I love the process of “setting the garden to rights” each spring. This spring the task is especially daunting because of the aftereffects of Hurricane Sandy. I am very lucky that all I have to worry about is the garden, but the work is still there. The rear of my back garden was covered with … Read more
Paging through an English garden magazine recently, I saw a column devoted to the snowdrop chapter of the unwritten garden rule book. Traditional wisdom holds that snowdrops should only be divided and transplanted “in the green”—just as the blooms fade in early spring. Many snowdrop growers have followed that rule since the beginning of time—or … Read more
Now that the first of the little early crocuses—Crocus chrysanthus—have opened their petals, I am opening the seed catalogs to put together my orders. Of course, I peruse websites and visit garden centers as well, but I cling to the notion that there is nothing like catalog browsing to whet the gardening appetite. Every year … Read more
Look out the window. Does the outdoor landscape make you want to go outside and tackle some garden work? As February ends, the weather can be anything from a blizzard to a sixty degree humidity-fest. It is hard to know what to do. However, if you are like me and have advanced cabin fever, there … Read more
Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, before plant breeding was the domain of huge conglomerates, the breeding and nursery business often ran in families. The Lemoine family of Nancy, France was one of those multi-generational concerns, breeding and selling plants from 1849 through 1960. Victor Lemoine, his wife, Marie Louise, their son, … Read more
