Category Archives: Seasons Greetings

Making The Cut

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My secateurs and shears are seeing a great deal of action. Pruning and cutting back has been the order of the month. From some of the queries received, I thought I’d do a quick pruning refresher.

Make sure all the tools are really sharp and clean. I try to get mine professionally sharpened at the end of the gardening season. A simple rule is to wash and dry them thoroughly before storing them following a task. That way they’re always ready for use. I dip mine in alcohol before getting to work. If I’m working sequentially on different plants, I wipe the secateurs with alcohol after I’m finished with each plant. This helps to control spread of disease/infection.

When pruning or cutting anything, make the cut at a slight angle and just above a leaf bud. This prevents water from sitting on the cut surface.

I do not prune young shrubs or trees. I let them wait a couple of years before subjecting them to the pain of the blade. Growing pains!!

Spring blooming plants (forsythia, lilac, azaleas, rhododendron, redbud, magnolia etc.,) are pruned after flowering is over. Do the task within 2 – 3 weeks after all the buds have finished blooming.

Plants that bloom later in the year are pruned in the fall.

Wherever possible, cut above an outward facing bud. Snip off buds that seem poised to grow inwards as this would create crowding in the middle of the plant.

Cut away any dead or unwell looking branches. Ditto for branches that are rubbing against others.

In late winter, when the plants are bare bones so to speak, is a good time to survey what looks overgrown/shabby and then tidy up the appearance.

Finally, try keeping the shape of the plant in mind – you want your horticultural clients to look like they have a good ‘hairdresser’.

In that same vein, when it comes to trees, think ‘structural pruning’ – maintain the shape that is natural to the tree. Most trees typically have one lead trunk not multiple trunks. Keep that in mind and prune accordingly.

So get going already – time’s a’wasting!

Reminder! Don’t forget to register for the Lyndhurst In Bloom Show and my garden Open Day.

The garden is slowly waking up –

Bird’s eye view of the snowdrops scattered around the meadow
Hellebores gearing up for the runway
Eranthis has entered the garden

(c) 2025 Shobha Vanchiswar

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Quick March!

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In the blink of an eye it’s distinctly Spring this week. It was freezing all of last week! With temperatures expected to hit 60 degrees today, it feels as though I need to start gardening in a hurry. And I have.

Over the weekend, all the hellebores were relieved of the old leaves giving the emerging young buds room to breathe and grow. On that same vein, the pile of leaves that had been blown by winter winds over peonies and other perennials were removed and added to the compost heap. The fuchsia pink tips of the peonies spearing through the soil twinkled in the sun as if to say ‘at last’!

Perennials left standing were cut back and the Concord grapevine was given its annual pruning. The cut prunings will be used to camouflage the peony cages which will be set up in a few weeks. It is important to place cages, stakes and other supports well ahead of time – makes the work so much easier.

The espaliered fruit trees are also pruned at this time of year. The process was started this past Sun and will continue through the week. Working in sections allows thought to go into making the cuts correctly – form and function being the goal. With the sudden warming, its imperative to get such tasks completed soon before the trees and shrubs leaf out.

Clean up has also begin – every day this week I’ll be focusing on different areas of the garden to pick up winter debris. Winter is a messy season! The added benefit of working through the different parts of the garden is that it allows me to observe the state of that area to see if it needs mulching, what’s coming up and if any pest activity is evident. Apart from twigs, branches, wayward scraps of paper and other garbage blown from who knows where, I’ve thus far picked up three nests. Two look built by Robins and the third is smaller and loosely constructed. By cardinals perhaps?

In getting started with these chores right now, we are provided with the luxury of working mindfully. Accompanied by birdsong and the pleasure of having the sun warm my skin, I’m reminded once again of how much I’m dependent on Nature to keep me healthy and whole. I am a gardener and as such, I am defined by my garden but the garden in no way is defined by me. Nature marches on no matter what. My main task is to step out of her way.

Reminder! Don’t forget to register for the Lyndhurst In Bloom Show and my garden Open Day.

Some Images from my garden right now. I haven’t indicated what exactly is coming up – it’s enough that the garden is waking up!

Orchids lighting up the indoors

(c) 2025 Shobha Vanchiswar

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Spring Is In The Air

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It’s beginning to feel a lot like Spring-ness! Today, it is sunny and a very balmy 50 degrees. Early bulbs are stirring. Some are shrugging off their earthy covers to display full clumps of green and others are tentatively spearing through as if to test the conditions before making a full entrance. Kinda like the ways humans wake up. My excitement cannot be contained. I live for this season.
While it’s still too early to go all out into gardening mode, there’s plenty to do this month.

Things To Do In March –


1.Cut some forsythia and pussy willow branches for indoor forcing. Place in water and keep in a cool place until the buds are swollen. Then move them to a location where they can be viewed as the blooms burst forth. A lovely prelude to spring.

2.As snow melts, start clean up process. Twigs and other debris can be removed. Protect the still wet areas of grass and beds by first placing cardboard or wood planks and stepping on those instead. They help distribute the weight better.

3.Later in the month, remove protective burlap and/or plastic wrappings and wind breaks.


4.Get tools sharpened. This includes the mower blades.
5.Commence indoor seed sowing. Begin with the early, cool weather crops. Read seed packet instructions and calculate dates for planting out.

6.Order plants that will be required for the garden as soon as the ground has warmed up. Let your local nursery know your needs – they will inform you know when shipments arrive.

7.As soon as possible, once the snow is all gone and soil has thawed, spread compost on all the beds including the vegetable plot.

8.Finish pruning fruit trees, grape vines and roses early in the month.

9.Take an inventory and stock up on whatever is lacking. Soil, gloves, mulch, tools, ties, string, grass seed, pots, hoses etc.,

10.Survey the garden and see what needs replacing, repairing or painting. Schedule and do the needful.

11.Start bringing out or uncovering outdoor furniture. It’ll soon be time to linger outdoors!

12.Get your tickets for the Lyndhurst In Bloom Flower Show. I guarantee it will get you in a Spring state of mind. So many talented creatives are participating. I can’t wait for you to see my installation!

13.Get the Open Days directory from Garden Conservancy. Mark your calendars and make your reservations to visit beautiful gardens in your area. Come to my Open Day on May 10 between 10 am and 4 pm. I’m looking forward to seeing you!

Note: A few images from my garden right now. As you can see, it very much looks wintery but on closer examination, there are definitive signs of Spring!

The meadow looks deceptively quiet
Snowdrops are bravely up and about
Hellebore beds are hiding beneath the last year’s foliage. Time to cut back those leaves!
In the perennial beds in front there is not much to see. As yet! The beds had been dug up for the drainage project so the new plants are likely more shy!!
Indoors – tulips from a local farm are giving off spring vibes

(c) 2025 Shobha Vanchiswar

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February Fever

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‘Fever’? you ask? It’s been one fiercely frigid month after all. Snow storms every few days, ice, some hail, rain leading to more ice, powerful winds. It has been a very busy couple of weeks with more of the same expected this week. It’s become rather tiresome as most outdoor activity has been unpleasant if not impossible. We need options to warm up our spirits. Fear not. I have a few suggestions.

Last Friday, I went to the member’s preview of the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens. This might well be my favorite one thus far. While it’s always fun to see a mad array of colorful flowers in the middle of winter, I’ve never found myself as motivated and inspired as I was by this one. Taking its cue from the designs of Mexican modernist architect Luis Barragán, the show transports you to Mexico where you feel the warmth, the vibrant colors and rhythmic music lift your mood. The orchids are arranged and grouped brilliantly – coordinated and curated colors that sing in harmony. Juxtaposed with walls in vivid hues, sculptural cacti and traditional pots, it is tasteful and artful. Indeed cacti and orchids require different conditions to thrive but there are design lessons to be learned nevertheless. I love this show and plan to visit it again soon. Do go see for yourself. At the very least, it’ll serve as a welcoming, warm respite.

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days directory arrived over the weekend. Thumbing through it is jolly exciting – so many interesting and beautiful gardens to visit. I know I won’t have the time to visit them all but it’s gloriously fun to consider the possibility. The final list will be shorter of course. Now is the time to make plans, schedule them into the calendar and make reservations in a timely manner. It’s the best way to ensure I get to see new gardens and revisit old favorites all of which will no doubt keep me enthused all through the gardening season. February affords one the time to peruse and plan at leisure. Take full advantage. Note: My garden has it’s Open Day on May 10. Come on over!

Finally, starting this coming Sunday, February 23, there’s a new show on NBC. The Grosse Point Garden Society is described as an “American drama television series set in a wealthy suburb where everything appears to be perfect on the surface. Four members of the local garden club get entangled in a scandalous murder… with mysteries, drama and deceit growing like weeds …!”. I learned of it quite by chance – it caught my attention right away! Since I adore both gardening and murder mysteries, I’m eager to check it out. If anything, it’ll be fun to see how hoticulturally accurate or inaccurate it will be!

And in less than 2 weeks, March would’ve arrived.

(c) 2025 Shobha Vanchiswar

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Getting The Juices Flowing

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I firmly believe that over the years, both garden and gardener need to evolve. We must keep up with the time as new horticultural introductions come to light, the latest scientific understanding shows us how to adjust or alter the way we garden, climate change forces us to adapt to different conditions, our age insists we seek to downsize, get some extra pair of hands or simplify our gardens. Our aesthetics and preferred styles evolve. We lose plants to weather related crises, pests or owns own negligence. The point is, it is up to us to determine how well we ourselves grow and consequently, how our gardens do so as well. With the right attitude, it is an exciting process. After all, maintaining a status quo is not only humdrum and tedious but can be detrimental. Without actively making positive change, taking a chance on trying something new, welcoming opportunities and enjoying the progress that is made, one is in peril of letting the world pass us and our gardens by.

For me, February is the ideal time to think about ways I can tweak my garden to make it more interesting and/or exciting. Sometimes the tweak can be substantial as was when I decided to create the vertical garden or something much smaller as in the case of having a ‘display’ by the curb to give passers by something to lift their mood as they drive or walk by. In any event, I derive enormous pleasure from it all and inevitably learn so much as well.

This year, I’m dreaming of creating a proper collection of citrus plants. Mostly varieties of lemons with some types of oranges in the mix. Nothing too ambitious as there is much to understand. For some years now, I’ve been successfully growing calamondin oranges, Meyer lemons and regular lemons. They all live in pots that go into the greenhouse each winter. In addition, after seeing the hardy orange (suitable for my neck of the northeast) at the NYBG, I acquired 3 very young trees of the same from Hortus Gardens. One day, when they’ve reached a reasonable size, I will have to find them a suitable site in my tiny garden. They’re slow growers so that time is a few years away. But already in my mind’s eye I can see this trio looking mighty fine in their fullness.

My source of inspiration and motivation is a book I’m currently reading. ‘The Land Where Lemons Grow’ is one that must be read slowly in order to fully appreciate the history of citrus cultivation in Italy. I’m picking up several nuggets of wisdom and simultaneously escaping from the harsh winter here to the romance of Italy. I’m savoring this book as one does a fine glass of chilled limoncello.

Soon I will research and source types of citrus I’d like to grow. Consider my budget before placing orders, acquire appropriately lovely pots and then, launch into squeezing a ‘lemon house’ in my already crowded piece of paradise. That last one could be a pipe dream but why should that stop me from dreaming anyway?

My juices are definitely flowing.

Note: All fruit (except the 3 showing the NYBG hardy orange and label towards the end) in the following images were homegrown!

The inspiration!
My watercolor
the hardy orange at the NYBG
My next read

(c) 2025 Shobha Vanchiswar

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February Feels

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Ah February! The shortest month but the most temperamental. If you know you know. We’re just 4 days into it and in my corner we’ve had freezing rain, bright sunshine, overcast skies, an inch of snow and at present, temperature in the high 40s. This spike has me eagerly considering the spring garden however, experience is placing her sure hand on my impatience. We are only half way through winter. But, we’re officially in the second half!

Time passes quickly when we’re busy so here’s What To Do this month –

(Much of the items in the January list are applicable too. Do check that list) 

  1. Stay on top of effects of snow and storms. Take quick action.
  2. Keep bird feeders full. Whenever possible provide water.
  3. Get garden plans and designs ready.
  4. Check garden supplies. Does the hose need repair or replacing? Is there enough soil, twine, stakes etc.,? Make a list and do what is needed.
  5. Towards the end of the month, prune roses, wisteria, grape vines and fruit trees.
  6. Cut back ivy on walls and fences before birds start nesting. Brightly colored stems of Salix and Cornus should be cut back to about 6 to 10 inches from ground. This will encourage brighter color next spring.
  7. Prepare for seed sowing. Get seed flats clean and ready. Check if there’s enough seed growing medium.
  8. Order seeds. Once seeds arrive, write labels and keep handy. This saves time later when there is so much else to do.
  9. If there is not much snow, cut back old leaves on Hellebores. New growth and flowers will be emerging. Cut back other perennials that were skipped in autumn.
  10. Attend to indoor plants.
  11. The New York Botanical Garden’s annual orchid show opens in March. Do reserve your tickets and go! It’ll banish winter blues and get you motivated.
  12. Mark your calendar –The Lyndhurst In Bloom Flower Show is on April 5 and 6, 2025. Tickets go on sale soon and they sell out fast! Do not miss this event! I’m so excited to be participating again (Servants Dining Room).
  13. Renew ( or join) your membership to the Garden Conservancy. Place your order for the Open Days directory and related coupons. Once you receive it you can start scheduling visits to beautiful gardens near and far. Inspiration is only a garden visit away! Take note – my garden will be open May 10.
  14. Months assigned to celebrate and highlight long marginalized groups are my cue to learn more about people, explore and understand their contributions and achievements. Like any great garden, large or small, America thrives, grows and excels because of diversity. As February is Black History Month, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the book “In The Shadow of Slavery – Africa’s Botanic Legacy In The AtlanticWorld” By Judith A. Carney and Richard Nicholas Rosomoff.
  15. Then, my friend Jen brought my attention to Belle Da Costa Greene, the American librarian who managed and developed the personal library of J. P. Morgan. She was Black but passed for white which allowed her to earn well and support her family. I’ll be heading to the Morgan Library in NYC for the current exhibit on her. I’ve visited this amazing institution innumerable times and had never known about Belle. Can’t wait to remedy that!

Note: Because of the snow there isn’t much to share from the garden. Instead, here are a few more of my black and white paintings that I’ll be displaying at the Lyndhurst In Bloom Show –

Beach Rose
Calla Lily
Trillium
Dogwood
Daffodil
Cimicifuga

(c) 2025 Shobha Vanchiswar

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December Discourse

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It’s that time of year when I look through the rear view mirror of the year and do a performance review of sorts. Based on that, I look ahead to the new year and accordingly make plans. In the interest of this blog, I shall focus on the garden.

The underlying factor that unquestionably impacted the garden in 2024 was the unpredictable weather. From a very mild winter that coughed up a single snowfall to an early spring that oscillated between cold and wet to mild and dry to a summer that got way too hot and had too much rain to a fall that was long, mild and very dry. We’ve been so dry that we’re under a burn ban of all categories as well as a water restriction warning till Dec 31. Naturally, it followed that leafing out, flowering and fruiting times of many plants were hastened or delayed. I can only imagine how much these uncertain conditions affected all other life forms that coexist with the plants. While most gardeners took it in stride, the writing is on the wall or more appropriately in this case, on the earth. Climate change is well underway.

In order to come to terms with it and be a responsible gardener, I’m giving the matter a great deal of thought and doing a fair amount of research. It can no longer be gardening as usual. New understanding, new attitudes and new ways are in order. Gardens and gardeners must change together with the climate. That is a tall order because change is not easy especially when it requires a lot to happen in a short amount of time. And time, for many things, is no longer unlimited. We must act now even as we adjust and adapt by the seat of our pants. There’s no how-to manual for the situation we’re in. However, gardeners are resilient, resourceful and always ready to learn and do what it takes to serve their piece of Paradise well.

So, come 2025, I intend to share my findings, thoughts and plans on how I intend to garden in this climate challenged world. I hope you too will give the matter your due consideration and communicate back to me. We are stronger together and together we can do our part to nurture our gardens and the world at large. That will be our legacy to the future.

I will not post next week. I will see you in the New Year!

Happy, healthy holidays to all!

Note: Scenes from my home and garden right now –

I am so proud of this wreath! Made entirely from materials from my garden, it is 3 feet in diameter and celebrates itself loud and proud!!
Abutilon blooming in the greenhouse
Amaryllis at home
Growth from past spring’s bulbs had started emerging in early November. Will they bloom next spring? Fingers crossed.
Beauty in senescence.

Seasonal images from elsewhere –

(c) 2024 Shobha Vanchiswar

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December Doings

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2024 feels like it’s been a long year does it not? Then why am I surprised that we’re already in December? It must be because Thanksgiving was so late that we’ve had no transition time to make our way over to the holiday frenzy. Well, never mind. We are here and we’re going to make the most of it.

The part I like best about decorating for the season is using the bounty from the garden. From late summer on, I save interesting leaves, branches, seed pods and anything else that catches my fancy from prunings and such. This year, a giant wreath of preserved magnolia leaves was created and it has been waiting to be commissioned since October. I shall insert in the preserved leaves of the oak-leaf hydrangea, okra and agapanthus seed pods, some allium heads I’d gilded last year and await everyone’s cries of approval. Otherwise, there will be coal in their stockings.

The many amaryllis I started a few weeks ago will begin to bloom in a week or so and matters should look festive for some good fa la la fun.

But first, there’s still the odd garden chore(s) to tend. So, here is the December to-do list:

1. Hurry up and finish any pending plant protecting tasks! Ditto for statuary and other articles left outdoors.

2. Complete mulching all plants.

3. Drain out all outdoor water pipes. Store hoses properly.

4. Keep bird feeders filled.

5. Keep on top of watering plants in greenhouse and house. Stay vigilant for signs of pests or disease.

6. Set aside seed and plant catalogs for making plans for next year’s growing seasons.

7. Archive garden photos taken through this year. They will come in handy when you design for next year.

8. Enjoy paperwhites and amaryllis bulbs blooming indoors.

9. Make use of this down time and relax! Don’t let the Holiday Season wear you down.

Cheers.

Note: Since I haven’t as yet got any decorations actually installed, here are some trees from years past from my home and elsewhere:

(c) 2024 Shobha Vanchiswar

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Gobbling With Grievances And Gratitude

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Thanksgiving is exactly what we need right now. As the holiday that quietly reaffirms us as one nation coming together to count our blessings and give thanks as we break bread with family and friends, we are particularly primed for it this year. As much as such gatherings are invariably fraught with old grudges and grievances, it is, if we are honest, about reconnecting and recognizing the bonds that hold us together.

This week, I know too many people who are going to their usual Thanksgiving gatherings with a greater than usual degree of trepidation. And I’ve been giving this matter a lot of thought. How can we change this narrative? Naturally, I turned to the wisdom imparted from the garden.

To start, we must accept that we are each responsible for the situation we are in. That is the plain truth. Acknowledge it. It is no different from when we confront a big problem in the garden. Take for instance the fall of a mighty tree that causes some significant and costly damage. Our first instinct is to blame it on the storm that felled the tree down. But the storm didn’t arrive specifically to cause that damage. It has no hidden reason. If we can concede that, then, we must look deeper and find the true cause(s).

So, first, lets consider individual responsibility. If I was the gardener I’d have to ask myself if I had done right by the tree. Was it in the right location? Was the tree suitable to the area and hence accordingly hardy? Had it been pruned and/or braced appropriately? Was it fed and watered regularly? Had I done due diligence in monitoring its health? What had I, if at all, neglected to do? It’s only in clearing my conscience fully can I then look elsewhere to ascertain the cause.

Collective responsibility – did we as gardeners/residents in the neighborhood ignore signs that should’ve raised a few red flags? Or, worse, did any of us choose to keep silent about something we observed “because it was not our business?” “ Not our problem!”? Not speaking up, failing to share information, conveying said information with clarity, lending a helping hand are all matters that concern everybody.

If individually or collectively we are fully absolved of any or all dereliction of duty, then and only then might we say it was singularly the storm that made the tree fall. You see my point? At this time, I’m not going to get started on the human factor in the changing climate resulting in more fierce and frequent storms happening everywhere!

I think I’ve made my case. We are all, directly or indirectly connected and part of a greater whole. We need to focus on how to be better. Do better. If only to keep coming together for Thanksgiving and celebrating this one life we each have been given.

So this year, make that decision to arrive at the holiday table with a resolve to set aside grievances. Avoid all conversation/debate about the elephant in the room if you can! Seriously. Let that matter be until each person has made peace with him/herself. For now, unclench your fist to offer an open hand. Declare a tentative truce. Instead, concentrate on the ties that make you family, shared histories and genes, common interests, play some games that everyone can enjoy ( Charades is my go to). Just maybe, it’ll be a whole lot more fun than you could’ve imagined.

Lets not give up before we even try.

For now, lets clear up the debris, review the state of the damage in the garden and make firm efforts to repair, replace, restore. In time, a new tree will be planted and we shall grow it to be mighty.

From the bottom of my heart I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

Enjoy the beauty and majesty of some trees that captivated me this year :

Note the pair of bald eagles

(c) 2024 Shobha Vanchiswar

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Moving Forward Because, We Are Not Going Back!

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My garden is not what it was 20 years ago or even 2 years ago. Neither am I who I was 20 or 2 years ago! Time changes everything. Indeed, it must make change happen. Otherwise, we’d be at a standstill. No growth of any kind within ourselves or in the living world could only portend disaster. Life is about moving forward. Hopefully towards the light.

A garden, by nature, evolves. Plants grow and in time they fill out spaces sidling up to neighbors to form a matrix of colors and textures. Trees grow tall and transform areas from sunny to shady. Weather patterns shift and planting patterns are shaken up. All this without any help from human intervention! But of course, the gardener must do her interfering. New plants, new design ideas and new purchases have to be accommodated fairly often. At the very least I tweak and at the very most I overhaul.

Just this year alone, because of the necessary drainage project, the two front beds had to be dug up and then replanted. Despite saving many old plants, we lost several longstanding members in the process. Replacements plus new additions were put in. And just like that, these beds are no longer how they used to be. With any luck, they will be better. At least that is always the goal isn’t it?

This project was not entirely a surprise. There was always the need and intent to do it but nothing definitive had been penciled in. So I was a bit unprepared for the upheaval it caused in the garden and in my heart. But, having learned from the garden that nothing stays the same, I was, after a spot of feeling grumbling, able to get on board, accept the situation, make new plans for the old beds.

Similarly, setbacks in life have to be handled. In the face of defeat, we cannot keep looking back and yearning for what was and/or what might have been. While sadness, fear and anger are valid emotions to feel and must be acknowledged, we cannot move towards the light until we let go of the darkness. It might take a while but we will get there. One day at a time.

Imagine the world/garden we seek and lets figure out how to make it a reality. We plan, research, acquire required skills, sources and resources, create the right conditions, introduce our ideas/plants, give or get the appropriate support, nurture them all diligently, give time and patience to effect the envisioned change. Then and only then will we have moved forward. Turning back is never an option.

Note: Enjoy these images from the 2024 New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show. It’s fun, joyous, very creative and oh so inspiring!

(c) 2024 Shobha Vanchiswar

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