Every time I open a garden or shelter magazine I gaze with awe at the things people do with their multi-acre lots. I covet their allés lined with scores of trees, their deep ponds and their mammoth kitchen gardens. These people have large plots and large plans and the assets to meld plots and plans … Read more
The first Rose of Sharon that I ever noticed was a ragged-looking specimen that grew in an alley behind a gas station. Obviously a “volunteer,” the shrub grew in a patch of dirt that had emerged as the asphalt road surface crumbled away. At the time I thought the plant was ungainly and inelegant. Now … Read more
The only gardener who doesn’t complain about the weather is a dead gardener. My idea of a perfect gardening day is a Saturday when the temperature is about seventy-two degrees, the humidity is low, and a gentle, soaking rain is anticipated sometime between ten at night and two in the morning. Needless to say, this … Read more
My house was built in 1882. Two years later, in 1884, botanist Luther Burbank (1849-1926) began to build a better daisy. Another seventeen years passed while Burbank crossed various daisy species. Finally, in 1901, he introduced a new ornamental plant named after one of California’s natural wonders. The Shasta daisy, Leucanthemum x superbum, was born, … Read more
There are some plants, like roses and pansies, that I cannot resist. Then there are the plants that I have resisted for years, usually for no good reason. Last week, however, I saw a plant that passed instantly from the “resistible” to the “irresistible” category. The plant was a scabiosa, sometimes known as “pincushion flower,” … Read more
