End of Season Clematis: Arabella in the Cutting Garden

End of Season Clematis: Marie Boisselot on the Arbor to the Cutting Garden

End of Season Roses: Gruss an Aachen in the Children's Garden

End of Season Roses: Rose de Rescht in the Egg Garden

Picture This Photo Contest: the End of the Line

Click here for the previous Gravetye Beauty Clematis Seed Head post that I used for my entry for this month's contest at Gardening Gone Wild: the End of the Line. The deadline is midnight tonight.

End of Season Roses: Nur Mahal Hybrid Musk Rose Bred by Bishop Pemberton Next to the Lamp Post

The Last Dahlia of the Season

The dahlias are quite frost sensitive, so I was surprised to see this one last bloom as I was digging up the last of my dahlia tubers in the Cutting Garden.

NJ Farmers' Market Update: Sundays in Summit extended to Christmas

Good news! The Sunday Farmers' Markets in Summit, New Jersey have been extended until the weekend before Christmas. I remember from last year that the number of shoppers dropped off significantly with the cold weather, so they didn't know if they were going to try to do it again this year. Alas, here's your opportunity to dress warmly and continue supporting the farmers. If enough people come out, maybe we can have a year-round farmers' market like they in other areas.

Fall Colors: an Arrangement of Mophead Hydrangeas

After the Frost: Time to Start Digging up the Dahlia Tubers

This past weekend, we had our first frost, so I started to dig up the dahlia tubers for winter storage. I finished the tubers on Goldberry Hill and the Front Border (pictured), but still need to get the ones in the Cutting and Rose Gardens. For a full how-to, read my prior post, "How to Store Dahlia Tubers for Winter."

Blotanical's Best Pennsylvania Gardening Blogs of 2009

I live in New Jersey, but feel a special kinship with my gardening friends in Pennsylvania. It, of course, is the home of one of my favorite public gardens, Chanticleer, and so many other lovely gardens and gardeners. Here are Blotanical's Best Pennsylvania Gardening Blogs for 2009:
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1. Hayefield - one of my favorite blogs that I was happy to see ranked first. It is garden writer Nan Ondra's personal blog: "I live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles north of Philadelphia (mid-Zone 6 to lower Zone 7, depending on whose map you use). Under the supervision of my two alpacas, Duncan and Daniel, I garden on four acres in full sun: about two acres of managed meadow, one acre of pasture, and one acre of intensively planted and open shrubbery areas. This garden is entering its eighth year in 2009."
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2. Poor Richard's Almanac - this was a new discovery for me. "Author, editor, homesteader, collector–our friend Ben is all that and (of course) much more. When asked by the moderator at one of those corporate seminars what I’d be if I could be anything at all, the answer popped into my mind like Athena bursting full grown from the forehead of Zeus: I’d like to be the head of my own think tank. That’s because I love to think, about all sorts of things, all the time..."
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3. Burbs and the Bees - this is another new one for me and one I look forward to reading more. "Adventures of suburban homesteading and novice beekeeping. Trying to jam as much farm life as I can into our little piece of suburban woodland! Thanks for stopping by to share in our adventures of suburban homesteading, gardening, and novice beekeeping!"
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4. Veggie Gardening Tips - as a novice vegetable gardener, I have found this blog to be full of wonderful organic vegetable gardening ideas. "...In 1985, a few years after graduating from college, I resigned from a great job with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington D.C. and moved to Pennsylvania to accept an internship on a forty acre organic farm...At the time, many of my friends and family thought it was a crazy idea, but it turned out to be the best decision I ever made. During a few short years on the farm I learned an incredible amount about gardening, nature, and self sufficiency."
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5. My Little Patch of Green - this is another new one to me. "My name is Dawn and I have been an on-again-off-again gardener in my yard in Northeast Pennsylvania. I love the idea of gardening. I love looking at pictures of gardens. But while I have big dreams for my garden, I always seem to fail in the execution. I have sadly neglected my garden for the last few years, but this year will be a new beginning. It won’t be an extreme makeover, but a slow transformation."

Fall Colors: Pee Gee Hydrangea in the Front Border

For another post about how the pee gee hydrangea changes during the seasons, click here.

Adam Woodruff's visit to Oudolf Nursery & Garden - Hummelo, The Netherlands

Check out this great post (with pictures) of Adam Woodruff's visit to the Oudolf Nursery & Garden over at Gardening Gone Wild:

"On a personal note, I introduced myself to Piet after I had toured the property. He was incredibly open and generous with his time: going so far as to step away from his guests and give me a tour of his studio, where he graciously entertained all my questions, shared some of his current projects and recommended a few other gardens to visit."

Fall Colors: Chrysathemum in the Front Border

End of Season Roses: Danae in the Cutting Garden

Poemas del río Wang: Imperial crown

I grow and love Crown Imperial Fritillaria in the Rose Garden, but I've never seen such an amazing display as this--an entire mountainside in Iran: Poemas del río Wang: Imperial crown.

British Rose Garden Tour - Summer 2010

This is a tour I would love. From Clair Martin at Great Rosarians Blog: "I signed the contract for the Summer of British Rose Gardens tour for next year. The tour meets up in London on Tuesday, June 15 and we end on June 25, 2010." Montisfont Abbey Gardens, David Austin Rose Garden, and more!
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Clair Martin is the first Shannon Curator of the Rose Garden at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens located in San Marino, California a position he has held since 1983.