Baron St. Paul’s Violets

Like most couples, my parents compromised on various issues throughout their marriage.  One of the most significant centered on flowers.  My mother wanted flowers in the house 365 days a year.  My father did not want to go broke providing them.  The compromise, which took place before I was old enough to know about it, … Read more

Glorious Gaura

You may not have noticed, but gauras have exploded in a big way.  This mass detonation has taken place over the last two decades, and while the world at large may have perceived it as white noise, it resounded in horticultural circles. Gaura lindheimeri, a perennial also known as Lindheimer’s beeblossom, wandflower, or just plain … Read more

Sowing Seeds in Autumn

While we are all getting cozy in our homes, drinking hot toddies and planning for the upcoming winter holidays, what are our annual, perennial and biennial plants doing?  Looking out at the garden or container array,  you might be tempted to say “dying”, and you would be right, but there is actually a lot more … Read more

Getting It Done

Spring is, without a doubt, the busiest time of the gardening year.  Everything seems to burst into new life in the same short span of time. Plants grow at exponential rates.  Weeds spring up even faster than that, especially onion grass.  As if that isn’t bad enough, winter debris lurks everywhere and must be ferreted … Read more

Dahlia Dilemma

I don’t know why my friends say that I hate change.  In a single decade I went from disdaining dahlias to wanting a border full of colorful specimens. I grew dahlias this year with that aim in mind.  I was egged on by gorgeous garden magazines spreads featuring gardeners who are able to grow armloads … Read more