Sedum

SEDUM               For years I thought that sedum were a bit like bran muffins.  You know that you are supposed to like them, but you rarely find a good one.  I still haven’t found a good bran muffin, but now I have evolved into an individual who really appreciates a first rate sedum.  This … Read more

Fall Plants and Plans

FALL PLANTS AND PLANS               I have always thought that most gardeners do not pay enough attention to the fall garden.  Of course, things are not nearly as bad as they used to be in the nineteen sixties and seventies when the majority of people relied almost entirely on the so-called “hardy mums” to … Read more

Hardy Cyclamen

HARDY CYCLAMEN             I am a great advocate of getting down on your knees and weeding.  It’s very bad for the weeds, because there is no escape for them when a gardener gets so close to the earth.  It’s very good for you because it provides a completely different perspective than the one you see … Read more

Miles to Go

MILES TO GO             When I started on my personal garden perfection project last February, I gave myself one year to make the garden so lovely that I wouldn’t be ashamed to take a page from garden writer Beverley Nichols’ book and invite anyone and everyone to see it.  In between then and now I’ve … Read more

Paperwhites

PAPERWHITES             I have a love/hate relationship with paperwhites, those non-hardy narcissus whose bulbs are on sale everywhere starting about now.  When they bloom, these relatives of the common daffodil are lovely and winsome–a harbinger of spring at a dark time of year.  Buying them always seems like a good idea in October, which is … Read more