People occasionally ask me why I keep my large, sometimes unruly garden, when it is clearly a lot of work. The questions usually come when the weather is hot, sticky and generally infernal, or when I have been overdue in mowing the square of lawn in the front yard. Of course, gardening brings me joy, … Read more
Summer is here and the color dynamic in my front garden has changed. One month ago, purple and white held sway, with the explosion of Siberian iris and the even bigger explosion of tradescantia or spiderwort. Now they have faded away, soon to be cut back. I would allow my army of garden minions to … Read more
True blue flowers don’t happen every day, but when they do, their beauty is heart-stopping. A few years ago, my daughter, the queen of container growing, had a heart-stopping moment with Lithodora diffusa, a small, perennial, ground-covering plant with true blue flowers. She thought it was perfect for a mixed container arrangement. I thought it … Read more
Only eight short weeks ago, gardeners in my part of the world were rhapsodizing over the diminutive glories of snowdrops and crocuses. Now, even the foliage is gone with the wind, and the memory of their charms has been washed away in the high tide of one of the greatest floral show horses of all—the … Read more
It is axiomatic among gardeners that the garden is always at its best either the week before or the week after visitors stop by. “You should have seen it last week,” you say regretfully while looking at the desiccated remains of your formerly sumptuous double daffodils. “Wait until next week,” you mutter, as you point … Read more
