It is late February, and the air is bone dry. That atmospheric condition will not last forever, and soon enough my part of the world will see a return of humidity. Eventually we will also experience hot weather. Now that the new season catalogs and online offerings are available, I am thinking of adding a … Read more
My late summer garden is still waiting for its moment of glory—when the New England asters that have multiplied in droves, will burst into waves of blue, pink and purple glory. In the meantime, my spirits are bolstered by a few large dots of landscape color, including the last of the purple and white coneflowers, … Read more
The name ‘sneezeweed” seems akin to “ragweed” and immediately conjures up visions of runny noses, watery eyes and seasonal misery. Most people would not deliberately plant something with that kind of unsavory reputation. There is nothing to be done about horticultural guilt by association. It is reassuring to know that “sneezeweed” does not have ragweed’s … Read more
Scent is important to me. I have been known to stop in my tracts to insert my nose into a particularly alluring rose or inhale the intoxicating fragrance of a blooming linden tree. I didn’t expect much when I got up close and personal with an echinops or globe thistle, but to my surprise, the … Read more
You won’t find a lot of men wearing boutonnieres or, in the more prosaic English translation, “buttonholes”, these days. Individual blooms stuck through the buttonhole of a jacket or pinned to a lapel are still on view at weddings, proms and other festive events, but the days when fashionable, suit-wearing men wore a fresh flower … Read more
