by Debra Heleba, Extension Community Horticulture Program director, University of Vermont BURLINGTON – This time of year, when plants are normally in their dormant stage, usually finds gardeners conducting late-winter pruning of apple and other fruit trees. However, recent warmer temperatures may have encouraged many trees to prematurely wake up,[Read More…]
Columns
Late Winter Woody Plants Provide Seasonal Interest
by Bonnie Kirn Donahue NORTHFIELD – Late winter is a great time to notice how certain trees and shrubs provide seasonal interest and complement each other in the landscape. As the snow recedes, the grays, tans and browns in the landscape offer a subtle background for plants with color to[Read More…]
Hit-and-Miss Snow Showers Welcome Spring
HARDWICK – Just as quickly as the snow returned, most of it melted during several days of rainfall over the past forecast period. We saw intermittent spurts of snow Sunday afternoon and evening into Monday night as a couple of weak disturbances passed, leaving an inch or two in their[Read More…]
Mannings Blend Family, Become Abenaki Citizens
HARDWICK – Love, family and tradition are three words that seem to characterize everyday people, Dale and Joanne Manning of Hardwick. Sitting around their dining room table, looking through their wedding album, pictures of their children and sharing their journey to become Citizens of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk[Read More…]
U.S. Postal Service Instrumental in Name Changes
HARDWICK – In 1781, the Republic of Vermont granted a charter for a town named Hardwick to a group of 67 people known as proprietors. Most of them had some connection to Hardwick Massachusetts. The name Hardwick first appeared in a newspaper when, on January 22, 1787, Bennington’s Vermont Gazette[Read More…]
For White-throated Sparrows, Opposites Attract
by Jackie Bussjaeger ST. PAUL, MN. – Finding a suitable mate in the wild is no simple matter. It’s an extra complicated affair for one familiar resident of the woods and underbrush. With its chunky build, boldly striped head, and namesake white throat, the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is among[Read More…]
After Use, Plant Easter Lilies in Garden
by Deborah J. Benoit, Extension Master Gardener, University of Vermont NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – It’s no surprise that the Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum) is the most popular floral gift for Easter giving, but did you know that, contrary to its name, it isn’t a spring-blooming flower? When grown outdoors, they[Read More…]
It Sucks You in and Spits You Out
EAST MONTPELIER – This coming Saturday morning, a Boeing 737 Max 8 bound for Denver will be taking off (or at least is scheduled to be taking off) from Logan Airport at 7:19 a.m. This means that my intrepid traveling companion, Bea, and I need to be at the United[Read More…]
Cooler and Seasonable Weather Returns
HARDWICK – We will be in the middle of another pendulum-swing Wednesday morning as the skies clear out and temperatures look to reach 50. This comes after a period of highly variable weather, which commenced in the middle of last week, with warmer temperatures and precipitation in the form of[Read More…]
I Do Object to Ageism
EAST MONTPELIER – It’s likely the unavoidable fate of both teenagers and golden-agers that most news reporters and writers are aspiring twenty-somethings eager to make splashes. Thus, if a young person with a newly minted driver’s license loses control of their vehicle on a slippery night, the headline will include[Read More…]
Pruning Fruit Trees: Now is a Good Time
by Henry Homeyer CORNISH FLAT, N.H. – March, April and May are good months to prune your fruit trees. Traditionally farmers pruned their fruit trees in March. I think they did so because they had less other work they could do at this time of year: it was too early to[Read More…]
