Last week I wrote about the lowly but gorgeous purple and white-spotted petunia that wowed the crowds on our local garden tour. That got me thinking about petunias, a plant that I never really cottoned to. In the neighborhood where I grew up, everyone grew pink, white or purple ones in containers or in narrow … Read more
It is almost axiomatic that children tend to rebel in some way against their parents. The offspring of nonconformists buy houses in the suburbs and fret about their perfect lawns. Children of traditionalists pursue alternative lifestyles in ways guaranteed to alarm their parents. I rebelled with geraniums—specifically hardy geraniums. I came from a family that … Read more
When I think back on my father’s garden, lots of flowers and plants come to mind—the huge rhubarb in the very back, the Johnny jump-ups that jumped up through the grass every spring under the pine trees, and the long row of pink, rose and white peonies that grew by the back walk. The property … Read more
If you happen to be a flashy individual who changes your name every few years and carries on colorfully in public places, you might be called a “performance artist”, or possibly something even more descriptive. If you were to morph into plant form and do the same thing, gardeners would simply ignore all the name … Read more
Unless you have been on another planet for the past few months, you have probably heard at least snatches of the infectious song, “Happy,” by artist Pharrell Williams. It may or may not be your kind of music, but it makes an awful lot of people all around the world want to dance. I am … Read more
