Part of the fun of gardening is discovering and growing new plants. There is nothing better than scrolling through online venders’ websites, or, even better, strolling through the display pallets at the garden center, and feeling the thrill of love at first sight when an unfamiliar species or variety comes into view. Last week I … Read more
Are there parts of your garden, home, or life that leave you perennially dissatisfied? Do those same sources of dissatisfaction get ignored because the presses of business, leisure or ordinary disinclination get in the way? If the answer to any of the above is “yes”, we have something in common. I am ignoring the uncomfortable … Read more
Last year the sporadically fertile soil of my garden gave birth to a giant foxglove. Bearing extremely large rose-purple flowers, it soared to six feet tall. I looked up at it with awe and wonder, since I neither planted nor tended it during its formative months. Foxgloves, or digitalis species, are so easy to grow … Read more
Tall iris time is here—with a vengeance. Last month, the gardens in my neighborhood sparkled with species like Iris cristata and Iris reticulata, dainty varieties that ornament the earth in early spring. Now the statuesque show horses of the Iridaceaee or iris world are enjoying their moment in the sun. In my garden, something unusual … Read more
About 1,000 years ago, or in 1967, to be specific, the Fifth Dimension, a pop group, recorded “Up, Up, and Away,” a song about bout love and ballooning. The refrain goes, “Up, up and away–My beautiful, my beautiful balloon.” It was a huge hit, combining the ideas of love, hot air, and rising above earthly … Read more
