There was a time when I had no asters in my front garden. Then I planted one small pot of tall, pink-flowered ‘Alma Potschke’ asters. ‘Alma’ prospered—so much so that now, if I didn’t pull out the seedlings every year, I would have hundreds of ‘Alma Potschke’offspring. Not only do I pull out the seedlings, … Read more
I used to mope romantically over the advance of fall, lamenting the loss of my beloved garden flowers, morosely plucking up as many roses as possible when hard frost threatened and generally carrying on as if horticultural Armageddon was just around the corner. The Grim Reaper seemed to step away from the neighbors’ lavish Halloween … Read more
Florists call the tall, golden-topped stems “solidago” when they include them in expensive bouquets. I suspect that more than one person has glanced at one of those solidago-laden arrangements and said, “It looks just like goldenrod to me.” And that person would be right. Solidago is simply goldenrod in fancy dress. Just as ancient alchemists … Read more
I have started the great cut-back. The scores of tall aster ‘Alma Potschke’ have mostly finished their dramatic run of pink and purple fireworks and now stand ready to reseed themselves everywhere. Birds will take some of that seed, but if I don’t get ‘Alma’ under control, I will have lots of grubbing out to … Read more
I just spent an afternoon walking the High Line, New York City’s vertical park built on the remnants of an elevated freight line on the West Side. I have heard people sing its praises since the first section opened in 2009 (a subsequent section opened last year, with another still to come) and those praises … Read more
