looking for specimens to bring home. So, I know the madman plans to visit the nursery store as we leave. Hope he remembers to leave room for me.

Berkshire Botanical Garden

The next planned road trip is to the Berkshire Botanical Garden where spring will arrive a little later since it’s in Zone 5b. Again, this is an old garden, established in 1934. And, it is dedicated to native plants that thrive in its growing zone. For the madman, the stately conifers are the draw, but I like the native shrubs and wildflowers. Neither of us will be disappointed.

Connecticut College Arboretum

Sticking to our native plant theme, we plan a visit to the Connecticut College Arboretum in New London. Covering a total of 750 acres, the Arboretum has three major collections. The native plant collection features trees, shrubs and wildflowers native to eastern North America. In the Caroline Black Garden, we expect to find trees and shrubs in a variety of different settings. Since this was established as a teaching garden, not all plants are native. Finally, the campus itself is set on 120 acres of rolling landscaped grounds. We do plan to visit the Arboretum in late spring/early summer when the Mountain Laurels are in bloom.

Elizabeth Park

Our last planned garden does have native plants, but the features that will draw us are the roses. Of course, we are talking about Elizabeth Park in West Hartford, one of Connecticut’s best-known gardens. Because we live so close, we plan to make this garden our “break the routine” destination. Anytime we feel the need to get away, we’ll jump in the car and head to the park. The only set-in-stone plan for Elizabeth Park is to visit when the roses are in full bloom.

We will visit other gardens in Connecticut; we have only mentioned the tip of the iceberg. For a state as small as ours, it is rich in gardening destinations. Here are a couple of websites with some suggestions, Connecticut Historic Gardens and The Connecticut Gardens page of Visit New England. Chances are you have your favorites; we’d love to hear what they are – just drop us a line.

Although planning visits to these gardens makes us anxious for spring, we know that these gardens need their chill hours. But, now we are planning our New Year’s Eve Celebrations and hope you are, too. Cocoa’s ready to accompany the planning.