Jody over at
Blooming Writer has set out a challenge to us garden bloggers to write about where we live. It will great fun to visit her blog and read about where everyone is from and to take peeks at gardens all over the world!
My garden, Sweetside, is located in a small New England town called Amherst Massachusetts, home to the University of Massachusetts' Amherst Campus (pictured here courtesy of ccohen,flickr) as well as to Amherst College. Nearby there are 3 other colleges, Smith, Hampshire and Mt. Holyoke. Hence the region is often referred to as the Five College Area.
The colleges attract a wonderful array of cultural and educational events so there is always a number of things to choose from when one is looking for something to do. Another great thing about being near all these colleges is that some of them have beautiful gardens and greenhouses. The Smith College gardens & greenhouses are among my favorite.
Amherst is also very close to the beautiful Connecticut River which runs from the Canadian border down to the Atlantic Ocean in Connecticut. In the summer the river is wonderful for boating (photo courtesy marc72, flickr)
Nearby are the historic towns of Hadley and Deerfield founded in 1659 and 1677 respectively.
The nearest homes to the east of mine are the homes of poet Emily Dickinson and her brother Austin. Emily's is the yellow one pictured here. They are preserved as museums. There is lots of rich history all around.
I also like living in this area because though it is relatively rural, we are only two hours from Boston, and the ocean and 3 hours from NYC. Montreal Canada isn't all that far, though we don't get up there much.
My garden is in zone 5 but Amherst is in the Valley and my home is in town so the gardens are relatively protected. This Fall I still had roses blooming in November. Sweetside garden is 2 years old as we moved here from 12 miles up in the hills in 2006. There I had huge perennial gardens but it was mostly shade with significantly harsher winters.
