No one has to mulch their garden and there are plenty of reasons—read excuses—not to do so. Suppose you contract with a mulch merchant to dump a big load of the stuff in a corner of your driveway. The load always looks much bigger than you expected and suddenly you have a very visible reminder … Read more
Right now, in mid-July, the roses are taking a mid-season rest, while the daisies—coneflowers, coreopsis and Shastas—take center stage. I love them all, but at this moment I am absolutely infatuated with the streptocarpus plants that are currently strutting their flowery stuff on my covered front porch. The name “streptocarpus” is awful, invoking virulent sore … Read more
Three decades ago, the late American humorist, Erma Bombeck, published a book titled, The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank. I don’t have a septic tank, so I can’t attest to the validity of that statement, but I do know that the houseplants are always healthier over the microwave. There is probably a … Read more
For millennia, the scent of lavender, botanically known as Lavendula, has been renowned for its ability to promote calm, consolation and even pain relief. For those reasons and many others, I grow this well-loved herb in my garden. I don’t have a dedicated herb garden, but I am increasingly using lavender throughout my mixed borders. … Read more
I was very excited recently to see a newspaper article entitled “How to get your garden spring ready in one weekend.” I was ready, the garden was more than ready, and frankly, I was looking for those magical tips and miraculous hacks that would condense the work of several weeks into one forty-eight hour period. … Read more
