white gardens

Vita in November and December

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Damp, chilly, end-of November/early-December days call for the kind of coziness that can only be achieved by curling up in a warm place with a hot drink and a good book.  In my case, the most recent book was Stephanie Barron’s The White Garden: A Novel of Virginia Woolf.  On the surface, the mystery’s title … Read more

Beautiful Balloons

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Lately the balloon flower—Platycodon grandiflorus—has been stalking me. As I wander through garden centers in search of mid-summer bargains, the inflated buds pop out from the pallets. A neighbor’s border overflows with a blue-flowered variety. Last week, on a visit to the main garden of the Cloisters museum in Upper Manhattan, I saw a giant … Read more