Great gardens have much in common with other works of art—form, color, structure, light, space and an indefinable “something” that draws viewers in. Unlike other masterpieces, however, gardens are ephemeral. Any gardener can tell you what happens when you leave a landscape untended for even a month. Lines blur, thuggish plants grow large while less … Read more
Whenever I am away from the garden for any reason I make a habit of greeting it when I return. This process involves a tour of the front and back and includes noting which plants are flourishing, pulling out an egregious weed here or there and reacquainting myself with my little slice of Eden. The … Read more
The other day I needed a rose—a special rose with certain very specific characteristics. It had to have beautiful blossoms, decent-looking leaves and a repeat blooming habit. Fragrance was a given. This much-needed plant also had to be pest and disease resistant and require very little care. Hearing all of that, some people might point … Read more
High summer has just passed. In the roadside ditches and hedgerows near my Central New York State summer cottage, the green milkweed pods are fattening up. In another month they will be brown and ready to split, dispersing their silk-clad seeds. Sulfur butterflies dance over Queen Anne’s lace, chicory, butter-and-eggs and early goldenrod. The air … Read more
Pity the poor common chicory or Cichorium intybus, a Mediterranean native that has made itself at home all over the United States, gracing roadsides, field edges and other untended spaces. The semi-double daisy flowers are the most beautiful shade of sky-blue, but the stems are gangly and scraggly, with rough-looking toothed leaves. On top of … Read more
