I have always envied those gardeners who brag about having something in bloom three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Living in a cold winter climate, this is not possible for me, unless I count the houseplants and that, in my opinion, would be cheating. The closest I can get, in mild winters, is about … Read more
Over the centuries, writers have spilled a lot of ink over a little flower—Galanthus nivalis or snowdrop. Tennyson and Wordsworth have sung its praises in lines of verse. Elizabethan herbalist John Gerard described the plant in his 1597 Herball, when galanthus was already old news. It was most likely described by the great botanist and … Read more
It has taken an extra month this year, but the hellebores have finally come into their own. Over the past few days, I have made circuits of the garden, gently raking away the dead leaves that camouflage new growth and clipping away last year’s ratty old foliage to free the flowers. Newly liberated, they open … Read more
It is time now to get down to the serious business of buying bulbs. Summer is ebbing away, the Monarch butterflies are massing for their epic flight to warmer climes, and the stores have already had their Halloween displays out for a month. The bulb catalogs hit the doorsteps in August and the garden centers … Read more
