Like much of the rest of the world, I love garden peonies—Paeonia lactiflora–for their lush, unabashedly sumptuous flowers and gorgeous colors. A single bloom in a tall bottle constitutes an elegant arrangement. Snip a handful of stems and you can create an over-the-top floral extravaganza. No wonder they are popular as wedding flowers, particularly for … Read more
The more I know of the shrub rose, Rosa ‘Mutabilis’, the more I believe it is a metaphor for life. Think of it–the tightly furled buds are a saucy peach shade that speaks of the flirtatiousness of youth. Those racy young things open into sensible pink blooms, in a bow to the combination of vigor … Read more
I love serendipitous plants—those crafty covert operatives of the horticultural world that seem to spring up unbidden and surprise you with their beautiful flowers. Not long ago a friend had a serendipitous experience with nodding star of Bethlehem or Ornithogalum nutans. Touring her garden one day, she caught it in the act of showing off … Read more
I grew up in a town that was less than an hour’s drive from Niagara Falls, but the only time we paid a call on that natural wonder was when we hosted visitors from England. In similar fashion, I have lived—at least horticulturally speaking—near the perennial hardy geranium ‘Rozanne’ since its introduction in 2000, but … Read more
Sometimes, no matter what you do, plants just die. When it happens, you haul them out of the ground, consign them to the compost pile and ease on down the horticultural road. Other times, you think a plant is dead and it makes a phoenix-like resurrection. This happened to me two weeks ago. The phoenix … Read more
