* 'Take Joy! The World of Tasha Tudor' runs through April 6 at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. ''She's planting stuff now that will mature down the road. ''She's livelier than most 21-year-olds,'' says Martin. What will happen to Tudor's garden once she moves on to the greener fields in the sky? Martin says a garden conservancy has asked her, but it's not a subject Martin would think of discussing with Tudor. ''Tasha's fond of saying things about her garden like: `The mice have nothing to do here over the winter but move my bulbs around,' '' says Martin. Fortunately she doesn't put them in bulb by bulb but instead places them in carefully dug shallow trenches. ''The garden always starts with manure,'' says Martin.Įach year Tudor plants new bulbs - lots of those, too - like 2,000 at a time. When early spring brings the mud season, which Martin says is worse than the snow, Tudor begins the annual ritual of spreading manure - lots of it - from her goats and from neighbors' stockpiles. Strawberry pots are her favorite because they allow a profusion of plants to show off together.

Instead she prefers to use the clay pots she has collected during her worldwide travels. Tudor also pots endless containers of bulbs such as paperwhites, bringing them out in stages after Christmas so she always haa blooms to brighten the snowy days and then the mud season that signals the pending arrival of spring. Even the barn is attached to the house so she doesn't have to go outside to feed her animals. Camellias and gardenias are among the potted plants she stores in a lean-to greenhouse attached to the main house. Foxgloves and hollyhocks show off their colors under the summer sun, and boughs of fall foliage just wait to be picked and stored as wintertime treats for the goats.ĭuring the winter, Tudor fusses with indoor gardening.

Tasha Tudor's Garden by Tovah Martin