book cover

May 11, 2008

and how are his LEAVES?

Filed Under: annuals & perennials, hot p(l)ants

YOU KNOW THE WAY A BEST FRIEND wants to know the details of your latest intrigue, based on whatever the friend likes most about objects of intrigue herself. (Forgive me, gentlemen; just swap all the pronouns in this post to suit.) “How are his manners?” she’ll ask, and “His sense of humor? His smile?” Here’s what I’d ask if I were your best friend and you had your eye on someone new, especially in the perennial department: How are his leaves? It’s leaves after all that dictate a plant’s character, hanging on as they do longer that most any flower. When you go plant shopping be sure to ask the all-important question: How are his leaves? (Agastache foeniculum ‘Golden Jubilee’ and Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’ have nothing to worry about in my way of thinking. Who cares if these hotties ever bloom?)

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May 10, 2008

shall we take another walk?

Filed Under: hot p(l)ants, photo galleries

THE RAIN HAS DRIFTED AWAY and so I thought we’d take another walk, yes? More areas of the garden are coming alive gradually, so let’s go see. (If you didn’t come along last time, you can always backtrack, by the way. The beauty of the internet: It’s realtime, or anytime.) Click images for the best views.


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May 9, 2008

lilac pruning (and perfuming)

Filed Under: cut flowers, tools & techniques, trees & shrubs

WHEN LILACS IN THE DOORYARD BLOOM…is the time to prune, and to bring bundles inside to smell up the house. Learn the simple details to make the right cuts (and for cuts that last the longest possible time in a vase, too):


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moving bulbs

Filed Under: bulbs, tools & techniques

alliums etc.

WHEN ARE WE SUPPOSED TO MOVE BULBS that are simply in the wrong place, or have grown overcrowded? Elizabethsflowers asked specifically about her ornamental onions today on the forums, and it got me thinking.


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May 7, 2008

peas need staking?

Filed Under: edibles, from seed, tools & techniques

PERHAPS YOUR PEAS NEED staking? Plastic netting strung between a series of poles is fine for taller varieties. But if you listened (!!!) and planted peas that don’t need staking, as suggested, then maybe all you’ll need is a little pea brush. Basically this is just whatever branched twigs and trimmings you have left from winter cleanup or recent pruning, inserted into the row to “brush up” the shorter peas. I installed some such twigs today that I’d collected in my rounds…the start of this year’s brushing up, and yet another way to recycle in the garden. More twigs to come to make a wider, longer framework (and then come peas).

 7 Comments

May 6, 2008

favorite (bawdy) primrose

Filed Under: annuals & perennials, hot p(l)ants

Primula kisoana THERE IS NOTHING PRIM about Primula kisoana, a tart and a thug rolled into one delightful package. Oh, how very yummy. The details:


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