IRRIGATION The recent dry, extreme heat spell left my garden looking like a corral of crispy critters. The normally boisterous hostas have grown pale, their leaf edges tinged with sepia. Daylilies that bloomed last week now sport foliage that is already brown. The roses are sulking and even the Japanese beetles seem torpid. In short, … Read more
PURSLANE AND PORTULACA Plants and detective work go together. When my daughter worked near the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City, she was forever bringing home interesting tropical plants without tags. I dutifully identified them on the spot or, if I wasn’t sure about their names or origins, I did the appropriate research. Some … Read more
SUCCESS WITH LILIES I hate to brag, but I usually do very well with roses. With a few rare exceptions, which I chalk up to diseases already afflicting specific plants when they were purchased, my roses thrive. I contribute good soil, annual helpings of compost and mulch and excellent karma, but that is it. My … Read more
BOOMING HYDRANGEAS This has been a wonderful year for hydrangeas. I see the evidence in my own garden, as the ‘Nikko Blue’ mopheads show off their billows of cerulean flowerheads. It may be just a trick of the light, but the one in the shadiest spot has the bluest flowers. My large oakleaf variety, Hydrangea … Read more
POWER TOOLS Last weekend I liberated myself from toil, cast aside romantic notions and joined the ranks of bona fide suburbanites. I used an electric hedge trimmer for the first time. What compelled me to cross this domestic Rubicon? I finally realized that I was completely overmatched in my ongoing battle with the overgrown privet … Read more
