I don’t know how I have missed ‘Dragon Heart’, an eye-catching hardy geranium that has been on the market for the last several years at least. It grabbed me–almost literally–at a garden center, as it sprawled from a quart pot in the half -off aisle. The blossoms are bright magenta-purple, with dramatic dark centers and … Read more
Right now morning glories are working their way through the garden, climbing the trellising by the back porch, creeping along the ground in front of the privet hedge and insinuating themselves into the plantings between the sidewalk and the street. In short, they are everywhere. The reason for this is that ‘Grandpa Ott’s’, the variety … Read more
Garden restorations never cease to fascinate me and I am especially inspired by the restoration of the Old English Garden in Battersea Park, London, featured recently in The Guardian newspaper (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2012/jul/13/transformation-old-English-garden-in-pictures?INTCMP=SRCH#/?picture=393026851&index=0). The restoration is being done under the auspices of Thrive, an English charity devoted to horticultural therapy, with the actual work completed by gardening trainees … Read more
No matter what time it is in my garden, it’s always time to clip the privet. It bounds the front yard on three sides and thrives on a diet of neglect and neighbors’ complaints. I trim and trim. When I am finished with the entire hedge, I start all over again. If I relax with … Read more
An English newspaper recently asked readers about their most frequent garden complaints. Being a veteran gardener, I could think of a few–the string trimmer running out of string in the middle of a job, an invasion of Japanese beetles, the loss of a favorite pair of clippers, etc. But when I think about it, the … Read more
