I am rereading The Morville Hours, a marvelous book, published in 2010 by English garden writer, Katherine Swift. The author, a scholar/gardener and former librarian at Trinity College, Dublin, describes the twenty-year process of creating an amazing garden on a National Trust property in Shropshire. The book juxtaposes the details of garden making with the … Read more
Yarrow—Achillea–a plant cultivated in gardens for a very long time, has garnered a host of nicknames, some of which are worthy of Harry Potter. Among the more colorful monikers are soldier’s woundwort, herbe militaris, bloodwort, nose bleed, devil’s nettle, old-man’s-pepper and—my favorite–stenchgrass. Combine those bloody nicknames with the fact that Linnaeus, in the midst of … Read more
I love my oak leaf hydrangea, or Hydrangea quercifolia, now in bloom, along with the similar oak leaf varieties illuminating lightly shaded spots throughout my neighborhood. Its cone-shaped flower panicles are enormous; each one covered with creamy white florets. They make wonderful cut flowers—a symphony in fresh white and green. Eventually, of course, the panicles … Read more
Now that summer is almost here, my garden is witnessing the last of the peonies, the glorious middle of bloom time for the roses and the beginnings of the great lily fanfare, all simultaneously. For once, the flowering of property looks almost like the semi-miraculous floral explosions that you see only at exhibitions like the … Read more
Like much of the rest of the world, I love garden peonies—Paeonia lactiflora–for their lush, unabashedly sumptuous flowers and gorgeous colors. A single bloom in a tall bottle constitutes an elegant arrangement. Snip a handful of stems and you can create an over-the-top floral extravaganza. No wonder they are popular as wedding flowers, particularly for … Read more
