I blame my daughter for bringing Charmelia into the house. We have been trading a nasty cold back and forth for weeks, alternating stages so that one of us always has a congested head and the other a hacking cough. Last week, she was temporarily in the recovery stage of her particular cold and went … Read more
One of the great joys of gardening and writing about plants is amassing a collection of books. These days, you might argue that everything is available online, via e–books or other electronic means. That may be so, but it would be hard to find a substitute for Botanicum by illustrator, Katie Scott, and scientist, Kathy … Read more
In light of 2016’s many significant events, you may not have noticed that it was the “Year of the Cosmos”. But noticed or unnoticed, Fleuroselect, the Netherlands-based horticulture trade group, decreed that last year, cosmos were the brightest stars in the horticultural heavens. It may be a coincidence, or not, but at the same time, … Read more
My friend, the ace flower arranger, made a flamboyant holiday arrangement the other day featuring a fountain-like array of crystal vessels festooned with an extravagant amount of red-berried nandina. The whole thing turned out to be a bit over-the-top for her home décor, so she offered me the nandina. I jumped at the chance, since … Read more
CYCLAMEN Florists’ cyclamen—Cyclamen persicum–are great imposters. Despite the Latin name, they do not hail from Persia or modern-day Iran. The flowers look more like orchids than their primrose-family affiliation might suggest, and their leaves, when massed together, look less like foliage and more like marble or damask fabric. Beguiling plant buyers with their ravishing … Read more
