I’m writing about five good gardeners from around Rockland County for the October issue of our Rockland magazine (also doing five for InTown Westchester).

I wanted to be sure to include Joan Gussow, who hasn’t bought a vegetable in 10 years. Everything she eats—year-round—comes from her sweet little garden in Piermont.

It’s right on the Hudson, on [...]

Just about every time I step outside these last few days I see another hummingbird on my crocosmia. I’ve never seen them go so crazy for a single plant.

Can you see the hummingbird, right in the middle of the photo?

A closer look:

This clump-forming native of South Africa has everything hummingbirds love: it’s red, it blooms [...]

Here’s news from Duncan Brine about an upcoming chance to see his Pawling garden. I’ve heard very good things about it:

“The Garden Conservancy, which makes America’s finest private gardens available to the public, presents the Brine Garden, located at 21 Bluebird Inn Road in Pawling, NY, on Saturday, August 2, from 2-6pm, rain or shine.

“Underway [...]

The 30 or so volunteer gardeners who oversee Anna B. Warner’s 19th-century gardens on Constitution Island in Cold Spring are hosting the fourth annual Garden Day on Saturday. All are welcome.

Garden Day runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature docent-led tours of the gardens, the 18-room Warner House and Revolutionary War fortifications [...]

From US Dept of Agriculture:

“USDA Awards $4.1 Million to Study Colony Collapse Disorder
“WASHINGTON, July 17, 2008 – Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced today that more than $4 million will be awarded to the University of Georgia to study the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and other diseases affecting bee populations, whose pollination is [...]

I saw one of the best shade gardens I’ve ever encountered last weekend, with thousands upon thousands of hostas, astilbes and ferns.

This fantastic 6-acre garden in Willow, N.Y. (near Woodstock) was open for the day on Saturday as part of the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program. We thought we’d never get there, but boy [...]

Ask the Master Gardeners

Q: Every June my roses look beautiful. A month later they’re scrawny and covered in black spot. Short of using a fungicide is there a preventive solution?

A: The best defense is a strong offense. There are a number of ways to decrease the odds of your roses developing black spot. The first [...]

Ask the Master Gardeners

Q: For years I have been growing rosemary in pots. Recently I heard that hardy varieties are now on the market. Is there a variety of rosemary hardy to our area?

A: While temperature plays a major role in winter survival of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), the quality of the soil and the [...]

Do It Now

Perennials: Continue staking floppy plants and vines. Apply summer mulches to rose and perennial beds. Continue deadheading to encourage continuous bloom. Continue to spray roses for fungus, if you have problems, and remove fallen leaves and debris from the rose bed to prevent the spread of disease. Pinch back chrysanthemums and asters one [...]

Miles from the nearest sizable body of water, a family of yellow-crowned night herons has made a home for themselves high above a busy street in the heart of Mount Vernon. It’s the first sighting of a nest and brood in Westchester in nearly 20 years, birding experts say.

These colorful, shellfish-eating herons have created a [...]