Bumblebees, those ace pollinators in the fuzzy yellow and black suits, are very fashionable at the moment. And since they are fashionable, the plants that attract them are also extremely popular. I thought of that as I returned from vacation last week and drove by the many swathes of purple-flowered wild bee balm or Monarda … Read more
Every five or ten years the horticultural world goes through a vogue for patterned leaves. Everything old is new again as gardeners snap up some of the flashier hostas, variegated weigelas, Japanese painted ferns and all manner of plants with splotched, splashed and marbled leaves. Breeders pump out even more of them to meet the … Read more
Surfacing at the end of winter like a horticultural life raft, the week-long Philadelphia Flower Show is salvation for gardeners grown weary of cold weather. The Philadelphia Convention Center, a cavernous place, is filled with flowers and plants, from tulips to exotic orchids to beautifully grown succulents. Flowers strut their stuff in display gardens and … Read more
Life has had its ups and downs this past growing season, but in my yard, lavender—Lavendula—has experienced one long “up”. The fragrant herb grows throughout the mixed borders, but is planted en masse in the bed by the driveway that is home to my hybrid musk rose collection. Today, in mid November, one of those … Read more
My front strip—that hard-to-cultivate patch between street and sidewalk—never supported much grass. I gave up on it years ago and substituted plants tough enough to take the sometimes fatal combination of abysmal soil and perpetual exposure. Hostas hold forth under the maple tree, with heuchera, hellebores and other shade lovers also succeeding within its shadow. … Read more
