Burlington Area Garden Club

The New Low-Maintenance Garden: How to Have a Beautiful, Productive Garden
and the Time to Enjoy It How often have you said “I’d love to be able to garden more; I just don’t have the time.” Modern life, with its every-growing demands, leaves little time for the pleasure of gardening. But sometimes gardening itself it the
culprit: elaborate, traditional perennial borders; water-hungry or diseaseprone
plants; needy lawns; and highmaintenance plants that require staking or clipping all suck up precious hours. Simply put, we need to start gardening in whole new way. In this inspiring book, VAL EASTON shows exactly how to have a low-maintenance garden that doesn’t sacrifice style. You won’t have to give up your favorite plants or settle for expanses of ugly bark nuggets. You just have to unlearn some bad old habits and pick up some good new ones. So, how do you go about making a “new” low-maintenance garden?
First, design your garden with maintenance in mind. “Good-looking hardscape will both save weeding time and showcase your favorite plants. Second, simplify your garden routines. “Learn the most efficient plants and maintenance techniques and don’t get stressed if everything isn’t letterperfect. Third, learn how to work with nature rather than against it. And finally, embrace home-grown fruits, herbs , and vegetables; well planted containers; and thoughtfully chose plants.

This book doesn’t just tell you how to garden in whole new way. It shows you, through profiles and beautiful photographs of real gardens that embody low-maintenance techniques. The pressures of life are not likely to ease up anytime
soon, but the lessons of this timely book will help you replace guilt over undone garden chores with pleasure in your garden successes

BULBS IN THE BASEMENT, GERANIUMS ON THE WINDOWSILL

The secret is out: cooler-zone gardeners are discovering that with a little wintertime TLC,
plants that have long been considered “annuals” can thrive for many years. These plants – including geraniums, gladioli, dahlias, begonias, rosemary, lavender, and even impatiens – aren’t annual at all. Rather, they are tender perennials. Not hardy enough to survive winter on their own, they can be moved indoors during the cold months, and then returned to the garden in spring. Many are even more beautiful in their second and third years!
Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill by Alice McGowan and Brian McGowan, is the first comprehensive resource on the care and maintenance of tender plants. In this zonedefying guide, readers will find simple techniques for overwintering, followed by 160 detailed plant profiles. Profiles include individualized advice for overwintering and indoor care. The growing advice is clear and time tested; the authors themselves spent decades introducing and nurturing tender plants at the renowned Blue Meadow Farm Nursery in Montague, Massachusetts.
Both inspirational and practical, Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill will revolutionize perennial gardening, allowing enthusiastic growers in any location to enjoy their favorite plants year after year. This latest contribution to the Burlington Library by the Garden Club is located in the new non fiction section at the Library.

Open Days Program

The Garden Conservancy's
Open Days Directory 2008 edition:
The guide to visiting America's best private gardens.

Click image for a larger view of book cover

Prairie Plants

The University of Wisconsin has a stellar collection of prairie plant species, including horsetails, ferns, rushes, sedges, grasses, shrubs, vines and wild flowers. This guide illustrates and describes more than 360 native and introduced species that grow and bloom on the Arboretum prairies. The intent of author Theodore S. Cochrane is to increase awareness and respect for remaining small prairie remnants, motivate readers to work for prairie preservation and restoration, and encourage the planting of native species in yards and gardens.