The Gardeners' Apprentice BOOMING HYDRANGEAS This has been a wonderful year for hydrangeas. I see the evidence in my own garden, as the ‘Nikko Blue’ mopheads show off their billows of cerulean flowerheads. It may be just a trick of the light, but the one in the shadiest spot has the bluest flowers. My large oakleaf variety, Hydrangea … Read more
POWER TOOLS Last weekend I liberated myself from toil, cast aside romantic notions and joined the ranks of bona fide suburbanites. I used an electric hedge trimmer for the first time. What compelled me to cross this domestic Rubicon? I finally realized that I was completely overmatched in my ongoing battle with the overgrown privet … Read more
DAISY FLEABANE The Compositae or daisy family is huge and its members are everywhere, from the toniest gardens to vacant lots. If you have ever cultivated–deliberately or by accident–cosmos, coreopsis, Shasta daisies, ox-eye daisies, sunflowers, helenium, chrysanthemums, Gaillardia or asters; you have been involved with daisies. These days you could fill an entire large garden … Read more
JUNE STRAWBERRIES One day last week I had strawberries for lunch–nothing else, just strawberries. Why? Because I picked almost a quart from my garden and it was the very first time I had gotten such a large harvest all at once. Strawberries are best consumed as soon as possible after they are purchased or picked, … Read more
ENTWINED IN TWINE Sometimes people approach me and ask for the secret of my gardening success. I would never say so, but I suspect some of those people might have to redefine the word “success” if they actually saw my garden. Still, I feel no compunction at all about revealing my secret weapon in the … Read more
