Time was running short and rain was pouring down. I had one available shopping day before my hard-won, garden center bonus bucks were set to expire. There was only one thing to do–get in the car and go. After all, bonus bucks don’t come along every day. Lightening flashes illuminated the route to the excellent, … Read more
Right now morning glories are working their way through the garden, climbing the trellising by the back porch, creeping along the ground in front of the privet hedge and insinuating themselves into the plantings between the sidewalk and the street. In short, they are everywhere. The reason for this is that ‘Grandpa Ott’s’, the variety … Read more
My garden spent most of the month of July sweltering in hot, sticky heat and parched because of minimal rainfall. Even with daily watering, plants suffered, especially those in containers. The end of the month has brought almost too much relief in the form of daily thunderstorms. Mushrooms are growing now in beds that were … Read more
I have waited too long to visit Monet’s Garden at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Yesterday, even though the weather was infernally hot and sticky and thunderstorms were in the forecast, my friend Nancy and I left New Jersey for a rendezvous with the most famous of the Impressionist painters. The work, … Read more
Garden restorations never cease to fascinate me and I am especially inspired by the restoration of the Old English Garden in Battersea Park, London, featured recently in The Guardian newspaper (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2012/jul/13/transformation-old-English-garden-in-pictures?INTCMP=SRCH#/?picture=393026851&index=0). The restoration is being done under the auspices of Thrive, an English charity devoted to horticultural therapy, with the actual work completed by gardening trainees … Read more
