I have always envied gardeners who boast that they have something in bloom outdoors 365 days a year. In a cold winter climate that is just about impossible, unless you count the final fall flower remnants that somehow cling to blackened stems into January. I call that cheating and I won’t do it. At least … Read more
At this time of year, all it takes is a few balmy days to trigger the gardening itch. As soon as the temperature hovers above 50 degrees and the wind abandons howling in favor of murmuring, I have one foot out the door. I am fooling myself, of course. February thaws are among of Nature’s … Read more
Today I made a foray into the semi-snowy wasteland that is my back garden to see if I could find any hellebore buds. Recent snowfall has covered the big Christmas rose—Helleborus niger—with a white blanket. I scratched through it, but no buds have had the courage to pop out yet. Next week, after a few … Read more
For millennia gardens and gardening have been used as metaphors for life. English author Edith Pargeter, who wrote under the name Ellis Peters, created a many-volume series from that metaphor when she wrote her Brother Cadfael mystery books. Her sleuth/protagonist, Cadfael, tended his herb garden in the same intelligent, methodical and patient way that he … Read more
I hate to brag, but my hellebores are glorious. Little plants that I bought several years ago and installed in my front strip on a wing and a prayer have arrived at maturity. The gentle, open winter, with few really cold days and little snow has been a tonic for them, coaxing them into bud … Read more
