Plan your garden well, and you’ll enjoy beauty in spring, summer, fall, and winter. Get started using these New England garden ideas. With the right combination of plants, a small garden can be enchanting throughout the year, filled with the beauty of spring and summer flowers, late-summer and autumn fruits, fall foliage color, and winter […]
Living
Gardens
Sunny Garden Plants
This sunny garden plan — about 300 square feet in area — is perfect for a site receiving direct sun for at least six hours each day. These sunny garden plants were selected for their outstanding ornamental character and for their ability to attract pollinators, including native bees, butterflies, and birds, and creates a garden […]
Gardens
Shady Garden Plants
This shady garden plan — about 300 square feet in area — is perfect for a site in the shade of tall trees, where dappled sunlight reaches the ground. These shady garden plants were selected for their outstanding ornamental character and for their ability to attract pollinators, including native bees, butterflies, and birds. This collection […]
There’s a story that Kelly McGuill’s two sisters like to tell about their childhood in the pretty Boston suburb of Newton, Massachusetts. It was 1970, their parents had granted them half the family’s garage to use as a clubhouse, and as the first step in decorating, Susan and Renee unrolled their Partridge Family posters. No! […]
Everyone who loves Boothbay Harbor, Maine, knows about the historic old house attached to the middle of the longest wooden footbridge in the country.
If you have followed The Crafty Yankee blog for a couple years now, then you know May Day (May 1st) is one of my favorite holidays. My grandparents used to deliver May Baskets to our house when my sisters and I were young and from then on I was hooked on this holiday. Not […]
When my husband and I set out to restore an 1873 two-family house to the single it was originally designed to be, we faced two challenges. First, our budget, like that of many homeowners, wasn’t unlimited. Second, the house, nestled on a compact urban street near Boston, had undergone an enthusiastic 1980s remodeling, which, save […]
Easter is like many holidays where family and friends gather to celebrate with festivities and food. These Easter Chick Cupcake Toppers can be placed on cupcakes, muffins, or hot cross buns but I used them for cupcake toppers. These toppers are so easy to make they are probably not considered a “craft”, but I […]
Rose envy may be a thing of the past with these winter-hardy varieties. Not far from Mark Twain’s home in Hartford, Connecticut, is a garden that defies all weather. Planted in 1904, just six years before the humorist died, Elizabeth Park is the oldest public rose garden in the country, a spectacle of color and […]
Gardens
A Rose Glossary
Earth-Kind: Special designation created by Texas AgriLife Extension Service to recognize roses that demonstrate superior pest resistance and hardiness. These plants are own-root, highly tolerant to black spot, and can be grown without fertilizer, spraying, or supplemental watering after the first year. Landscape Rose: Grows low, like groundcover, and works well in any landscape. Flower […]
Believe it or not, it’s time to start planning summer flower gardens. When thinking about colors, consider blue—one of the most sought-after colors for flowers in gardens. Why are blue flowers so popular? Part of their appeal may be that it’s a rare hue to find in plants naturally. And while very few native blue […]
Gardens
Lupine Lane
These beautiful lupines, found blooming in Baring, welcome summer back to Maine!