Joseph Rock

If I had the means and motivation to annex my neighbor’s property, I would create a garden room devoted to peonies of all sorts. In my mind’s eye, the scene unfolds, with hundreds of garden peonies, otherwise known as Paeonia lactiflora, in bloom. Tree peonies—Paeonia suffuticosa–would abound. Intersectional types, a marriage of tree and garden … Read more

A New Leaf

I am an absolute sucker for old-style plant catalogs. Sure, vendors offer greater variety online, and I always order that way, but there is something irresistible about all of those vibrant flowers, fruits and vegetables. They demand your full attention and all but leap off the pages, making it clear that their ultimate intention is … Read more

Japanese Painted Fern

I have friends and relatives who are nuts about ferns, from great big ostrich ferns to small ground-hugging varieties. In spring, these fern lovers take walks in damp, muddy woods just to see the young fronds, or fiddleheads, before they unfurl. In summer, they pour water on their prized ferns to keep them from curling … Read more

The Earliest Climber

In my part of the world, snow is on the menu for today, and the first few flakes of an expected four to six inch accumulation are swirling down from above. In the house, a couple of last year’s amaryllis plants are flowering, in the company of a reblooming kalanchoe. The blue butterfly bush, Clerodendron … Read more

Flower Free Clivia

I have been enchanted by Clivia miniata, which usually just goes by “clivia”, or sometimes “fire lily”, for a long time. A few years ago, I succumbed and bought a clivia from a vendor at the Philadelphia Flower show. I brought it home, put it in a choice location beside the other house plants on … Read more