Every year I vow to try new plants in the garden—not necessarily flashy new trademarked hybrids, but species that I haven’t grown before. This year, my first new species comes courtesy of my daughter, who has no garden of her own, but is always on the lookout for plants for me. This year she found … Read more
Right now I am in love with my flowering quince bush. It is currently covered with white to pale pink flowers that look like apple blossoms and light up the front garden. Occasionally the shrub throws off a bright scarlet bloom just to liven things up and remind me that my plant is the result … Read more
The winter landscape in my neighborhood features a full range of greens—from dead foliage green to glossy dark holly-green. It features an even larger range of grey-browns. In fact, even the omnipresent deer are grey-brown, their coats having morphed from the lovely chocolate shade of summer to something that blends better with the winter landscape. … Read more
Shrubby cinquefoil or Potentilla fruticosa is the rose’s often-overlooked relative. It boasts so many conspicuous virtues—hardiness, varmint-resistance, a repeat-blooming habit and beauty—but somehow it lacks the flash of the eternally beloved rose. I am, of course, addicted to roses, but not long ago I finally bought a pink-flowered potentilla and now I wonder why I … Read more
Winter has temporarily abated, with temperatures consistently above freezing and even jumping into spring-like territory. The weekend looks promising. It is past time for me to prune the flowering quince. That sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, and it would be, except for one small detail—the flowering quince, or Chaenomeles speciosa, is armed … Read more
