I don’t recall ever seeing a garden so prominent in a movie, with most of the scenes set in the garden, as in the Oscar-nominated film The Zone of Interest. There’s even a long scene, shown above, of the homeowner/gardener naming each plant as she gives a tour of the garden. It’s all the more…
We live fairly near The Laskett. So seeing it was open, we thought we’d have an afternoon out and went to visit. And we took lots of photos – so thanks to Charles for his contributions. Introduction Sir Roy has donated the place to Perennial, the Gardeners’ Benevolent Fund, after rejection by the National Trust….
Packera aurea Bloom Combos I Hate Packera aurea (a/k/a golden groundsel or golden ragwort) in my garden; azaleas at the National Arboretum Ever been excited about a new plant until you saw what was blooming nearby at the same time and the color combo almost made you retch? Sounds extreme, but that was my reaction…
When I told a friend who lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware that I was blogging about the roses I saw blooming there last week she said, “Oh, all the Knockouts”? Because there SURE are a lot of them! Sometimes to a nice effect, like this pond-side garden, or to a really boring effect, like the…
Ever read the book or seen the movie “Misty of Chincoteague“? They’re about wild ponies living on barrier islands off Virginia and Maryland, the destination of my latest road trip. (About 3 hours from the DC area, and an hour south on the Delmarva Peninsula from my usual beach haunt – Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.) …
The front yard captured in a 2022 Google map photo. There’s a red brick house behind all the vegetation, and it’s one of the 1,600 units in my co-op. The owners (actually, we’re “members” since don’t own our units; we just buy the right to live in them) had spent years creating all that screening…
On the 11th of November 2014, a cold but dry day, I started the engine of my little van and drove to work. This time was different. I’d just been made redundant and this was the start of my new life as a freelance gardener. It was an awkward start; I’m a natural gardener, not…
(L) Coleus in front of ‘Little Joe’ Joe Pye Weed; (R) Persian Shield with sweet potato vine. About a year ago I asked you guys – the savvy, experienced gardeners who read this blog – for what “Potted Annuals for Pollinators” you’d recommend. I was unhappy with some annuals I’d been growing near my front…
Yes, I’m starting the new year with a rant, right out of the gate! It’s about some old junipers I saw recently that have been sheared into sheer ugliness.Another view from the sidewalk. I wish everyone could see what old junipers could look like, if planted in the right places and pruned correctly. (Just say…
I have developed a strong antipathy for the term ‘winter interest’ in garden writing. Do we truly have nothing better to say about winter gardens or the plants growing in them than to damn them with faint praise? I have been guilty myself, but now repent wholeheartedly. To term something ‘winter interest’ is to reject…
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