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I am pleased to share that the Cottage Gardeners of Marblehead and Swampscott awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Ava L. Constantine. Constantine, who lives in North Reading, graduated from Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School. She plans to attend the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she will study applied plant and soil sciences. Her interest is floral design. In 2024, she placed first in arranging at the Topsfield Fair. Constantine is on the floral design team at a local flower market, where she arranges for weddings and funerals. Best of luck to you, Ava!
This past weekend, my fellow Cottage Gardeners co-president, Fran Levy-Freiman, and I went on a garden tour of the Willows neighborhood sponsored by the Salem Garden Club. We were delighted by so many interesting and creative gardens and by the friendliness of the Salem Garden Club ladies. It was a perfect sunny and breezy day at the Willows. We saw plants we had never seen before and could ask the owners many, many questions — and we did! The magical fairy garden at Bellehaven really stood out, at 6 Lowell St. The Japanese grasses and ferns at Kathy Picone's home at 25 Beach Ave. were a perfect example of how contrast in both color and foliage works and is easy and carefree. One of my favorites was 148 Bay View, with the raised planters on either side of the doorsteps. I was in awe of its long-lasting composition.
Even though the official tour is done, go for a nice walk down Columbus Avenue in Salem, and make sure you turn at 104 Bay View — just look at the front gardens of this home. The creativity is worthy of the Chelsea Flower Show design gardens. Here are some photos, which do not come close to what we experienced. If you want to see more photos of the tour and find out when upcoming tours are scheduled, follow this link, where we post about local tours and other garden-related topics: facebook.com/marbleheadcottagegardeners.
In the garden this week
This is an easy week in the garden as far as chores are concerned. Do not be afraid to cut your flowers and bring them into the house to enjoy up close. Before a big rainstorm rolls in, I love to cut a bouquet full of roses, because a big, windy storm can damage many heavy flowers. The more you cut flowers like roses and sweet peas, the more repeat flowers you will get.
Similarly, deadheading flowers that are spent and fading will promote new blooms.
Feed your plants in pots with something like the pink-topped Osmocote. These container plants need an extra boost to keep going throughout the summer.
Continue weeding your beds. My garden was taken over by chickweed and a few unwanted, invasive and thug-like weeds while I was away. Do not put these in the compost — destroy them!
If you grow any fruits, the critters are noticing them now. I recommend placing a fake snake out by your strawberries, vegetable garden or fruit tree. It helps if you move the snake(s) daily. Here is a link to the ones I bought.
I also like to cover my blueberries, peaches, apples and pears with these baggies. It really keeps the birds, chipmunks and squirrels off of every precious piece of fruit. It is admittedly overkill and a pain-in-the-butt chore. Sorry — I was trying to make it an easy week. The good news is these are reusable, and I have had them for years.
With the summer solstice upon us, I like to prune my fruit trees, which I am attempting to keep small and manageable. Pruning many trees and shrubs at this time of year helps maintain them at a manageable size. When picking fruit, I do not want to use a ladder. I have a tiny yard, and what is cuter than a tiny tree that produces apples? There is a very good book on just this topic, which I highly recommend.
Colleen Connor, our garden columnist, is co-president of the Cottage Gardeners of Marblehead and Swampscott.
