The Gardeners' Apprentice VERBASCUM I am now the proud owner of a Verbascum phoenicium or purple mullein. It’s quite a statuesque individual, with basal clusters of eight inch-long leaves that look like lettuce or spinach. The flower stalk is about three feet tall and completely covered with tiny white flowers whose petals shade to purple at the … Read more
RUNAWAY WISTERIA Many years ago, a well-meaning gardener planted wisteria on the lot next door. She probably intended for it to adorn the arch that sits on the property line. She may have thought the long, purple, pea-like flower bunches would look lovely spiraling along the old wire cemetery fencing that flanked the arch. … Read more
DIGGING UP TROUBLES Not long ago, I had a day that came laden with at least a month’s quota of vexatious people and situations. After eight hours of querulous callers, enervating e-mailers and bureaucratic snafus, I felt like Hamlet when he said, “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses … Read more
GETTING PHYSICAL IN THE GARDEN Three seasons a year, nurseries are full of “easy care” plants. Garden and shelter publications routinely trumpet the virtues of these green wonders, which, if you believe the write-ups, do everything except dig holes and install themselves. In the American nursery business, the trend over the last decade has … Read more
EVICTING THE ROSE I am not very good at ending relationships–even with inanimate objects. My cellar is full of gadgets with which I once had a passionate involvement. Years may have gone by since the last encounter, but I still find it difficult to get them out of my life and off my premises. … Read more
