The weather for the last few days has been as gray and sticky as the slugs it seems to generate. The most pervasive scent in my dripping garden is the smell of honeysuckle drifting over from the neighbors’ yard. I let my nose revel in the sweet fragrance, even though I have done my best … Read more
TOO MUCH, TOO FAST This is the time of year when the garden is a rampaging torrent of growth. Plants—cultivated and wild—are increasing with reckless abandon, vying with each other in Darwinian attempts to attract as many pollinators as possible. Every day I pull out handfuls of garlic mustard, chickweed, immature pokeweed and other noxious … Read more
Life in my garden each season can be like a telenovela, with a cast of colorful characters, a somewhat improbable plot line, tempestuous relationships and the occasional untimely death. Of course telenovelas generally involve a lot of hair tossing and that doesn’t happen much at my place. Still, the similarities are there. This year’s dramatic … Read more
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
Last week I saw a one-gallon container of old-fashioned double columbines at my neighborhood big box store. This is a sure sign that columbine—aquilegia to horticulturists—has arrived in a big way. The plants, generally short-lived perennials, have been spring harbingers in the Old and New Worlds for centuries. Now they are suddenly as à la … Read more
