HYDRANGEA NEWS In the twenty-first century, all plant stories are international. Plants are developed in one place, registered or patented in various countries and sold everywhere. The plant you buy on a whim at the grocery store might as well have a passport. Its long, international chain of breeders, wholesale growers, large-scale buyers and … Read more
NERINE OR LYCORIS A month or so ago I made a trip to Austerlitz, New York to tour the house and gardens of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. The property, called Steepletop, after a flowering shrub that flourishes in the area, was Millay’s primary residence from 1925 until her death in 1950. Both house and … Read more
CAMPSIS RAMBUNCTIOUS There are some plants you should not grow if your garden is smaller than the state of Delaware. One of them is trumpet vine or Campsis radicans. In the marvelous book, Passalong Plants by southern garden writers Felder Rushing and Steve Bender, the latter refers to trumpet vine as a plant that “brings … Read more
PHLOX REDUX Sometimes you have to recognize the obvious, and in my case right now, the obvious is tall garden phlox. I see it everywhere I go. The other day I visited a historic garden in the midst of renovation. Clouds of blossoming phlox dominated the old kitchen garden. Closer to home, I varied the … Read more
SALVIA VS. VERONICA My father used to say that back in the 1950’s, you could watch just about anything on television as long as it was either wrestling or a western. Westerns have gone the way of all things, but wrestling has made a huge comeback over the last ten years. This makes me feel … Read more
