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
Previous generations had no “second season”, just as they never experienced the Halloween industrial complex or the curse of perpetual screen time. Fall used to be a leisurely affair that included harvesting whatever was left in the vegetable garden and replacing the fading pots of annuals by the front door with plump chrysanthemums. It also … Read more
By any measure, Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ is a citizen of the world. Descended from several Chinese species and long cultivated in Japan, the plant’s parent was hybridized in England. That English hybrid found its way to France and, once established in the French garden of a man named Jobert, produced a white-flowered sport, or spontaneous … Read more
The fall bulb catalogs are arriving day by day, their pages full of impossibly big tulips, daffodils of every description, and hyacinths whose portraits are so vibrant that you can almost smell them. I really should get my orders in—and I will in a week or so–but for right now I need more immediate gratification. … Read more
Late fall is dominated by orange, red, russet and gold, as brilliant leaves, goldenrod and millions of cushion mums crash together in a colorful, season-ending plant eruption. But the prelude to all that brilliance rolls through in early fall, in the form of blue, pink, purple and white asters, boltonia and fall-blooming crocuses. A less … Read more
