Christopher Lloyd –1921-2006—was an opinionated curmudgeon and one of the twentieth century’s greatest gardeners. A native of England’s East Sussex, he was a great cook, writer, bon vivant, lover of opera and a fount of horticultural knowledge. He loved dachshunds and named his own after favorite flowers. He did not suffer fools. Though Lloyd was … Read more
DISTANT DRUMS The Sound of Music, a wonderful Rogers and Hammerstein musical, has a song in the first act called “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” in which the Mother Abbess of an Austrian convent muses tunefully about how to deal with an errant postulant. As fans of the musical know, Maria, … Read more
Four years ago I planted a little Carolina silverbell tree—Halesia Carolina, sometimes known as Halesia tetraptera–in front of my house. It wasn’t much of a tree then. Rescued from potential oblivion after failing to sell at a charity plant sale, it was only about four feet tall. I had a space that needed a tree … Read more
WEEDS EVERYWHERE This year our area has had a long, cool spring. As the result, the spring flowers have lingered. Plants that don’t usually flower at the same time are blooming simultaneously, giving the entire area the appearance of one big flower show. The last of the magnolias are colliding with the lilacs. Pansies … Read more
The print and online worlds are awash in a sea of discussion about impatiens. For those of you who have been out in the garden or otherwise not paying attention, Impatiens walleriana, the bright, shade-loving bedding annuals, are suffering from an epidemic of downy mildew. This blight, which shows up as a gray coating on … Read more
