COLLEEN'S GARDEN: Wrapping it up!
Road deicers protect drivers but can scorch perennials and pollute runoff. Consider sand for grip or calcium magnesium acetate, which is less corrosive to stone, paws and plants.
COLLEEN'S GARDEN
COLLEEN'S GARDEN: A cottage Christmas
Get our free local reporting delivered straight to your inbox. No noise, no spam — just clear, independent coverage of Marblehead. Sign up for our once-a-week newsletter. The Marblehead 2025 Christmas Walk Parade had a new entry this year. The Cottage Gardeners of Marblehead and Swampscott were garden elves with a
COLLEEN’S GARDEN: Happy Thanksgiving!
It is exhilarating to get out of the house while the turkey is steaming up the kitchen, even for just 10 minutes. If you look around your garden, you may see something still green or even blooming. My honeysuckle has some color. I just found packets of seeds I want
COLLEEN’S GARDEN: Those darn bunnies!
Simple fencing formed into custom enclosures can shield vulnerable shrubs from wildlife that climb atop packed snow in colder months.
COLLEEN'S GARDEN: Think spring!
Gardening is about hopefulness, planning for the future and dreaming about what is to come in the spring. Planting spring bulbs in pots is easy and gratifying. Bulbs give you the most bang for your buck and you can plant them right up to December. Buy the bulbs now because
COLLEEN’S GARDEN: Frost, a nor’easter and bugs, oh my!
Well, that was a fun frost last week followed by a nor’easter. I dutifully dragged my heavy pots into my garage in the dark of night just to protect my jasmines and citrus trees. Some of my friends use sheets to cover precious dahlias. The next morning, everything turned
COLLEEN'S GARDEN: How to care for gardens in early fall
Connor is the Independent’s inaugural columnist, offering readers seasonal advice rooted in her own backyard experiments.