Previous generations had no “second season”, just as they never experienced the Halloween industrial complex or the curse of perpetual screen time. Fall used to be a leisurely affair that included harvesting whatever was left in the vegetable garden and replacing the fading pots of annuals by the front door with plump chrysanthemums. It also … Read more
In a memorable scene from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, the character of Emile de Becque sings: “Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger, You may see a stranger across a crowded room,…” I had a similar feeling one semi-enchanted afternoon, when I saw a bush clematis across a crowded garden center. … Read more
Cleaning up an overgrown garden is a little like a soap opera, complete with births, deaths, ambitious characters, opportunists, odd match-ups and thuggish intruders. As a gardener, you act as director and editor, generally simplifying the plot line, cleaning up messy situations, and making the whole more coherent. I did this recently with a garden … Read more
Last week I saw a field of wild bergamot or Monarda fistulosa in full bloom. This miracle of nature, which may or may not have been helped along by human beings, was a sea of pale purple. Butterflies—monarchs, sulphurs, swallowtails and red admirals—danced just above the blooms, landing long enough to sip nectar. The buzzing … Read more
Right now, in mid-July, the roses are taking a mid-season rest, while the daisies—coneflowers, coreopsis and Shastas—take center stage. I love them all, but at this moment I am absolutely infatuated with the streptocarpus plants that are currently strutting their flowery stuff on my covered front porch. The name “streptocarpus” is awful, invoking virulent sore … Read more
