What is not to like about beech trees? They are high, wide and handsome at maturity, with big, spreading crowns and singular bark that looks remarkably like elephant skin. Birds and squirrels make homes in the branches and all kinds of creatures eat the annual harvest of beechnuts. Native American beech or Fagus grandifolia, is … Read more
I frequently tell people that my garden speaks and sometimes even sings to me. What I don’t say is that the voices are in many different languages. Any given plant might have ancestry going back to one or more species native to Asia, Africa or one of the world’s many other cradles of botanical diversity. … Read more
I first saw Rosa glauca, sometimes known as Rosa rubrifolia, in a dreamlike setting. The large shrub was growing at Stonecrop in Putnam County, New York, former home of the late Frank Cabot, founder of the Garden Conservancy. The day was overcast and fog shrouded parts of Cabot’s magnificent garden. I came around a corner … Read more
I love etymology, the study of word origins. That is partly why I am intrigued by weigela, a gorgeous flowering shrub that is having its moment of glory just now, in mid to late May. Weigela is part of the larger honeysuckle plant family, known botanically as Caprifoliaceae. If you are into astrology, you know … Read more
Romantic poet William Wordsworth was fond of rambling through the English countryside, often accompanied by his devoted sister, Dorothy. Waxing sentimental about flowers, plants and nature was almost a requirement for Romantic poets, and Wordsworth did so frequently. I especially like his description of a meadow flower: How does the Meadow flower its bloom unfold? … Read more
