The late Joan Rivers often started comic riffs with the words, “Can we talk?” It’s time to follow her lead and talk about getting through the winter. Some of us give thanks when hard frosts arrive, because we can take a well-deserved break from garden chores. We tend our houseplants, decorate for the holidays and … Read more
At the end of the garden season, I cling to my roses, at least figuratively. Even as night temperatures begin to dip and the geraniums on the porch shiver, I deadhead the roses to keep them producing flower buds. No one knows if the weather will cooperate long enough to bring those buds to bloom, … Read more
There was a time when I had no asters in my front garden. Then I planted one small pot of tall, pink-flowered ‘Alma Potschke’ asters. ‘Alma’ prospered—so much so that now, if I didn’t pull out the seedlings every year, I would have hundreds of ‘Alma Potschke’offspring. Not only do I pull out the seedlings, … Read more
Pity the poor parlor maple. It is not a maple tree by any stretch of the imagination and its days of houseplant stardom peaked back when people still had parlors. It’s a sad predicament for a lovely plant. The plant taxonomists will never assign parlor maples, more formally known as Abutilon x hybrida, to the … Read more
Unless you are a teenager, it is generally a good thing to be “grounded.” For non-teens, the word implies common sense and a focus on reality, as opposed to flights of fantasy. People who are grounded are reliable—the kind you want as friends or neighbors. The kind you rarely get as relatives. More and more … Read more
