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? […]
Category: Plants
Late spring topics: peonies, rogue trees, and new plants
Achieving rhythm and repetition in a garden requires many plants.
How old is your tree?
Dutch elm disease arrived in Kansas City in 1957 and wiped out the majority of the shade canopy within ten years. Most trees in our present-day landscape were planted after that time–but were any here before that? How can we tell?
The first of three planned posts focusing on aspects of our landscape in winter.
Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose
Last week I helped a friend move to her new apartment. The amount of stuff she’d accumulated after living in her house for twenty-one years was mind boggling. I kept thinking what things would be like if we moved. I hold onto things far too long, always have. I still have corsages from high school […]
Spring cleanup – digging up ivy and planting perennials
A miscellaneous post about what I’ve been working on this week.
New plants for a shady spot
Remember my last post when I said the worst was over? I was wrong. For weeks I had no thoughts about gardening. None. Everything was frozen. The days were something to be gotten through. Then suddenly, everything changed. Even though the ground is still partially covered, it’s like a dam burst. Ideas are starting to […]
Next up: red twig dogwood
Sure, it’s blah out, and cold, but the hard part’s over. Punxsutawney Phil may predict six more weeks of winter, but what’s six weeks? After all we’ve been through, six weeks is nothing. If you’ve been outside much, you must have noticed buds forming on the trees and daffodils beginning to sprout. More birds are […]
Seeing red—and pink, and other colors: poinsettias
The holiday exhibit currently on display in the conservatory at Powell Gardens offers plenty of inspiration. The lively mix of colors and textures is a visual feast.
Sticky, weird Osage oranges explained
Consider the Osage orange, also known as a hedge apple, bow wood, or bois d’arc–a softball-sized fruit that looks like a weird mash of chartreuse brains.
Rudbeckia
In August when my garden is lanky, its colors fading, and some flowers have started to brown, all around I see Black-Eyed Susans powering up the blooms. Our HOA did its best to eliminate everything but begonias and liriope from these entrance plantings. The sight of these big golden beauties feels like being smiled at. […]