The front cover of Hugh Cavendish’s new book, A Time to Plant, looks like an abstract painting in shades of olive green, tan and rust. It is, in fact, a close-up of the exfoliating bark of a stewartia tree. The tree in question is part of a collection of stewartias at Holker Hall, the Cavendish … Read more
If I were paranoid, I would say that I am being stalked by the mallow family. Regular people cannot imagine such a thing, but we plant lovers sometimes can. Consider the following….While walking on a country road in central New York State, I saw a stand of tall, single-flowered hollyhocks blooming by the side of … Read more
Florists call the tall, golden-topped stems “solidago” when they include them in expensive bouquets. I suspect that more than one person has glanced at one of those solidago-laden arrangements and said, “It looks just like goldenrod to me.” And that person would be right. Solidago is simply goldenrod in fancy dress. Just as ancient alchemists … Read more
Most people think small when they think of rock gardens—miniature plants in confined spaces. Leonard J. Buck (1894-1974) was not one of those people. Buck, who made a fortune importing and exporting metal ores, created a thirty-three acre rock garden at his estate in Far Hills, New Jersey. Buck has been gone for forty years, … Read more
Nearly a decade ago, I first visited Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills, New Jersey. The owners of Greenwood, 28 acres of gardens, structures, outbuildings and naturalized areas, were beginning the process of making the transition from private property to public garden. Deterioration was encroaching on the property, which had its moments of greatest glory in … Read more
