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A Matter of Timing

Living in one place for a long time, I've begun to develop my own phenology (not phrenology; the bumps on my head are from looking at plants without watching where I'm going). Definition: the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life. The USA National Phenology [...]

By |2021-06-17T18:42:43-04:00June 1st, 2021|Categories: Clues|Comments Off on A Matter of Timing

Plants I’ve Loved and Tossed

We all fall in love with plants - and then at some point, we're so over it. I've loved and lost many plants over the past 30+ years. But I've loved and tossed plenty of them too. Sometimes a plant just isn't as interesting as I first thought. Or it was a hot new release [...]

By |2021-04-26T18:51:16-04:00April 5th, 2021|Categories: Clues, Garden Coaching|Comments Off on Plants I’ve Loved and Tossed

Forget the Rules – It’s Your Garden

My "there are no rules" attitude and "keep throwing color at it until it sings" way of gardening doesn't work for everyone, especially beginners afraid of making mistakes. There are no mistakes. That's how you learn. But it does help to have some guidance. Although Stephanie Cohen and Nancy Ondra's Perennial Gardener's Design Primer was [...]

By |2021-03-07T08:53:51-05:00February 16th, 2021|Categories: Books, Clues|Comments Off on Forget the Rules – It’s Your Garden

Houseplant Habitats

I got out of the houseplant habit for a while. Except for the odds and ends and amaryllis bulbs I grew in the greenhouse window over my kitchen sink, my windowsills were bare. For years, I had enough creatures to take care of. I put houseplants outdoors in summer and pretty much forgot about them [...]

By |2021-02-07T15:39:17-05:00January 25th, 2021|Categories: Clues|Comments Off on Houseplant Habitats

Lessons and Breaking Rules

Early winter is time for musing and making notes. For assessing successes and failures in our gardens while they're still semi-fresh in mind. We can change course and leave failures behind - there's always next year, right? Why not cozy up with a good book and let some new ideas take root. Winter is a [...]

By |2021-01-03T09:08:52-05:00December 20th, 2020|Categories: Books, Clues|Comments Off on Lessons and Breaking Rules

Late Season Annual Superstars

Nancy DuBrule-Clemente and Karen Bussolini have a conversation about our mutual struggle between planting as many native plants as possible to support the entire life cycle of diverse co-evolved wildlife, versus planting ornamental plants that just give us joy, even if they're not native. We discovered that the two are not mutually exclusive. In September, a time of year when many gardens are limping along, Nancy's are as exuberant as she is, She has enough flowers to feed wildlife and cut for arrangements too.

By |2020-09-27T18:10:50-04:00September 24th, 2020|Categories: Clues, Great Plants|Comments Off on Late Season Annual Superstars