As they say in the movies, “We have a situation.” The situation in question is on the south side of my house, which is dark, dank and completely lacking in charm. I don’t like it and neither do the plants that live there. It has to be rectified. The relatively narrow area between the side … Read more
Cleaning up an overgrown garden is a little like a soap opera, complete with births, deaths, ambitious characters, opportunists, odd match-ups and thuggish intruders. As a gardener, you act as director and editor, generally simplifying the plot line, cleaning up messy situations, and making the whole more coherent. I did this recently with a garden … Read more
Today the heat is on—literally and figuratively. The autumn equinox has passed and the end of the growing season is in sight, at least in my part of the world. The temperature has taken its first dip into the cooler fall range, though we are only in sweater territory during the day, and warmer weather … Read more
Mothers and gardeners have something in common—their work is never done. Still, as the old year passes away and the New Year waits in the wings, it is a good time to look back at the growing season. Since I am an optimist—as all gardeners should be—I count the successes and not the failures. Failures … Read more
My great-Aunt Adeline, known as “Queenie” to the family, was a small woman who carried a big broom. She swept the front sidewalk every morning, even if there was not a single ant, grass blade or maple samara to be seen. When she and my grandmother “turned out the corners” of the house for seasonal … Read more
