Many of my neighbors have pansies and violas on their porches right now. So do I. The only difference is that some of mine overwintered there. Now they will go out into the garden, joining some of their newly acquired kinfolk in the job of brightening up the beds, while the parade of daffodils, hyacinths … Read more
There is nothing like a tulip, hyacinth or daffodil in its first spring. All the energy that growers in the Netherlands or elsewhere have pumped into the bulbs is distilled into glorious floral display. Tulips stand strong and proud, with magnificent multi-colored petals. If the daffodils’ trumpets could sound, they would be loud enough to … Read more
Every five or ten years the horticultural world goes through a vogue for patterned leaves. Everything old is new again as gardeners snap up some of the flashier hostas, variegated weigelas, Japanese painted ferns and all manner of plants with splotched, splashed and marbled leaves. Breeders pump out even more of them to meet the … Read more
The snow is finally melting in my part of the world, after an intensely hyped “blizzard” ten days ago. Gardeners are emerging from their lairs and approaching their beds, borders and overwintered containers with low expectations. After an “open” winter, with fairly reasonable temperatures and almost no snow, we were hit with a series of … Read more
Surfacing at the end of winter like a horticultural life raft, the week-long Philadelphia Flower Show is salvation for gardeners grown weary of cold weather. The Philadelphia Convention Center, a cavernous place, is filled with flowers and plants, from tulips to exotic orchids to beautifully grown succulents. Flowers strut their stuff in display gardens and … Read more
