Lewisias are beautiful plants that I include, along with ornamental sweet peas, in my litany of horticultural failure. A few years ago, I was smitten by a lovely little pink-flowered lewisia that I saw at a plant sale. I thought I understood its needs, so I brought it home and planted it in a reasonably … Read more
Life is full of dichotomies. I freely admit to falling madly in love with a different plant every few weeks during the growing season, but I am also remarkably faithful to plants that have served me well over many years. Hardy geraniums fall into that latter category. Hardy geraniums, also known as cranesbills, are Geraniaceae … Read more
Rose lovers owe a lot to English breeder, David Austin, who over the past several decades has led a movement among breeders that has re-introduced fragrance into the world of garden roses. For several decades after World War II, rose growers focused on other traits, especially the long stems and large, high-centered blooms that characterized … Read more
I blame my daughter for bringing Charmelia into the house. We have been trading a nasty cold back and forth for weeks, alternating stages so that one of us always has a congested head and the other a hacking cough. Last week, she was temporarily in the recovery stage of her particular cold and went … Read more
One of the great joys of gardening and writing about plants is amassing a collection of books. These days, you might argue that everything is available online, via e–books or other electronic means. That may be so, but it would be hard to find a substitute for Botanicum by illustrator, Katie Scott, and scientist, Kathy … Read more
