Fawn Hill Farms

FAWN HILL FARMS Many things burst into bloom at this time of year, including designer show houses, which generally pop up in areas fertilized by significant amounts of money. For at least a couple of months in high show house season, fans of interior and garden design can scout the latest trends, evaluate the work … Read more

Anemonella

ANEMONELLA Anemonella sounds like a disease caused by anemone-shaped bacteria. It is not. Anemonella is neither a disease nor an anemone. It is, in fact, a lovely woodland plant and I am completely smitten by it. Not long ago, I caught a glimpse of a white, double-flowered anemonella lounging seductively on a sheltered porch at … Read more

Busy, Busy

BUSY, BUSY Spring is poetry on steroids. A million plants explode out of the earth within the space of about a week. Blossoms burst open, spewing pollen into the air and every second an additional thousand formerly dry noses begin to drip. Anyone who calls him or herself a gardener should be out in the … Read more

Eglantine

EGLANTINE Gardening is equal parts science, poetry, spirituality and dirt-under-the-fingernails. I was struck by the poetry part several weeks ago when I read a passage in Elizabeth Lawrence’s book gardening for Love. Ms. Lawrence mentions references in old southern market bulletins to a rose called “sweetbriar.” “Sweetbriar is the poet’s eglantine, Rosa eglanteria,” she says, … Read more

Edibles–2010

EDIBLES–2010 Anyone who has been around for awhile and is the slightest bit attuned to horticultural fashion trends knows that ten years ago kitchen gardens and ornamental potagers were all the rage. Back then, the 2000 Philadelphia Flower Show featured edible and ornamental plants mingled with wild abandon. Five years later, all of that had … Read more