The Gardeners' Apprentice COMPANION PLANTING The practice of companion planting has been going on for centuries. Now that everything green is chic again, it’s fashionable once more. It’s easy, can produce excellent results and often reduces or eliminates the need for pesticides. Companion planting simply means pairing or grouping different kinds of plants that perform beneficial … Read more
CONEFLOWER CRAZY I am having a crisis. The plant breeders and nurserymen of this world are conspiring to drive me crazy and they have just about succeeded. Unlike all those medical and psychological conditions that you hear about on television–RLS, GERD, SAD–there is no pharmaceutical remedy for my problem. It doesn’t even have initials … Read more
CHESTNUT FLOWER Back in October I plucked three hyacinth bulbs from the batch that I was about to plant in my garden and brought them inside. .It took all of ten minutes for me to fill three narrow-mouthed jars with water, perch the bulbs atop the containers and put them in the back of … Read more
STRAWBERRIES Supermarket strawberries are the ultimate tease. They are available all year long, and look perfect–big, red and handsome. But if you are seduced into buying a box, you learn the truth with the first bite. The vast majority of supermarket strawberries, like the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes, are handsome on the outside … Read more
PRIMROSE WARBURG I am hot on the trail of Primrose Warburg and the hunt is getting interesting. Thank goodness it is winter and I don’t have to interrupt my pursuit of this fascinating and illusive subject to mow the grass or weed the garden. In the United States we don’t often name our sons Giles … Read more
