There’s more than one way to do everything. In gardening. In life. In planting an apple tree, or peeling apples over the sink. Certainly there are rules that guide us (don’t use a dull knife), and experts that sway us (use a 3 ¼ inch Victorinox, says the team at Cook’s Illustrated ). But the [...]
It’s so dry right now in my little part of Rain Shadow, Virginia that even the blades of Japanese stilt grass are curling. When, last night, my husband decided, mid-sip, that we needed to stay off the aging deck or risk falling through it, all I could think was, “Oh good. That means I can [...]
Pam Harper died last week in her home in Seaford, Virginia at the age of 93 after a short illness; and the horticultural community who knew her and loved her shared a collective sigh -- as well as sharing hundreds of emails and texts alerting colleagues and friends worldwide. ‘Another giant says goodbye.’ wrote Tony [...]
I never thought I could find joy in, much less love, a dead tree standing on my property, smack in the middle of otherwise pastoral views. But I not only love a dead tree, I’m distressed by the fact that it’s only mostly dead, which is to say, somewhat alive, and has begun a process [...]
When we fall hard for a plant, we focus all of our desire on it. We vow to give it all it ever needs, even if we know it’s unsuited to our soil, our exposure, or our climate in general. We act unreasonably, but reason isn’t a part of the falling in love process. We [...]
There are many who do not garden in February, or do not choose to aim for a four-season garden. And while I understand this attitude, particularly if your gardens are covered in two feet of snow for the majority of winter, for me, February is a too-short month that allows me to take care of [...]
A new year, a new growing season. January is a wonderfully busy month in my garden, as I am given the opportunity to get on top of difficult areas of bramble and vine without the overwhelming and often impenetrable problem of foliage. This is the month I attack the woodland garden and the stream banks, [...]
Yes, I know. We could have done with this post about two months ago. But two months ago I was planting bulbs and didn’t have time to write it. Still, there’s a good chance there are more than a few of you with boxes of bulbs that haven’t gone in yet, and very little time [...]
December is upon us, the spirit is in the air, and you have an itch to try the whole wreath-making thing again. Except...you've never really nailed the art of wreath making. 'Spindly' and 'amateurish' are words that figure prominently in the memories you haven't already blocked, followed by 'lop-sided,' and 'award for participation.' Perhaps you'd [...]
November is a different type of transition month in temperate Mid-Atlantic gardens. Though it often starts gently, with the slight bite and color of October, by the end of the month we remember what we had forgotten during the growing season - quiet, naked woodlands; spicy, earthy scents, cold - not cool - mornings, and [...]
If you grow the hardy orange (once Poncirus trifoliata, now Citrus trifoliata), and you cook, you’ve probably wondered whether or not you can use those pretty little orange fruits to make marmalade. The answer is yes, but you'll probably want to skip the peel. You can also skip to the bottom of this post to [...]
I wrote this article originally for The National Garden Bureau, of which I'm a proud member. However, the info is so important, I asked to reprint it here for the benefit of my readers too . I hope you enjoy it and find a few tips for making the transition from garden plant to houseplant, [...]
Last weekend I started the process of becoming professionally serious about a small area west of my fenced kitchen garden. It's functioned as a mini-wildflower meadow (and then general eyesore) for the last four or so years. With the advice and help of the talented horticulturist, designer and author Gregg Tepper, I’m diving into the [...]
Tramping through a collage of browned and yellowed tulip poplar leaves on my way to the front door today I realized I have absolutely no desire or plans to sweep them up. Though they are testament to a very dry summer in my part of the Mid-Atlantic, they also symbolize the end of a busy [...]
There are just a few days of August left, and though it almost seems futile to discuss the month in terms of its garden life, I find myself finally with an hour or two to do just that. And, as Christopher Lloyd once said, the time to do a thing is when you have time [...]
July. The exuberance of spring is over, and gardeners are looking at the remains of a pretty good party. But whether your garden looks hungover or not depends on the planting you did in the spring. Let's hope it included some flowering heat survivors such as echinacea, black-eyed susan, liatris, pelargonium, goldenrod, verbascum, daylily, [...]
I look forward to May with breath held, for just as it will be one of the most beautiful months in my garden, it will always be my busiest. Last May, I made a spontaneous decision to take advantage of a last-minute cancellation spot on the Great Dixter Spring Symposium in the UK, which re-energized [...]
The signs of spring right now are real, but can feel illusory when the wind begins to gust or the sun is covered by a passing cloud. But assuming that the earth has not fundamentally changed its course, we should be standing now at the beginning of something wonderful in the Northern Hemisphere. And that [...]
Inevitably, the time will arrive when many gardeners will consider starting their own seeds indoors. Perhaps it is the threat of being faced, once again, with only two tomato varieties at the big box retailers, and the shock at paying premium prices for the much greater selection available at a nursery. Perhaps it is the [...]
Have you had it with the constant, unrelenting weather reports that sound more like John Grisham novels than weather reports? Me too. This week, I shared my thoughts on GardenRant (where one should share Rants after all), but share them here too on a Friday afternoon. Weather forecasting is good. Weather fear porn is not. [...]
