Spring has arrived and the winter ceasefire in my personal, perpetual war on English ivy has officially expired. A pile of the severed vines sits in the backyard, waiting to be obliterated in the mulching process. This was only the first salvo of the new growing season, but it gave me enormous satisfaction, not to … Read more
Central New York– The wildflowers in Central New York this year are more sparse than in most summers and often stunted. Drought in late June and early July put a damper on normal development. Even the stalwart Queen Anne’s lace is shorter and the frilly parasol-like flowerheads are smaller. In the roadside drainage ditches there … Read more
When I am doing battle with the English ivy at home, I am convinced there is nothing worse. It inveigles its way into the garden beds, climbs the sides of the house and races up and over the perimeter fence. Some days it scales the trees faster than the squirrels. If you tear it off … Read more
Right now morning glories are working their way through the garden, climbing the trellising by the back porch, creeping along the ground in front of the privet hedge and insinuating themselves into the plantings between the sidewalk and the street. In short, they are everywhere. The reason for this is that ‘Grandpa Ott’s’, the variety … Read more
