Why then presume to write a book about gardening? The simplest answer is that a writer who gardens is sooner or later going to write a book about the subject—I take that as inevitable. One acquires one’s opinions and prejudices, picks up a trick or two, learns to question supposedly expert judgments, reads, saves clippings, and is […]
Category: Garden Reflections
Paper gardening: a look at a garden writing classic
Margery Fish’s We Made a Garden describes the process, area by area, of creating a garden with her husband, Walter. The garden is interesting, but Margery’s tussles with Walter are even more so.
Assigning grades: the best native perennials for a front yard
The garden has peaked. The milkweed has faded, the rudbeckia is shriveling, and while a few flowers power on, the climactic moment has passed. The big show is about over. This is a good time of year for taking stock, as people do. Did projects go as planned? Did I get the results I wanted? […]
Still waiting…(It’s spring, but doesn’t feel like it yet)
I feel like I waited all winter for March. Now it’s here and all I want is for it to be April.
Wintry mix: first signs of spring
Welcome 2023! For so long winter has felt like it just wouldn’t budge. Then, all of a sudden, it budged. Birds are back. Finches are at the feeder. Yesterday I saw a dove. The first green spikes of daffodils have poked through some brown oak leaves. Today is dreary and cold, but the sky is […]
Dig, till, smother: How to remove sod for a new bed
Everybody loves the idea of a secret garden, but I’m not exactly sure what one is. What makes a garden secret? How is that different from private? My husband says ours is almost a secret garden because it’s in back and passers-by don’t realize we have such a profusion of flowers and wildlife back here. […]
Catching up: the new year starts for real
This is a highly miscellaneous post about various excitements: spring cleanup, seed starting, and an upcoming conference about environmental writing, Epicenter 2022
Is February the new March?
This is February? Brilliant sunshine, blue sky, sixty degrees? The gardener in you may be awakening, but don’t start digging yet.
Skip the raking and bagging
This fall, one thing I will not be doing is raking and bagging.
What looks good = what’s blooming now
My wild garden had a couple visitors recently, good friends whose opinions about it differed. One thinks my garden is a disaster. The other finds it lovely. Who is right? Looking over the shagginess, I think they both are. The rudbeckia that bloomed all summer, delighting us with its insect visitors and wonderful scent, is […]