A YEAR-END REVIEW

Looking back at some highs, lows and lessons learned in the 2025 gardening season

- GREG COPPA

In author Greg Coppa's native New England, a cool, damp spring prolonged the bloom of trees like ornamental cherry (here, Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis').

THE YEAR 2025 started strong. Returning in mid-March from warmer climes, I saw that the southern New England winter was not as severe as I had feared. My snowdrops and crocus were more advanced than usual. The fig bushes had plenty of healthy-looking green tips, though I had not protected them with burlap or cocooned them with dried fall leaves. The collected varieties of daffodils had begun their always welcome four- or five-week-long cheerful display.

Yet as spring went on, it never really warmed up, with long stretches of cloudy, damp days lasting into June—the kind of spring that drives some New Englanders to tarry in Florida or Arizona a bit, if not a lot, longer. On the bright side, the flowers of the bulbs, magnolias, ornamental cherries and apples, azaleas and forsythias lasted a good long time.

STICKER SHOCK

Looking to cheer up the front steps, I visited quite a few plant outlets, including mom-and-pop stands, upscale local nurseries and big-box stores. I was surprised at the higher cost of just about all greenery. Adding insult to injury, I found a reduced number of plants packaged together. Gone were the once-universal six-packs of annuals, replaced by four-packs. Only one big-box nursery offered eight-packs. As I proceeded through the checkout line, I could see that people were eager to scoop them up.