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
It may not be obvious, but elephants are rampaging in our homes and gardens. Large and impressive, they fill spaces with life and texture in exchange for ready supplies of food and water. The one thing they don’t do is awaken the neighbors with noisy trumpeting. This is clearly a blessing, especially if you live … Read more
There is an old Christian hymn that starts, “Lo, how a rose ere blooming, forth from a tender stem.” The lyrics continue, describing a rose that blooms “amid the cold of winter.” Despite the fact that a winter-blooming rose is a seasonal impossibility in this climate, I persist in looking for one. In fact, that … Read more
August makes me think of green things, like the giant luna moth, which I have sighted on August evenings, and peridot, the green-shaded August birthstone. But I think the best green thing in the August garden is the “August lily”, or Hosta plantaginea. Why is this hosta, sometimes also know as Corfu lily, white plantain … Read more
When is a barberry not a barberry? When it is a bishop’s hat. And sometimes that bishop’s hat is also known as barrenwort, fairy wings or even horny goat weed. In all cases, the plant in question is epimedium, a shade-loving, spring bloomer that covers ground in a very appealing way. When most of us … Read more
