“Looking for inspiration and relaxation? It’s all in your own backyard.”
Garden Reports and Rejoicing – June 19 If you’re a gardener, one of the benefits of traveling is seeing familiar plant in unfamiliar surroundings. Noticing that the Centranthus ruber you carefully cultivate is a weed in parts of Italy, for example, or seeing the same fig you grow in a pot and pull in and [...]
Garden Reports and Rejoicing – February 22 I will admit that they are creepy looking. And yes, they hide under the shingles of your house or the pots on your deck. Certainly, they eat dahlias, butterfly bush and young annuals early in the season. Nevertheless, Earwigs are beneficial insects. Earwigs eat decaying plant matter and [...]
Garden Reports and Rejoicing – November 16 A couple of days ago a woman who listens to my radio program called. She is part of a local non-profit and they were considering planting a Franklinia alatamaha tree outside their building. “Can this tree survive on Cape Cod?” she asked. I wandered out in my garden [...]
Garden Reports and Rejoicing – September 26 It was a summer day, no matter what the calendar said. Very warm, humid, with bright sunshine that illuminated the annuals that haven’t really thrived until now. That Mandevilla vine that should have reached the top of the arbor in August is just now showing it’s full potential. [...]
Garden Reports and Rejoicing – September 21 When I was writing my monthly column for Angie’s List Magazine recently I interviewed Madeline, of Madeline, Paws and Claws Pet Sitter. This article, due out in the December issue of AL Magazine, is about arranging for the care of plants when going on vacation. What stuck me [...]
Garden Reports and Rejoicing – September 19 When I got back to the house today I found the flock of turkeys making themselves at home. They were bedded down in the field between the house and the lake, and they sat on lawn furniture up near the house. When I went out to water the [...]
Report From An Opinionated Gardener – August 26 I’m not the first one to remark on how the places from your childhood shrink as you get older. If you’ve returned to an old house, school or landscape you know what I mean. When I picture the street I lived on in the late 1950’s, it [...]
Report From An Opinionated Gardener – August 4 It’s just a small rant, really. Think of this as a word in your ear, especially for those who haven’t thought about how your plant shopping habits might be important. Maybe this post has been triggered by hearing that the stock market has plunged, and the resulting [...]
Report From An Opinionated Gardener – July 25 Everything is connected to everything else. This was a frequent theme of my “Report From Poison Ivy Acres” posts, and was in my mind again today. If you want proof that all is linked, go into the garden. If you want to think about your life as [...]
Report From An Opinionated Gardener – July 22 I went out to the garden yesterday morning intending to take a quick look before leaving for work. The next thing I knew my cup was abandoned and I had a fist full of weeds in my right hand and a bunch of cleome flowers that I’d [...]
