“A rose is a rose is a rose,’ Gertrude Stein famously wrote. But sometimes a rose is not, in fact, a rose. The perennial “Christmas rose” (Helleborus niger) is more closely related to buttercups than true roses, but the elegant, rose-like configuration of the flowers probably made an earlier…
Depending on where you live, December is probably a slow time in the garden. The stalks and other debris left over from the gardening season just past may still haunt the landscape like horticultural ghosts. The sustainable gardener living inside your…
Halloween has passed, Daylight Savings time has bowed out, and the spring-blooming bulbs have been planted (maybe). It’s time to think about holiday decorations, no matter what holidays you celebrate. Gray and Damp Meets…
It’s that time of year again…All manner of skeletons, witches, tombstones and other items of Halloweenalia are popping up on stoops, porches and front lawns. But something else is also populating these autumn displays—decorative gourds—and they will hang around long after the skeletons retreat to attics and garages.
Butterflies, along with other winged beauties like skippers and moths, bring magic to the garden with their colorful wings and intricate flight patterns. But the magic doesn’t stop there. Butterflies are among the…
Every year the color specialists at Pantone select a “color of the year”. For 2024 the color is “Peach Fuzz”, a soft yellow/orange shade that conjures images of ripe fruit and summer sunsets. The “fuzz” part adds homey, comforting associations. In the…
Hostas are the salvation of many a shade garden. With leaves ranging from pale green to darkest blue-green, and a host of shapes, sizes, variegated options and bloom times, they are relatively undemanding workhorses. Many are also prolific, with dividable clumps that make it easy and inexpensive for average…
In James McNeil Whistler’s famous 1871 painting, Whistler’s Mother, the title subject wears a lace cap and does not appear very happy about it. Most of us would probably have the same expression if we had to don similar headgear. Installing a lacecap hydrangea in the garden is a…
Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus and hybrids), with their ragged, “pinked” edges, lovely colors, and long vase life, are staples of the cut flower trade. They also have a lengthy and celebrated history in gardens,…
Brides traditionally wear or carry “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.” Gardens—whether they are arrays of containers, in-ground beds, or window boxes–often contain those same elements. Agapanthus, sometimes known as “Lily of the Nile”, combines all of those attributes in a single plant. The “something old”…
February can be the longest short month for gardeners. In cold winter climates it is frequently too soon to get out in the garden and work. Elsewhere it may be gray, rainy, and dismal. Indoor gardening is a good way to beat the cold-weather doldrums, and the Japanese art…
The National Garden Bureau has decreed that 2024 is the “Year of the African Violet”. Coming in January, generally a dark, cold month, this boost for a cheerful little plant couldn’t be more timely. Plant names can be great deceivers, but in the case of African violets…
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