The Gardeners' Apprentice My collections of garden books and garden weeds are roughly the same size. I haven’t learned much from the weeds–except that they are eternal–but I have learned a lot from the books. There are some lessons, though, that only experience can teach. Here are a few of them. Self Seeding vs. Self Preservation—If you have … Read more
My grandparents’ house was like a small English island in the middle of a vast American sea. They went back and forth to regularly to visit English relatives and the relatives, in turn, sent gifts of impenetrable black fruitcakes every Christmas. A biscuit tin bearing the likenesses of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth sat … Read more
I always aim to be thrifty; occasionally I succeed. Back in March I filled each of the two big pots that flank our front steps with a white-flowered hellebore surrounded by purple and white violas. That serendipitous combination looked great for a full three months because spring was slow and cool. Now that the … Read more
A few weeks ago I wrote about crinums, an old southern garden stalwart that I coveted for years and finally acquired. I also mentioned another frost-tender object of horticultural desire—agapanthus or Lily of the Nile. At the time, I thought it was unlikely that an agapanthus would find its way into my garden in the … Read more
Pittsburgh is a city built partly on a foundation of steel—or at least the money derived from its manufacture. Nineteenth century industrialists like Andrew Carnegie amassed fortunes from steel made in the corner of Pennsylvania defined by three rivers: the Allegheny, the Monongahela and the offspring of their union, the Ohio. Today the philanthropy of … Read more
