It is now officially mid-spring and everything has burst into bloom. The last magnolia flowers are colliding with the first of the dogwood blooms, not to mention the unfurling of the first lilacs. Fluffy double cherry blossoms weigh down branches, while ornamental plums and pears strut their stuff in slightly more decorous fashion. Amid all … Read more
This morning I woke up and looked out the window to see five deer exiting my neighbor’s yard for a foray into the gardens across the street. My first thought was that the deer looked rather well-fed, probably as the result of dining on plants in my garden. I raced outside to take inventory of … Read more
I went to Chincoteague Island, Virginia, last week to relax for a few days and see the wild horses made famous in author Marguerite Henry’s 1947 book Misty of Chincoteague. I caught sight of some of the horses, along with a wide variety of shore birds, wildflowers and gorgeous ocean scenery. It was inspiring and … Read more
Onion grass is rearing its slender, onion-scented head right now, heralding the longer days and warmer temperatures of spring. It is one of the seasonal scourges of lawn-proud suburbanites, not to mention dedicated gardeners. If you saw a clump of onion grass that had been dug up and cleaned, you might mistake it for a … Read more
The poet Robert Browning wrote, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” I am not sure about the “should”, but I do know that for most gardeners, “reach”—our visions and aspirations for the garden—will almost always exceed our “grasp”, which is what is actually attainable. This is never truer than in spring, when everything alive … Read more
