A flower is the culmination of a seed’s story. And while there are as many stories out there as flowers, every once and awhile one of those stories stands out from the rest and deserves to be told. Sometimes it deserves to be shouted. Such is the story of one man, his family’s seed [...]
Join me in this series as I visit some of Frederick County, Maryland’s finest independent garden centers to find out what makes them unique. Finding and buying plants that you love is often much more pleasurable than figuring out how to successfully incorporate them into your landscape once you get home. We all struggle with [...]
There are very few plants that make you look like a great gardener as well as a healthy stand of ferns. Ironically, this has little to do with the resident gardener and everything to do with proper placement, but if you don’t know that when you visit my garden, I won't be the one to [...]
Last night my husband and I were awoken by yet another storm pounding on what currently passes for a roof around here. After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling thinking about the gutters, the bridge, the foundation, the tarped roof, the barn, the trees and the newly sand-mortared patio amongst other night terrors, [...]
‘One must be cruel to be kind’ is a hackneyed phrase that must have originated in a garden setting. Where else do men and women of good conscience perpetuate extreme acts of violence without a moment’s thought or consideration of that conscience? Once the deed is done – be it dismemberment or execution – ‘tis [...]
Over the last year, I have dealt with chronic back problems for the first time in my life. Over the last three months I have, for the most part, solved those problems with the help of a miracle-working book and its miracle-working author, Esther Gokhale. So this week’s column is not a call for sympathy, [...]
May has dawned, and with it, the realization that my edges will have to be seen to. I speak of course of garden beds. There is little that can be done to smooth the sharpness of my tongue and it certainly needs no further definition. There are many ways to approach this problem, and [...]
John Willis and I have been discussing camellias this month (MacGardens.org). Or rather, he has been emailing me pictures of his mature specimens, blooming happily, and I have been weeping over my new acquisitions. John and his wife Beth are excellent gardeners, and though I am very happy to have them close by, [...]
We all believe (as Garden Geeks) that the minds we have at twenty-four will stay supple and fit, able to remember a thousand genera and ten thousand named species at a moment’s notice – not that we have much call to provide such information at a moment’s notice (at that age) unless we’re lucky enough [...]
For many gardeners, the new plants that we stumble upon each year at our nurseries, feed stores and big boxes are happy accidents. We are attracted by color, texture, shape, vigor and a host of other characteristics that encourage us to take it off of the rack and place it in our cart, and..well…why [...]
Great gardeners and optimists know that a dead plant represents an opportunity to grow something new. But what of a dead tree? What of five? So much opportunity at one time can cloud a mind already weakened by the fumes of a chainsaw. It’s probably best then to stifle knee-jerk reactions – particularly the [...]
Not satisfied with feeling overwhelmed with spring cleaning, spring wardrobe changeover, spring home repairs and spring holiday plans, I thought it might be clever to go outside last week, pick up a trowel and increase my anxiety in the spring garden. Beginning the process means a shift in priorities and a horrifying realization of everything [...]
About two years ago in the early winter months, I spied three pileated woodpeckers on an ash tree outside my office window and immediately felt like an Audubon rock star. These are large, colorful birds – the sight of which gives the amateur birder a feeling of accomplishment. The sight of three sent this ignoramus [...]
Beautiful vegetables? What is she talking about? Aren’t all vegetables beautiful? For those who live and breathe a garden life and not just a garden life-style, the answer is of course yes. Even flopping potato vines are attractive when you know that there are forty pounds of soon-to-be buttered lusciousness a few [...]
Air plants are the new It Girl. From the common grocery store checkout aisle to the upscale garden center, they’re pretty much everywhere. They’re even turning up in the houses of your less-horticulturally inclined friends (which was probably your first clue that this particular plant trend isn’t just for those who know a hydrangea from [...]
It’s Flower Show week in Philly, and refreshed by the excitement of our electricity being restored after four days and the roof tarped against further storms, yesterday I decided to stop moping around in fourteen layers of fleece, shower off the pervading smell of wood smoke and un-cancel somewhat cancelled plans to grab a friend [...]
Whether you like it or not, planning what you’re planting in the season ahead is less important than figuring out what you’ll be planting it in. Soil matters, and can spell the difference between healthy, beautiful plants that resist the malevolent forces of Mother Nature, or weak, pest-infested plants that you have to stop yourself [...]
It’s disconcerting to realize your plants are bigger. A lot bigger. When a tree or shrub finally grips the earth with a committed heart and gets down to the business of seriously growing, the gardener can instinctively feel the change. And it’s frightening. This Edgeworthia chrysantha doesn't look like much its second [...]
I'm new to this, but as the Garden Bloggers' Fling is in my neighborhood this year, and I'll be joining a lot of wonderful garden bloggers from all over the country in less than a week, I thought I'd give it a go, posting what's blooming today on the 15th of the month - in [...]
There’s an extremely serious discussion going on at my place right now. At issue is whether or not I go to the trouble of setting up a large water feature on the deck and create tropical madness for future August dinner parties. It was lovely, lush and tropical, but I'm itching for something [...]
