PRIMROSE WARBURG I am hot on the trail of Primrose Warburg and the hunt is getting interesting. Thank goodness it is winter and I don’t have to interrupt my pursuit of this fascinating and illusive subject to mow the grass or weed the garden. In the United States we don’t often name our sons Giles … Read more
UP A TREE My psyche has cried out for more clematis for the longest time, but I thought that I had no room for new acquisitions. If my garden had traditional axial symmetry, I would create an allée of regularly spaced pillars with clematis and climbing roses twining around them. Unfortunately my small garden … Read more
PIGSQUEAK We don’t hear pigs squeak in the suburbs any more. Local zoning keeps even the most devoted locavores from becoming livestock owners. Some of us do harbor pigsqueak in our gardens though, and more of us should follow suit. “Pigsqueak” is the common name for bergenia, a lovely landscape plant. It is … Read more
SHADY PLOTS About fifteen years ago, the then-owner of my house decided to build a big new garage. I don’t know for sure, but I assume that the original garage was a one-car structure built sometime between 1882, when the house was constructed, and World War Two. Both my neighbors, whose houses are similar … Read more
EDIBLE ORNAMENTALS I have discovered that I do some of my best garden work when I am motivated by a grand scheme or a master plan. Last year the “garden perfection plan” impelled me to take one year and make the garden as close to perfect as possible. That plan doesn’t really end until … Read more
