Goldfinches and thistles are creatures of high summer that share a life-sustaining bond. The common bull or spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare) grows and thrives under a wide range of conditions, including many that other plants find inhospitable. Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) frequent the fields, roadsides and other places where thistles are common. I think of the … Read more
I don’t know how I have missed ‘Dragon Heart’, an eye-catching hardy geranium that has been on the market for the last several years at least. It grabbed me–almost literally–at a garden center, as it sprawled from a quart pot in the half -off aisle. The blossoms are bright magenta-purple, with dramatic dark centers and … Read more
Central New York– The wildflowers in Central New York this year are more sparse than in most summers and often stunted. Drought in late June and early July put a damper on normal development. Even the stalwart Queen Anne’s lace is shorter and the frilly parasol-like flowerheads are smaller. In the roadside drainage ditches there … Read more
When I am doing battle with the English ivy at home, I am convinced there is nothing worse. It inveigles its way into the garden beds, climbs the sides of the house and races up and over the perimeter fence. Some days it scales the trees faster than the squirrels. If you tear it off … Read more
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is one of the best blue-flowered plants around and at this time of the year it is ubiquitous–by roadsides, nudging hedgerows and even making appearances in vacant city lots. The woody stems, rather nondescript leaves and modest buds are nothing to write home about. The flowers, though, distill the color of the … Read more
