In spring and fall, when the garden is either just waking up or going about the business of the fall shutdown, small flowers are easier to notice. The other day I was stopped dead in my tracks by a clump of saffron crocus or Crocus sativus. The clump has been in the same place, under … Read more
Back in the seventeenth century, the word “cockscomb” was used to describe a person, generally male, who was foppish or overly preoccupied with his appearance. The term is so descriptive that it is a shame that it has fallen out of use. “Cockscombs” walk among us still. The word was originally used to describe the … Read more
I have always been insecure about plant propagation. This is not to say that my plant holdings have failed to increase. I glory in the fact that many of my garden beauties propagate themselves by flagrant reseeding. The daylilies increase all on their own, as do ajugas and other plants that spread by underground roots, … Read more
It has been at least four years since I last grew the lovely plumbago, with its cascading habit and sky-blue flowers. This was not because I had grown tired of plumbago, but because my last plumbago grew tired of me and died. I did not take it personally, since the death happened in January, as … Read more
Spring has arrived and the winter ceasefire in my personal, perpetual war on English ivy has officially expired. A pile of the severed vines sits in the backyard, waiting to be obliterated in the mulching process. This was only the first salvo of the new growing season, but it gave me enormous satisfaction, not to … Read more
