Fencing With the Garden

Sometimes you choose to make changes in the landscape.  Sometimes the landscape does the deciding.  In my case, the situation is a little bit of both.  The wooden perimeter fence that bounds my backyard is decrepit and needs replacing.  It was handsome once, but that was fifteen years ago.  Weather and normal aging have done … Read more

Mallow Time

It is late summertime, when thoughts turn to back-to-school, shorter days, and, for some people, the imminent return of pumpkin spice-everything.  For me, it is mallow time. The mallow or Malvaceae family is large, containing nearly 250 genera, over 4,000 individual species and even more cultivated varieties.  If the words “malva” and “Malvaceae” mean nothing … Read more

Deep Purple

The rock band Deep Purple was formed in the late 1960’s and named after an old, popular English song.  The first line of that song goes, ‘When deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls…”  The rest is a wistful remembrance of lovers coming together as day fades to night. I think of “Deep Purple” because … Read more

Messy, Messy

I love my cottage-style garden, with its masses of flowers and greenery.  At my place, the garden has plenty of classical elements including brick paths, hedges and stone walls, but the plants rule the roost. The flip side of all that cottage garden charm is that masses of flowers and greenery can easily become messes … Read more