I have spent part of a fall weekend hot on the trail of a woman named “Dodo Hanbury Forbes.” The quest began when I unpacked Ms. Forbes’ namesake plant, a tall, pink-flowered Phlox paniculata. The phlox was hale and hearty and is residing in a shady area on my back porch for a couple of … Read more
Yesterday I should have edged the beds that surround the front garden and plied the hedge trimmer on the perpetually sprouting privet that bounds the property. Instead I remade a corner of the garden that has never quite succeeded aesthetically and always bothered me. The corner in question is mostly shaded by a nearby maple … Read more
ORNAMENTAL OREGANO I am always looking for non-fussy ground covers that stomp weeds and look good doing it. On a garden center run a few years ago I happened upon ornamental oregano, something I had read about but never tried. The cultivar was ‘Kent Beauty’ and it was in bloom, with pinkish flowerheads that … Read more
A dear friend of mine is trying to grow wisteria. For years she has coveted the feathery foliage and long, fragrant purple racemes of Wisteria sinensis, the traditional Chinese wisteria. One day she ventured into a garden center and fell in love with ‘Amethyst Falls’, billed on the plant tag as a purple-flowered wisteria. She … Read more
It is amazing how far afield you can go on a rainy day when you are trying to order garden phlox. In my case I went all the way to Long Island in the 1920’s, with detours that went even further back. All of this started as a quest for information about a particular tall … Read more
