NERINE OR LYCORIS A month or so ago I made a trip to Austerlitz, New York to tour the house and gardens of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. The property, called Steepletop, after a flowering shrub that flourishes in the area, was Millay’s primary residence from 1925 until her death in 1950. Both house and … Read more
CAMPSIS RAMBUNCTIOUS There are some plants you should not grow if your garden is smaller than the state of Delaware. One of them is trumpet vine or Campsis radicans. In the marvelous book, Passalong Plants by southern garden writers Felder Rushing and Steve Bender, the latter refers to trumpet vine as a plant that “brings … Read more
POWER TOOLS Last weekend I liberated myself from toil, cast aside romantic notions and joined the ranks of bona fide suburbanites. I used an electric hedge trimmer for the first time. What compelled me to cross this domestic Rubicon? I finally realized that I was completely overmatched in my ongoing battle with the overgrown privet … Read more
ENTWINED IN TWINE Sometimes people approach me and ask for the secret of my gardening success. I would never say so, but I suspect some of those people might have to redefine the word “success” if they actually saw my garden. Still, I feel no compunction at all about revealing my secret weapon in the … Read more
BUDDLEIA REDUX Four butterfly bushes grow on my property. I bought three of them; the fourth was a gift from a friend who has since moved away. The gift shrub is a rampant self-seeder, which is probably why its original owner was so anxious to get rid of it. I share that joy by giving … Read more
