Many people over the years have quoted Oscar Wilde’s famous aphorism characterizing marriage as “the triumph of hope over experience.” My husband, David, and I defied Oscar Wilde and hope always won out. The same cannot be said of my experiences with fancy leaf begonias, which have been bitter. A few years ago, I wrote … Read more
It’s “red carpet season”—at least in the media. Every week, celebrities gather to watch and/or receive the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, People’s Choice or any of the thousand other awards that lead up to the Academy Awards. Many of us gawk from the comfort of our couches as red carpets roll out and celebrities … Read more
High summer has just passed. In the roadside ditches and hedgerows near my Central New York State summer cottage, the green milkweed pods are fattening up. In another month they will be brown and ready to split, dispersing their silk-clad seeds. Sulfur butterflies dance over Queen Anne’s lace, chicory, butter-and-eggs and early goldenrod. The air … Read more
Everyone I know grows hostas. They are unparalleled for filling up space in shady spots and will increase happily, as long as you remember to put out Tony Soprano-style contracts on the local slugs and deer. Some gardeners, who have made the appropriate slug and deer arrangements, might call hostas “the perfect plant.” Perfect, that … Read more
Sometimes, in a congested garden like mine, plants get overlooked. That is, until they announce their presence by blooming, spreading like weeds or exuding a bad odor. My little white Turk’s cap lily—Lilium martagon var. ‘Album’—was one of those overlooked plants. I think I planted it last year in a burst of whimsy. It was … Read more
