After about three years of indecision and inattention, I have finally acquired a crape myrtle, known to its botanist friends as Lagerstroemia indica. The acquisition involved aging by yet another year and alerting my daughter to the fact that a crape myrtle might make a wonderful birthday present. Now, I am the proud owner of … Read more
Sometimes I find Joe Pye-weed, or Eupatorium maculatum, annoying. Let me count the ways. First, the North American native plant is vigorous to the point of invasiveness, with a seed germination rate that must be about 150 percent. The wind carries those seeds all over the place, starting new colonies wherever the seeds happen to … Read more
My late summer garden is still waiting for its moment of glory—when the New England asters that have multiplied in droves, will burst into waves of blue, pink and purple glory. In the meantime, my spirits are bolstered by a few large dots of landscape color, including the last of the purple and white coneflowers, … Read more
The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty bears lines from the 1883 poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. Among those lines are: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,…” The same words might be carved in stone over my front porch, but they would apply to plants instead … Read more
“I love your wildflowers,” said the contractor last week, looking over my garden. He was thinking, “this place looks completely wild.” “Thank you,” I said, taking in the same scene. I was thinking with chagrin, “this garden is in the middle of the midsummer uglies.” The problem, of course, is the asters. My front garden, … Read more
