The proverb says, “Be careful what you wish for.” For years I wished for more poppies—Papaver– in my garden. The crepe paper flowers are so bright and cheerful, the ferny foliage adds interest even after the flowers have faded and many poppies also boast interesting seed heads. I have had great success with some members … Read more
In his play Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare gives the following lines to Marc Antony: “The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones…” This may sometimes be the case, but it was not so with Lewis Ginter—1824-1897—a New York native who migrated to Richmond, Virginia and made successive … Read more
Many of my neighbors have pansies and violas on their porches right now. So do I. The only difference is that some of mine overwintered there. Now they will go out into the garden, joining some of their newly acquired kinfolk in the job of brightening up the beds, while the parade of daffodils, hyacinths … Read more
There is nothing like a tulip, hyacinth or daffodil in its first spring. All the energy that growers in the Netherlands or elsewhere have pumped into the bulbs is distilled into glorious floral display. Tulips stand strong and proud, with magnificent multi-colored petals. If the daffodils’ trumpets could sound, they would be loud enough to … Read more
Every five or ten years the horticultural world goes through a vogue for patterned leaves. Everything old is new again as gardeners snap up some of the flashier hostas, variegated weigelas, Japanese painted ferns and all manner of plants with splotched, splashed and marbled leaves. Breeders pump out even more of them to meet the … Read more
