Red Salvia

RED SALVIA             I have never had annual red salvia or Salvia splendens in any of my gardens, but now I find myself thinking about it.  My father grew it every year in a long bed in front of our back porch.  I don’t remember seeing it happen, but I am pretty sure that he … Read more

Spring in Sight

SPRING IN SIGHT             The bad thing about February is that even if the month were only twenty-five days long instead of twenty-eight, it would still be the longest one of the year.  Neither the presidents’ days nor Valentine’s Day make it any better–unless you happen to work for a greeting card company.             In … Read more

Gladiolus

GLADIOLUS             In my experience, men and women differ in their appreciation of gladiolus. Several women of my acquaintance call them “funeral flowers,” and even though mums and roses appear just as often in undertaking establishments, the women scorn only glads.  Other female friends dislike the statuesque stalks because they appear “stiff” or “formal”. My … Read more

Hints of Spring

HINTS OF SPRING             The calendar says that we are about halfway through winter, but I know that spring has just started.  It isn’t a date; it’s a feeling.  Just as winter really starts on the day in early October when the butterflies vanish, spring starts on the day when you can smell the thawing … Read more

Peace

PEACE             The other day I was getting ready to give a garden talk and thought about my father’s rose garden.  The garden is long gone, but I carry it with me whenever I pick up a trowel and go out into mine. My father, an obstetrician, thought of himself as a student of medicine … Read more