There is something wonderful about coming back to the garden after a trip. My homecoming ritual always starts with a walk around the garden to reintroduce myself to the plants and see what has changed in my absence. And something has always changed, even if I have only been away for a weekend. Flowers bloom … Read more
I have always had a soft spot for alpine plants. Cold winds keep them short and tough. Thin soil forces their roots to reach deep into crevices to find water and nutrients. Short growing seasons mean that they must do their existential tasks—sprouting, flowering and setting seed—in a compressed time frame. All of that is … Read more
A terrible thing has happened. My sister has given me a gift certificate for my favorite perennial plant vendor. Of course I am grateful for the gift, which is enough to buy me a few new plants, but not so much that I can go crazy. The problem is that time, that most precious of … Read more
Everyone has a garden dead zone. It can be a small area or a larger one where nothing seems to last very long. You buy plants over and over again that are labeled as “hardy” or “tough”, and install them with high hopes, only to watch helplessly as they struggle and die. Containers might work … Read more
Sometimes I think it would be useful to have an alias, or maybe even several. A false name allows you to try on other lives and opinions without scaring the people who know you best. The practice has certainly become increasingly popular. People on social media do it all the time. Alicia Amherst, who lived … Read more
