TAKE IT EASY I was out in the garden today–planting, weeding, trimming and rearranging things. Just as I was about to divide a large clump of grape hyacinths, I became aware of the unmistakable sound of the Eagles singing the refrain of one of their best-known songs: “Take it easy, take it easy. Don’t … Read more
TREASURES OF EASTERN EUROPE A couple of years ago I was looking for a large-flowered clematis for my garden. Paging through various catalogs, I noticed a lot of clematis named after famous Poles. One of the most notable was ‘Cardinal Wyszynski’, a large, red-flowered variety, named after Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, former Roman Catholic Primate … Read more
BOOK REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL MADNESS Veteran writer James Dodson used to have a single passion–golf. As a golf writer, he also had a dream job, traveling the world to interview golfers and play the great courses. But when the North Carolina-born Dodson and his wife bought a piece of property in Maine over twenty-five … Read more
COMPANION PLANTING The practice of companion planting has been going on for centuries. Now that everything green is chic again, it’s fashionable once more. It’s easy, can produce excellent results and often reduces or eliminates the need for pesticides. Companion planting simply means pairing or grouping different kinds of plants that perform beneficial … Read more
CONEFLOWER CRAZY I am having a crisis. The plant breeders and nurserymen of this world are conspiring to drive me crazy and they have just about succeeded. Unlike all those medical and psychological conditions that you hear about on television–RLS, GERD, SAD–there is no pharmaceutical remedy for my problem. It doesn’t even have initials … Read more
