What is a gardener? Many years ago Charles would refuse to ‘own’ his part of the garden because he declared that he couldn’t properly claim to be a gardener. He appeared to be giving the term considerable status. Then recently a friend sent me a card with this image on it. I realise I am…
The first Desert Fathers were contemplative Christians holed up in Egyptian caves during the first couple of centuries A.D. (There were also Desert Mothers, of course.) I played Desert Father, stepfather, and grandfather— for five days in mid-February near Joshua Tree, California, surrounded by massive, uplifted, pre-Cambrian, monzogranite rocks and teddy-bear chollas. I was in…
Many of you no doubt have grown tired of atmospheric rivers, Nor’easter blizzards, and bomb cyclones with “sting jets” like a “scorpion’s tail descending from the sky.” I would be happy, from my perch in Kentucky, for a clean break from devastating winds and floods. On the other hand, I challenge anyone to tell…
Mike Hayman was rummaging around in Louisville last month when he found a photo he’d taken of Louise “Weesie” Smith in her Birmingham, Alabama, garden on April 15, 2015. The striking photo he sent me was of Weesie standing beneath beside an arbor covered with blooms of a Chinese fringe tree (Chionanthus retusus). Mike, his…
A portrait of John Sales by Charles Hawes. I have just heard that John Sales died in December. This is very sad news to me, but may mean less in America. John was the Head of Gardens for the National Trust for many years, and you can read one of his obituaries here.. What was…
Ah, April. Almost time to begin visiting other gardeners’ dreams come to life. Minding your manners when visiting another’s garden should come naturally to gardeners. After all, garden etiquette is mostly common sense and since we are gardeners, we understand our host and their unstated considerations. But, just in case one or two (four…
Prince Charles visiting Common Good City Farm in Washington, DC. It’s coronation time in Britain and some of you may be getting up at 5 tomorrow morning (or earlier, depending on your time zone) to watch it live. Me, I’ll watch the highlights but I’m genuinely excited to see how the King’s passion for gardening…
From model to chicken-raising houseplant expert. If our readers know anything about Summer Rayne Oakes, it’s probably from her popular blog about growing 1,100 houseplants in her apartment. In 2016, her very verdant apartment went viral and that led her to create her blog, HomesteadBrooklyn.com and her popular houseplant YouTube channel, Plant One On Me,…
The central Kentucky dogwoods had barely finished blooming in early May when horticulturist, author, and speaker Abra Lee tipped me off to Camille T. Dungy’s new book, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden. Abra said, “It’s an excellent book—you will love it.” (Listen to this enjoyable one-hour interview with Camille Dungy, led…
I hightailed it down to Asheville a few weeks ago to catch up on lost time. I hadn’t seen Heather Spencer or Charles Murray for a few years. I have watched their garden grow, off and on, for at least 35 years. It never looked better than it did on this short visit. Charles…
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