The madman has his eye on the birds. We finally took the hummingbird feeders down last week. You may think that’s awful late. Normally it would be, but the madman says it’s been a strange year. According to Journey North, some hummingbirds were late in leaving. There were reports of hummingbird sightings to the North…
The greenhouse came early, and the madman is loving it. That really comes as no surprise – he loved the other one. He thinks it gives him a chance to cheat Mother Nature, something he has been trying to do for a very long time. He calls it “extending the growing season,” not “cheating.” Seems…
Coming off a summer drought as we are, you may think it strange to consider a Rain Garden. But a friend asked us for help in creating one. The madman says, “Rain Garden is a misleading term.” I’m not sure if his “Bio-retention Facility” is any better. Very basically, a Rain Garden is a shallow…
Fall struck Thursday, September 22 at 9:04 p.m. Do you remember where you were? The madman and I do. We were standing in a field surrounded by the lights at Longwood. During our first real road trip since 2019, we were standing at the edge of Pierce’s Woods where 18,000 globes of light transformed the…
It’s the end of a strange summer. It actually ends on Thursday, shortly after 9 p.m. And what a season it was! For those who play all summer, it was a dream come true. But for gardeners, it was a nightmare. The madman was sure Mother Nature had gone on vacation and had taken her…
During the summer, I often found the madman in the Milkweed patches. He would carefully examine each plant – turn over the leaves, look at the seed pods, shake his head: you know the drill. But he wasn’t out there practicing IPM (Integrated Pest Management) as described in this link, he was looking for signs…
Oleander is an extremely poisonous plant. All parts are toxic – flowers, leaves, stems, roots, everything. It doesn’t grow in Zone 6. No sane gardener in Connecticut would plant this shrub. But remember, I’m not working with just any gardener, I’m dealing with a madman. Discovery! So, when he joyfully announced that he found a…
The madman was sure that we had Tree-of-Heaven sprouting all over. The two popping up in the Blueberry patch got his attention. So, when a reader sent us a picture of a problem tree in her yard, he was off the races and research began in earnest. Tree-of-Heaven Contrary to its name, Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)…
The madman is looking forward to fall. No, he’s not tired of summer – he’s looking at the next growing season – the fall garden. We’ve pulled the garlic – it’s drying in the étalier. And any day now the onions will topple over; a sign they are ready for harvest. The madman will lift…