Pity poor Charles Dudley Warner. Born in 1829, he was a lawyer, newspaper editor/ publisher, prolific writer, confidant of numerous famous people and dedicated amateur gardener. Despite that impressive resume, he is best remembered; when he is remembered at all, as a close friend of Mark Twain. So close, in fact, that a phrase coined … Read more
There is no use trying to avoid it any more—the houseplants are well past the vacation stage and must be brought in. Night temperatures are descending and even though the geraniums, African violets, plumbago and even the potted Abyssinian glads are still blooming gaily, the summer porch party is really over. This year I have … Read more
Being in my garden is my greatest joy. But life events this year have sliced into garden time, shredding it into small, irregular increments. The situation will improve eventually, but as the growing season has progressed, I have learned that even absence from my garden has its compensations. The lesson came from my neighbor, a … Read more
My father used to call them “salad birds”. Reference guides refer to them as Spinus tristus. Most of us know the bright, acrobatic birds as goldfinches. Though they look as colorful as parakeets, guidebook authors sometimes damn these songbirds with faint praise because of their ubiquitous presence among us. All I know is that American … Read more
Every year at this time I take great joy in paging through the paper bulb catalogs and perusing the websites so that I can overspend on spring bulbs in the most discerning and intelligent way. One of my longtime favorite catalogs is Old House Gardens, which describes itself as “Heirloom Bulbs—So Much More Than … Read more
