As I look out on my winter-weary garden, I am reminded of the newest fashion in gardening–”rewilding”. It is popping up with increasing frequency in gardening publications, especially those emanating from Great Britain. Clearly as far as “rewilding” goes, I am fashion forward. In fact, at this moment, considering all that I neglected to do … Read more
Every year as spring approaches, one of my favorite seed companies sends me a free sample of a new variety, along with promotional literature. Sometimes the seeds are for something that I am unlikely to grow—like the latest and best kohlrabi. I happily donate seeds like that to a vegetable-growing friend. This year the seeds … Read more
Not long ago the mailman dropped off the wonderful snowdrop catalog that my friend, Hitch Lyman, puts out every year. As you might expect, Hitch always waxes poetic, practical and whimsical about his line-up of unusual snowdrops, but he also has a long history of including inspiring quotes on the back cover. This year’s quote … Read more
Sometimes the universe sends signals so strong they simply can’t be ignored. In my case, those signals add up to a cosmic call of the Nile. Over the past few weeks, I have been seeing trailers for the latest screen adaptation of Agatha Christie’s great mystery, Death on the Nile. It has an all-star cast, … Read more
Novice gardeners—and even some experienced ones—often curse the shade that looms over their beds, borders and other growing spaces. One of the immutable facts of gardening life is that if you want armloads of roses or bushels of tomatoes, you need lots of sunshine. Given that reality, you have two choices. Either you can move … Read more
