EDIBLES–2010 Anyone who has been around for awhile and is the slightest bit attuned to horticultural fashion trends knows that ten years ago kitchen gardens and ornamental potagers were all the rage. Back then, the 2000 Philadelphia Flower Show featured edible and ornamental plants mingled with wild abandon. Five years later, all of that had … Read more
Unless you count Thomas Jefferson, American garden writers have not been well known to the world at large during their lifetimes, let alone afterwards. Even Henry Mitchell, probably the best garden writer America has ever produced, is only remembered fondly by a charmed circle of literate horticulturists. It is no wonder that Elizabeth Lawrence, 1904-1985, … Read more
SNOWDROP WONDER Snowdrops are like horticultural popcorn. At a certain moment in very late winter or very early spring, individual plants or small clumps pop into flower one by one. A week later more blooming clumps seem to appear out of nowhere, and finally, if you know where to look, sheets of the white flowers … Read more
THE ORCHID SITTER Orchids are everywhere in the floral world right now. I saw hundreds of them at the recent Philadelphia Flower Show. The New York Botanical Garden is right in the middle of its annual orchid show, as is Pennsylvania’s Longwood Gardens. If I were a betting person, I would wager that the upcoming … Read more
GARDENS PRESERVED Horticulturists and historians love to debate things, and one of the most interesting debates among them has been about preserving gardens. The question is, “Can a notable garden still be notable after its guiding spirit dies?” The corollary to that is, “Should a notable garden stay the same after its guiding spirit dies?” … Read more
