SIXTY-FIVE DAYS The weather is unseasonably warm. The snowdrops and early crocuses have thrown in the towel and are beginning their slow disappearing act. The daffodils are coming on strong. Flowering quinces are right behind them and all the other spring plants are revving up. On quiet days you can almost hear them. … Read more
GROWING FOOD Back in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, the average middle class homeowner put decorative garden elements in the front yard and more utilitarian features in the back. Food growing, laundry drying and chicken husbandry all took place in the back. The neighbors knew that you did such things, … Read more
EIGHTY DAYS In 1883 author Jules Verne wrote Around the World in Eighty Days, sending the fictional Phileas Fogg off to circumnavigate the globe in just under three months. That feat, though daring at the time, was small compared to the one I must pull off in my garden in the eighty days before … Read more
KNIPHOFIA Every year the color gurus at Pantone, Inc. do all kinds of secret research to come up with the “Color of the Year,” which then inspires a multitude of merchandising initiatives. Since I always aspire to be fashion forward, I make it my business to know the “Color of the Year.” This year’s … Read more
NINETY-THREE DAYS I have exactly ninety-three days to get as close as I possibly can to garden perfection. The seconds are slipping away fast and every day the deadline looms large in my imagination. I got myself into this by saying a single word–“yes.” In this case the “yes” was in answer to … Read more
