The plants that botanists sometimes call “spring ephemerals,” including trilliums, common violets and hepaticas, always seem magical to me. They push up through bare earth when warmer weather is still a vague suggestion, and proceed to flower, set seed and disappear, all in manner of a few months. Intellectually I know that ephemerals are always … Read more
Bleeding heart—Lamprocapnos spectabilis–has shed seeds, if not blood, all over my garden. Years ago, when the species was known as “Diecntra spectablilis”, I probably planted the first one, though I have no memory of doing so. Now, they are everywhere. Normally those words would constitute the start of a rant about garden thuggery, invasive tendencies, … Read more
Common plant names can be romantic, like “kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate” or fanciful, like “yellow archangel”. They can even be menacing, like “wolfsbane” and “bloodroot”. Most often though, common names are descriptive. In the case of “bluebells” this is both helpful and confusing. I know of at least three plant species that go by “bluebells”. All bloom in … Read more
As St. Patrick’s Day approaches every year, people start to talk about “the wearing of the green”. Individuals who eschew green clothing and accessories 364 days a year, paw through drawers and closets to find green apparel or jewelry to wear in honor of the patron saint of Ireland. They also eat the green, as … Read more
Where would we be without crocuses? They are not always the first flowers to bloom in the spring—snowdrops and winter aconite do that. But they are uniquely joyful and welcoming. Combine that with the fact that they are cheap and easy, as in cheap to buy and easy to grow, and you have excellent plants … Read more
