It’s autumn. Let’s wear socks. Let’s eat chili and pasta and chicken pot pie. We’ll make pumpkin bread and apple crisp and put cinnamon in everything. Let’s walk. We’ll go down by the river, where the crunchy cottonwood leaves make a satisfying sound. We’ll walk through the woods, where the maples and the sassafras flaunt leaves of gold and orange,… Read more →
Let’s face it, “winter interest” in the garden often amounts to a few somber evergreens, a spray of colorful berries, and some shreddy bark. Honest-to-God winter flowers are rare, and flowers on January first? Well, that’s asking a bit much. Or so I thought. I went to Edgefield McMenamins in Troutdale, Oregon on New Year’s Day to take some “winter interest”… Read more →
Occasionally, somebody asks me that ridiculous question: “What’s your favorite tree?” As if I could choose just one. If pushed to decide, however, I usually find myself saying, “Sassafras.” Sassafras albidum is native from Massachusetts and Michigan in the north to the eastern edge of Oklahoma in the west and to North Florida in the south. It flourishes in the Cincinnati area,… Read more →
If I had to pick a favorite flower, I think it would be the daffodil. Does that make me a narcissist? Narcissus is a fascinating genus of plants. You wouldn’t think that daffodils would be so diverse. After all, they only come in a limited palette of yellow, orange, and white, and the form that makes a daffodil a daffodil… Read more →
So, I’ve been looking for a plant to screen a gap in the hedge that looks right into the neighbors’ backyard (and trampoline). I thought a well-behaved clumping bamboo might do the trick, and I checked out the helpful website of Bamboo Garden Nursery near Portland, Oregon. It seemed the common and quite hardy (to Zone 5) Fargesia nitida looked like… Read more →
On this trip around the neighborhood, I check in on conifers. Upstaged by the flamboyant flowers of high spring—azaleas and rhododendrons, peonies, irises, and poppies—conifers are often overlooked this time of year, which is a shame. Although they don’t make a big spectacle, conifers are undergoing changes now, too. I love the contrast between the dark green old needles and… Read more →
In much of the country, April is a frenzy of blossoms–cherries and magnolias, crabapples, lilacs, and tulips. The landscape is flooded with new flowers, and they receive all the glory. Another, more subtle season also unfolds now, however. It is the season of tiny new leaves. Out they come in shades of bronze, silver, mustard, toffee, and lime green: maples… Read more →
Spring, summer, fall, and winter. That covers it, right? Not by a long shot. The more I have gardened, and observed, and become attuned to nature’s rhythms, the less satisfied I have become with our clumsy, generalized words for the seasons. Four measly divisions?! It’s like trying to describe all the colors in the rainbow using only the terms red,… Read more →
Not only do plants flower in a certain order, but they leaf out in a certain order, too, and some start to leaf even while frost is still a threat. Winter flowers like hellebores, crocuses, and daffodils hog the limelight in March, but our color-starved eyes are also glad to see new foliage. Look for the following early leafers to brighten up the… Read more →
Think annuals are just “plant material,” plunked down for June to September color? Think again. Some annuals may not bloom all summer, but they do offer something unique at a specific time of the year. Don’t hate them because they’re not petunias! They make their season special. With all the zinnias and lantanas, sunflowers and cannas in the garden in August… Read more →
