RAINY DAYS I grew up in a western New York town located about ten miles from an agricultural area known locally as “The Muck”. The Muck had been created from drained swampland in the first third of the twentieth century and was famous for its soil fertility. Onions were the biggest crop and millions … Read more
COREOPSIS I think of coreopsis as a high summer flower. Its bright yellow, daisy-shaped blooms seem most appropriate on hot sunny days when the petals look like golden rays. Since it is still only late spring, I was surprised last week when my Coreopsis grandiflora or large-flowered coreopsis suffered a burst of early exuberance … Read more
BUGLEWEED I don’t know how many times I have heard the old adage, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Usually I have no interest in joining ’em, because I don’t like ’em, but every once in awhile I depart from that practice. About five years ago I did so with bugleweed, which is … Read more
ROSA MUNDI All winter I have been having a crisis of conscience about the enormous stand of miscanthus grass that presides over an area on the south side of my house. Now, just as the light has returned to the landscape after winter’s darkness, I have seen the future of the miscanthus, and it … Read more
RED SALVIA I have never had annual red salvia or Salvia splendens in any of my gardens, but now I find myself thinking about it. My father grew it every year in a long bed in front of our back porch. I don’t remember seeing it happen, but I am pretty sure that he … Read more
