Every year in late December scores of visitors make their way to Stonehenge, the ancient earth and stone monument near Salisbury, England, to celebrate the winter solstice. The enormous stones are arranged on a solstitial axis, meaning that at the winter solstice, the sun sets directly over the stones at one end of the axis. … Read more
Not long ago a friend described the process of wrapping her fig tree—Ficus carica–for the winter. The image triggered a cascade of memories, going back to my childhood in western New York State. My town had a very large Italian-American population and many families, especially those with immigrant parents or grandparents, grew figs. I am … Read more
GARDENER’S GIFTS Every year at holiday time, gift givers everywhere give thanks for their friends’ and relatives’ hobbies. Where would we be without culinary gadgets for the cooks, golf paraphernalia for the duffers and Sephora gift cards for those with an unquenchable desire for makeup? Gardening offers the same gifting opportunities. However, there is … Read more
Winter has set in for good and even the toughest of the garden flowers have gone the way of all things. I look longingly on the remains of the last fall-blooming crocuses—two brave singletons that bloomed on a warm day last week. Having done their duty, they have folded their petals and taken to their … Read more
Nearly two centuries ago, Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, an English physician and amateur botanist, made a surprising discovery. Ward liked to study moth chrysalises, which he kept secure in sealed glass containers. Inspection of one such container revealed that seeds embedded in a bit of dirt inside had germinated and sprouted. He left the container unopened … Read more
