I CAN BARELY SEW ON A BUTTON, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling a kinship with Alicia Paulson, whose needle and thread seem as natural an extension of her hands—and more to the point, her spirit—as a pruner or long-handed shovel are to mine. With them, she cultivates a charmed botanical world I love getting lost in (lately, she’s making a real garden in her Oregon back yard, too). Meet a treasured pen pal of mine—and maybe win one of two copies of her delicious new book, “Embroidery Companion,” that I bought to share with you: [read more…]
jack the demon cat
A stray, Jack the Demon Cat was waiting for me the morning I raced into the driveway from downtown NYC on 9/11. He has never left since.
book giveaway: alicia paulson’s magic garden
August 30, 2010 By 202 Comments
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a week of firsts: snakes, magnolias, frenzy
April 11, 2010 By 14 Comments
FIRST THINGS FIRST, OR SO THE SAYING GOES. And so a normal spring goes, too–if there is ever such a thing again. Two prolonged bouts of early heat have changed the pace, to say the least, and so I’m doing lawn repairs (right on time) and also mowing (three weeks early!); pruning already leafed-out shrubs (so much easier when they’re still asleep!), and otherwise improvising. We’ve got wide-awake snakes and a wild hodgepodge of overlapping blooms–but the same recalcitrant Demon Cat. (Some things never change.) The latest evidence, in an impromptu slideshow: [read more…]
doodle by andre: border patrol
January 20, 2010 By 12 Comments
YES, MY HAIR IS A BIT STATIC-PRONE AT THE MOMENT, dear Andre Jordan, thank you very much; I asked you to please not make fun of it. More important, though: There is, and forever has been, only one Jack the Demon Cat, and my Jack (who has a drug problem) wants no part of morning walks with Mommy; he sleeps by day and hunts by night. Are these doodles of yours meant to be cartoons or something?
the 2009 garden in pictures: a slideshow
January 1, 2010 By 61 Comments
JACK AND I WISH YOU EVERY GOOD THING in 2010 (however you wish to pronounce it, twenty-ten or two-thousand ten, or even two-oh-one-oh). As our parting shot, a look at some of the zillions of photos we enjoyed taking in 2009. Happy New Year! (Photo of us thanks to Erica Berger, and no, I am not torturing Jack. Promise.) [read more…]
a note of thanks, news, and my winter plans
November 8, 2009 By 73 Comments
THIS WEEK’S EMAIL NEWSLETTER (WHAT? NOT ON MY LIST?) WAS MORE letter than news (though I suppose there is some news; more on that in a moment). With crusty, 20-something-degree serious frosts upon us and the garden almost put to bed, it seemed like a good time to say thank you all for your visits, comments, and endless pieces of great gardening and life advice along the way so far in 2009. It also seemed like the right time to ask how we should spend the winter–together, I hope. [read more…]
