In Western New York, where I grew up, we did not put away our winter clothes until Memorial Day. Now I live in a gentler climate and when the “official” first day of spring arrives, I expect the garden to be well on its way to mid and late spring glory. We have had a … Read more
‘Orange Glow’ is up and glowing, even though “up” is a relative term for a plant that is only a few inches tall. Though it has the same name as a popular cleaning product, ‘Orange Glow’ is in fact a winter aconite, a type of buttercup, belonging to the same Ranunculaceae family as the more … Read more
Plant craziness has attacked me again. As always, it came on suddenly, as I sat down after a long day’s work and paged through one of my favorite English gardening magazines. These publications are full of what my husband called “plant pornography”—gorgeous photos of alluring specimens, dripping with dew and ready to jump right off … Read more
Right now I have patches of snowdrops coming into bloom. The earliest appeared on Christmas day, followed by a long fallow period while winter did its worst. Now, the daylight hours last longer and the snowdrops are brave enough to emerge. I have a score of different varieties, but my favorite—the one I have been … Read more
The selling of souls is serious business; just ask the poets and playwrights who have explored that theme over the centuries. Gardeners generally have little time for such existential considerations, because they are busy weeding, watering and doing other garden chores. But every once in awhile, a plant comes along that is so alluring, it … Read more
