TULIP DILEMMA Right now, as the first daffodils are opening in the warmer, more sheltered spots in my home town, I am awash in a high tide of gardening magazines. Their pages are overflowing with gorgeous photo spreads of spring gardens and all of those gardens are full of tulips. The bright flowers are … Read more
ITALY COMES TO PHILADELPHIA I can say without the slightest hesitation that my daughter, husband and even the cats have better social lives than I do. I envy them 364 days a year. The one exception is the day I go to the Philadelphia Flower Show. The Flower Show is the biggest annual … Read more
RED SALVIA I have never had annual red salvia or Salvia splendens in any of my gardens, but now I find myself thinking about it. My father grew it every year in a long bed in front of our back porch. I don’t remember seeing it happen, but I am pretty sure that he … Read more
SPRING IN SIGHT The bad thing about February is that even if the month were only twenty-five days long instead of twenty-eight, it would still be the longest one of the year. Neither the presidents’ days nor Valentine’s Day make it any better–unless you happen to work for a greeting card company. In … Read more
GLADIOLUS In my experience, men and women differ in their appreciation of gladiolus. Several women of my acquaintance call them “funeral flowers,” and even though mums and roses appear just as often in undertaking establishments, the women scorn only glads. Other female friends dislike the statuesque stalks because they appear “stiff” or “formal”. My … Read more
