As winter days tick down and spring looms ahead, the sap starts to rise in gardeners and trees. A brief snowdrop sighting, a few brave early crocuses, or even a stalk of rhubarb in the market make hearts beat faster. Witch hazel works the same magic. Our great-grandparents used a bottled witch hazel decoction as an … Read more
It may not be obvious, but elephants are rampaging in our homes and gardens. Large and impressive, they fill spaces with life and texture in exchange for ready supplies of food and water. The one thing they don’t do is awaken the neighbors with noisy trumpeting. This is clearly a blessing, especially if you live … Read more
Not everyone gets excited about an evergreen, perennial plant with pale green flowers and a questionable fragrance. Still, times being what they are, anything that is alive, blooming and not related to politics is a cause for celebration. That is why I am so delighted to see the “stinking hellebore” or Helleborus foetidus preparing to … Read more
Sometimes people see things in my garden that they don’t expect, like neatness, an absence of weeds and crisply clipped hedges. In the fall, I often notice looks of astonishment on the faces of the local dog walkers—who keep close tabs on the front garden—when they notice fall-blooming crocuses springing up just as the asters … Read more
It is rare that I see red about something green, but I am having an angry moment about yucca. Not all yucca, mind you—there are 40 or 50 species of yucca in the larger agave family—but Yucca filamentosa. I suppose that Yucca filamentosa, sometimes called “Adam’s Needle”, is loved in some places and tolerated in … Read more
