At this time of the year I want to spend every waking minute in the garden. Unfortunately many of those waking minutes must be spent doing the necessary chores of life, like making money. To add insult to that injury, the weather on the majority of recent days has been so wet that Wellington boots … Read more
The next time you go to the nursery or garden center, lead with your nose. Get up close to the plants that catch your eye and take home the ones with the best fragrance. Your garden, whether it is an estate property upholstered in expensive floral treasures or a collection of annuals in recycled spackle … Read more
Recently a friend invoked the wrath of the Garden Gods. While trimming the winter-worn leaves of her hellebores, she came to a patch of the wonderful Eric Smith hybrid—Helleborus x ericsmithii. These hellebores don’t generally need trimming, because their beautifully marbled foliage remains good-looking right through the winter. Sometimes, however, all those lush green leaves … Read more
Thomas Edison—1847-1931—was an American original, who held 1,093 U.S. patents and invented devices that changed life for just about everyone. From the first practical electric light bulb to the stock ticker, Edison was a genius at coming up with new ideas, but, unlike many genius/inventors, he was also adept at setting up manufacturing processes and … Read more
Around St. Patrick’s Day I like to dip into Thomas Cahill’s wonderful book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. The title is lofty, but the book is very accessible and focuses on how Irish monks helped preserve great works of Classical learning as civilization traveled the path of time from the Roman era to the medieval … Read more
