Knowing how much sunlight your garden patch gets is critical to growing a successful garden.  It’s how you know what kinds of flowers to plant.  Most flowers come with white stick labels in the soil with information on the type of sun they need – full sun, partial sun, shade.   Today is a great day to see exactly where the sun shines on your garden.   Go to your garden space and notice where the snow has melted on your patch.  Where the snow is gone, the sun is stronger.  If snow remains, that’s obviously a more shady space.  This information will come in handy when you are choosing your plants this Spring.  
Yes, that’s my tree pit garden in the picture above.  It looks so sad now but the good news is that it gets good sun on the left and gets decent overall sun all day long.   Big thanks go out to Tom Smarr from the Rose Kennedy Greenway for sharing this tip!

Hello all!  Drove through the rain and fog today to visit the “Gardening with Heart”  Rhode Island Flower Show at the Providence Convention Center.  
 It’s a medium-sized show with a dozen or so well-done gardens.  I especially liked the  sun and shade garden with the artistic stone wall!  Plus there is a  terrific section with judged floral arrangements with place settings and a hat and  bikini competition that was quite unique and smile-producing!  People all around were oohing and ahhing at these sights! 

The winning bikini design was lovely.  The judges comments were: “Stunning effect achieved with minimal natural composition.”  That’s an understatement!  The plant material is Aspidistra and Echeveria.   Kudos to Julie Lapham from the Southborough and Worcester Garden Clubs.   Just WOW! 

And the first place hat was lovely too.  Made of Cast Iron Plant, Chinese Fan Palm, Rye, Corn, Milkweed and Areca Palm and Cryptomeria Japonica Cones.  It would be great for an Easter parade!
Overall there was a great mix of sights and smells to make this Flower Show a total joy!   Remember the rich, sweet smell of a hyacinth?  I couldn’t resist and bought myself one.  Smells good enough to eat!  And touching the tender leaves of azaleas and delphiniums was more like a caress.  How I’ve missed those flowers.  And there were many fountains with burbling water and I watched  fat, orange coy in lily pad ponds.  It was a real treat for the senses!  The four day show started yesterday and runs through Sunday.  It’s worth the $18 adult admission.   

And don’t miss the sand sculptures!  They are a delightfully playful surprise amid the flowers and gardens. Enjoy!

Today I attended New England Grows at the Massachusetts Convention Center in South Boston.  It’s day 2 of this amazing gathering of landscapers, designers and gardeners of every type.  Unfortunately, I missed day 1 due to the snow and ice constraints but today was terrific.  I learned so much! 
One big piece of news was learning that Amsonia Hubrichtii was the 2011 Perennial Plant of the year.   That’s pronounced am-SO-nee-ah hew-BRIK-tee-eye.  I am familiar with this plant because Tom Smarr, the horticultural guru for the Rose Kennedy Greenway, had it on his list of great city plants to consider for our gardens.  If you want more on Tom and his selection, go to the Expert Advice tab. 
But here’s the skinny on the Amsonia Hubrichtii from a great flyer from the Perennial Plant Assocation www.perennialplant.org.  BTW, Amsonia is definitely going into my garden this spring!
Other names: Amsonia, Arkansas Blue Star, Thread Leaf Blue Star
Hardiness: USDA Zones 4 – 9 (FYI, Boston is Zone 6)
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Soil: Prefers average, moist well-drained soil but tolerates less moisture.  Once established, it can tolerate drier conditions
Unique Qualities: Light blue flowers in spring are followed by a marvelous display of foliage in summer.  A golden-yellow fall color is second to non among herbaceous perennials.  It is uniquely suited as a companion plant or as a feature.