IT WOULD BE HARD not to notice them, because they’re everywhere. Succulents, including many Sedum and Sempervivum and other less-familiar faces, seem to be trying to tell me something this season, as in: “We’re all the rage.” At garden shows and nurseries, and even in my own garden where a few pieces fell out of a pot and planted themselves as if to say, “I belong right here, Margaret,” I feel as if 2013 is the Year of the Succulent. I’m paying heed by starting a succulent wall planting; using them in pots, and more. Some inspiration, and a progress report: [read more…]
my new book: order now! on Amazon Barnes and Noble Indiebound
As a passionate, hopeful and often self-delusional gardener (the only kind of gardener there is!), I loved this gorgeous book. Margaret’s work is a blessing.
is 2013 the year of the succulent?
June 10, 2013 at 9:56 am
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hailstone rhubarb crumble, compote, syrup
June 6, 2013 at 7:43 am
WHEN LIFE DEALS YOU LEMONS—well, maybe not lemons, but battered, shredded rhubarb, thanks to hail—make rhubarb compote, crumble and syrup, perhaps with an eye to using less sugar than usually called for in the process. That was the attitude here recently, and we did. My 2013 rhubarb story: before, after, and deliciously ready-to-eat. [read more…]
6 lessons about hosta, with tony avent
June 4, 2013 at 10:43 am
HOSTAS ARE SO FAMILIAR, you probably think as I did that you know plenty about them. Yet in a conversation the other afternoon with Tony Avent, founder of Plant Delights Nursery in North Carolina and a longtime hosta breeder, it was one hosta “aha” after another. Ever wonder, for instance, why some blue hostas turn dull by high summer, or certain yellow and variegated varieties fade worse than others? Or did you know that ‘Halcyon’ (a blue hosta) has produced all the “sports” or mutations above, and more? In a story and a podcast, get to know our most beloved shade-garden standby more intimately than ever before. [read more…]
the june garden chores: 2013
June 2, 2013 at 8:27 am
‘NOTHING LASTS.’ That Eastern-style philosophical message of impermanence is also what the June garden teaches. What was just all about fresh color and foliage and newness can suddenly looks like a whole lot of big brown deadheads on things like lilacs, with floppy, gone-by perennials beneath them, waiting for you and your trusty shears to make it all better. Are you up for the task—and for insuring the vegetable garden keeps on producing by keeping up the planting? Here’s how: [read more…]
after the hail, sorrel-spinach soup
May 30, 2013 at 9:25 am
IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING what plants are hailproof, the list is short—especially in the tender springtime vegetable garden, where peas and lettuce, spinach and such don’t take well to a thrashing. On Friday we rescued what could be salvaged from the recent storm’s mess, and made sorrel-spinach soup from some of it. Once it was all pureed, you’d never know there had been giant holes in the leaves. [read more…]
