I’m all for encouraging the use of natives in the garden, but sometimes, exotics can have a place too. Shown above are my own favorite non-native garden residents: Lama pacos (Vicugna pacos) ‘RRA Granite’s Laser’ and ‘RRA Granite’s Limited Edition’, commonly known as Duncan and Daniel. Ok, so my alpacas technically don’t live in my[...]
“Invention flags, his brain goes muddy, And black despair succeeds brown study.” William Congreve (1670-1729) I can’t pretend to know exactly what inspired Mr. Congreve’s rhyme, but if he were alive today, he could easily be referring to a gardener confronted with some of the brown-leaved plants that have appeared in nurseries and garden centers[...]
Until a few years ago, glads definitely wouldn’t have appeared on my list of top 10 (or 50, or even 100) plants. If I thought of them at all, I pictured rows of long-stemmed, huge-flowered spikes leaning at precarious angles, with color that lasted all of about two days. I do like the look of[...]
While I’ve never risen to the heights (or sunk to the depths?) of some rose addicts, I’ve put in my share of time obsessing over drool-inducing rose catalogs and clicking through photo-filled rose-related web sites. So, despite not considering myself a collector, I’ve managed to gather a few dozen favorites over the years, and many[...]
Of all the things I enjoy about gardening, experimenting with plant combinations has long been one of my favorite pastimes. For most of that time, though, my efforts were rather haphazard: I ended up with some pleasing pairings each year, but I didn’t concentrate on any particular themes. About three years ago, however, I started[...]