For those of us in cold winter climates, mid-fall is the time to say a gradual goodbye to flowers. Annuals will soldier on until the first hard frost, but they are slowing down in anticipation of the inevitable. Most perennials have finished up, with the exception of a few Montauk daisies, tall sedums, fall crocuses … Read more
The garden looks desolate right now because winter does not have the good sense to pack up its snowy bags and go away. Despite that, the foxgloves thrive. Even when wintery mix threatens in April, their lettuce-like basal rosettes spring up stubbornly from the earth, challenging the elements to a seasonal smack-down. Old man winter … Read more
Pity the poor common chicory or Cichorium intybus, a Mediterranean native that has made itself at home all over the United States, gracing roadsides, field edges and other untended spaces. The semi-double daisy flowers are the most beautiful shade of sky-blue, but the stems are gangly and scraggly, with rough-looking toothed leaves. On top of … Read more
Some days you feel as creative as a lump of wet clay. Other days, the creative juices flow. For unaccountable reasons, mine have been flowing, though the days have been hot and sticky. The present creative burst is a good thing, because my garden is in need of a considerable amount of attention. I have … Read more
My husband used to get alarmed by the detailed plant lists that I make at this time of the year. It’s no wonder, really. Lengthy, detailed and involving huge expenditures, the lists are a two-dimensional harbinger of bankruptcy. I compile them while in the throes of catalog fever, an affliction that I catch on contact … Read more
