CRINUMS Southerners have their little secrets, some of which they have kept for decades, if not centuries. One of those secrets is the crinum, also known as “angel lily,” “apostle lily,” “candystick lily,” Confederate lily,” “deep sea lily,” “milk-and-wine lily,” “peppermint lily” and “southern lily.” You can be sure that anything that has … Read more
Thirty-six days is a little more than a month. I have exactly that much time to finish preparing my garden for the upcoming garden tour. This morning I woke up, looked out the bedroom window and saw a large deer nibbling daintily on my rosebushes. Thirty minutes later I looked out the kitchen window and … Read more
KOREAN SPICE A few years ago I first caught wind–literally–of the fragrant flowers of Viburnum carlesii, also known as Korean spice viburnum. The scent is intensely sweet and pervasive, with just enough clove-like notes to keep it from being cloying. In the space of a few minutes, Korean spice viburnum became my latest … Read more
FIFTY-ONE DAYS The journey to a perfect garden starts with a single bag of mulch. And from now until the Garden Tour, fifty-one days away, “mulch” will be my middle name. I am determined to get the entire garden covered, despite the absence of the burly young men generally employed to handle the chore … Read more
GRACEFUL DRAPES One of the most fashionable structures in any up-to-the-minute landscape is the low, dry-laid stone wall. These walls, which can be remarkably sturdy, are lineal descendents of the stone fences that have marked property boundaries for centuries. Now, some people use them to make terraced beds on gentle slopes. Others install them … Read more
