It’s Thanksgiving morning. What have you forgotten? You’ve thrown the turkey in the oven, the stuffing is made and on its way to being glorious, and your sister is bringing the rolls and jello. In a few minutes the game and/or parade will start blaring from the living room and you can start to relax. [...]
“We lost too many plants in our impatience to possess them, because we had not achieved the proper growing conditions.” - Beth Chatto, The Beth Chatto Handbook _______________________________ If ever a sentence deserves a garden writers' gold medal for excellence and simplicity, it is this one, written decades ago by gardener and garden designer, the [...]
Well, we're square in the middle of the autumn season. I hope you’re enjoying your garden right now and not thinking too much about the end of it. These last little drops of fall are to be savored – after all, they are what we will remember when the January banshees start to scream. [...]
Fresh from an exhaustive three weeks driving 1800 miles to tour British gardens and their associated tea rooms, I am full of ideas and inspiration for next year’s planting schemes. The British know how to do it. The hype is real. But what exactly is that ‘it’ comprised of? Cottagey color? Architectural hedging? Jam covered [...]
There are no adventures quite as adventurous as reclaiming the garden after a long absence abroad – and during the height of the growing season no less. From bewilderment to bloodshed to tears, it has been an interesting week. Moreover, there are still miles to go before I sleep, and the winter is not drawing [...]
“Plant for foliage!” is a term you have probably heard a great deal over the last few years. But then you’ve probably also heard “Plant for pollinators!” and more than likely you’ve heard both slogans here (though I do try and stay away from the excessive use of exclamation marks in my proselytizing). But if [...]
Muttering to oneself in the garden must have been at an all-time high this week. Quite apart from the fact that it is July and there is mandatory muttering to be done after the expensive party that is spring, having to endure day after day of high heat and cloudless skies is enough to coax [...]
I spent a quiet afternoon two weeks ago working in a small garden outside my guest room windows. The room is built into a sloping bank and partially surrounded by a deck, and therefore the garden is not only visible on an intimate level from below, but from a larger, birds-eye view above – a [...]
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, [...]
