Keep on the Sunny Side

In 1928, a year before the onset of the Great Depression, the Carter Family, of folk and country music fame, recorded a song, “Keep on the Sunny Side”, that was originally written as a hymn.  It became one of their standards and has lifted spirits ever since.  The refrain is as follows: Keep on the … Read more

Beautyberry

Birds love shrubs that produce quantities of fall fruit.  Unfortunately birds generally don’t communicate with plant merchandisers.  Humans finally began to agree with the birds in the last third of the twentieth century, as the three or even four-season gardening trend took hold.  Garden writers caught the bug and began extolling the virtues of fruits … Read more

Heavenly Bamboo

My friend, the ace flower arranger, made a flamboyant holiday arrangement the other day featuring a fountain-like array of crystal vessels festooned with an extravagant amount of red-berried nandina.  The whole thing turned out to be a bit over-the-top for her home décor, so she offered me the nandina.  I jumped at the chance, since … Read more