Anne Raver, garden writer with The New York Times, spent some time recently at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, strolling through the nursery with Propagation and Plant Manager Adam Wheeler and taking in the beauty  of woody plants in winter. Accompanying the article is a slide show of photographs by Randy Harris. Check out photo no. 9, Salix chaenomeloides 'Mount Aso', a pussy willow with blue-green leaves in summer and glowing pink catkins that can be cut for indoor arrangements. The Broken Arrow folks gave away a few stems of the willow (and sold the plant) at the CHS symposium. Click here to read the NYT article.

 Bonnie McLachlan  (above) was presented with a framed print of one of her favorite plants, Jeffersonia diphylla (twinleaf) at the January program meeting. Bonnie retired as office administrator after more than 12 years in the position. (Photo: Lea Anne Moran)

It’s the “speaking season,” and many CHS members can be found around the state, sharing their expertise, including Lorraine Ballato of Brookfield who will be at the Farmington Library, 6 Monteith Dr.,  Saturday, March 10, 10 a.m.-noon, talking about low maintenance gardening. Free, but registration is required, 860-673-6791.

The photographs of South Kent photographer, writer and garden coach Karen Bussolini  appear in the 2011 Timber Press book by Beth O’Donnell Young, “The Naturescaping Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide for Bringing Nature to your Backyard.” To see where Karen will be speaking in 2012, click here.

CHS hit the airwaves in advance of the Feb. 4, 2012, symposium to talk about the day's exciting events and other great goings-on in the Connecticut Horticultural Society.  

Listen to the podcast of the Jan. 21 "Garden Talk" conversation that featured CHS President Steve Silk and board members Elaine Widmer and Kevin Wilcox. The three joined hosts Len Giddix and Lisa Napolitano on the show, which airs weekly on WTIC-1080AM. The conversation focused on the visual aspect of  "the sensuous garden," and included listing some great plants for the winter garden and tips on how to photograph the garden. 

In the photo above, Cathy Testa (left) and Nancy Brennick staff a CHS table at Plant Science Day Aug. 3, 2011, at Lockwood Farm in Hamden. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station sponsored the day-long event.