I love my cottage-style garden, with its masses of flowers and greenery. At my place, the garden has plenty of classical elements including brick paths, hedges and stone walls, but the plants rule the roost. The flip side of all that cottage garden charm is that masses of flowers and greenery can easily become messes … Read more
Back before the dawn of time and the omnipresence of e-Bay, you used to be able to find dusty little antique shops on side streets in towns and cities all over the country. Those shops were generally filled with equal measures of junk and treasure, though sometimes it seemed that little if any merchandise changed … Read more
I find lots of inspiration in the works of contemporary botanists, designers, gardeners and plant lovers, but I also comb through history for role models. A few weeks ago, Skylands, New Jersey’s official botanical garden, held its annual plant sale. This year’s sale included a used book table and I found my dose of inspiration … Read more
Lately the morning news is full of breathless anchor people announcing that someone in some suburb has sighted a coyote. Easterners thought coyotes were romantic back when they howled at us long-distance from the West; it’s different now the feral canines are here among us. The coyotes are keeping company in our backyards, parks, train … Read more
A neighbor stopped by not long ago and said, “What are those beautiful aqua iris by your front walk?” The iris in question were small but glorious, resembling a cluster of orchids or a small flock of butterflies hovering just above ground level. The three outer petals or falls of each one were pale aqua-blue … Read more
