The print and online worlds are awash in a sea of discussion about impatiens. For those of you who have been out in the garden or otherwise not paying attention, Impatiens walleriana, the bright, shade-loving bedding annuals, are suffering from an epidemic of downy mildew. This blight, which shows up as a gray coating on … Read more
Nearly a decade ago, I first visited Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills, New Jersey. The owners of Greenwood, 28 acres of gardens, structures, outbuildings and naturalized areas, were beginning the process of making the transition from private property to public garden. Deterioration was encroaching on the property, which had its moments of greatest glory in … Read more
For years common straw—that unassuming by-product of grain production—has played a supporting role in our homes and gardens. It has cushioned our strawberries, keeping the fruit from rotting on the ground. It has adorned our porches in the fall, sometimes serving as modular seating for Halloween scarecrows or faux zombies. It has mulched our garden … Read more
Paging through an English garden magazine recently, I saw a column devoted to the snowdrop chapter of the unwritten garden rule book. Traditional wisdom holds that snowdrops should only be divided and transplanted “in the green”—just as the blooms fade in early spring. Many snowdrop growers have followed that rule since the beginning of time—or … Read more
Now that the first of the little early crocuses—Crocus chrysanthus—have opened their petals, I am opening the seed catalogs to put together my orders. Of course, I peruse websites and visit garden centers as well, but I cling to the notion that there is nothing like catalog browsing to whet the gardening appetite. Every year … Read more
