book cover

July 8, 2008

fallen hero: bottlebrush buckeye

Filed Under hot p(l)ants, trees & shrubs | 4 Comments

THE SAYING GOES THAT A THING OF BEAUTY is a joy forever. I guess “forever” in this case is in the mind’s eye. My darling, oldest bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) went down for the count a week ago, or at least half of it did, and there’s nothing beautiful about the aftermath of its demise. Read more

July 1, 2008

hot plant: stewartia, an ideal small tree

Filed Under hot p(l)ants, trees & shrubs | 33 Comments

I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP. By that I mean they do more than a week or two of showing off; they look good in more than a single moment, or season. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if that’s the kind of multi-season interest you are looking for. Sound good?

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June 30, 2008

fruit you definitely don’t eat

Filed Under annuals & perennials, hot p(l)ants, trees & shrubs | 6 Comments

FRUITING SEASON is beginning here in the perennial beds and shrubberies at A Way to Garden, but some of the early crop (like the red baneberry, Actaea rubra, above, a native woodlander) isn’t fit for eating…unless you’re a bird or mouse.

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June 23, 2008

what’s cooking in your pots?

Filed Under annuals & perennials, hot p(l)ants, tools & techniques | 30 Comments

I AM DOING SOME SLIGHTLY LATE POT-PLANTING, piecing together plants gathered from here and there this spring into some impromptu designs I think I’ll like once they grow in. You? How about a show-and-tell?

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