No sooner had the Christmas dinner dishes been cleared than that little voice in my head started whispering, “It’s time to think about gardening again.” That little voice was obviously a little drunk, because it’s… [Continue Reading]
Plant to know: Birchleaf spirea
More than once I’ve written here about the misconceptions I had about spirea. For a time it was, to me, the most boring of shrubs, the least interesting of what I call the “landscaper’s trio”… [Continue Reading]
The autumn garden: Beautifully alive and definitely dead
We’ve had several frosts now (Indian Summer, where are you?) so the garden is a mishmosh of dead and alive right now. Some things are looking great and so much else is looking terrible. I’ve… [Continue Reading]
The first frost, the last harvest and a big project nearly complete
Well that was abrupt. Without a lot of lead-up, we had hard frost. And just like that, the growing part of the gardening season is over. I didn’t take the threat of a freeze too… [Continue Reading]
The great houseplant migration
The monarchs are making their way south, and the hummingbirds are all but gone. The geese overhead seem to be pointing south and all this migration can only mean one thing: It’s time for the… [Continue Reading]
Taking drastic measures to save a special plant
It’s funny how some plants mean more to me than others. Often these are among the first plants I bought. Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Orangeola’ was, I think, the first expensive plant I ordered online. It… [Continue Reading]
How to grow tulips even if you garden with deer and rabbits
The first fall after we moved into our house 16 years ago, my mother-in-law bought me a collection of tulips. It was a sweet gesture and one that was particularly lovely the following spring when… [Continue Reading]
