I loved Fran’s post about seasonal rituals. I celebrate many, one of my favorites being my wife’s family’s tradition of an outdoor Thanksgiving. We-about 50 friends and relatives attend each year–have feasted on turkey and all the fixins’ on warm sunny days, in pouring rain, and with a foot of snow on the ground. Late November[...]
I’ve got hundreds if not thousands of plant species out back, but a few times a year one in particular captivates me. It’s exotic, hallucinogenic even. (Though I cannot personally vouch for that). It has giant flowers, and big, jagged-edged leaves. Best of all, it boasts a fragrance so intoxicating it’s nearly psychedelic. I’m talking about Brugmansias. I first[...]
I’ve always been great at dreaming up and starting new garden projects. But I haven’t been as successful finishing them. I work in fits and starts. Take the aviary above, for example. I started it this spring; it’s still not done. And to make matters worse, at least in the short term, I always have several[...]
Great big leaves! I love big leaves! Maybe I’m just a chlorophyll-o-phile, but as a foliage-fiend building a garden leaf by leaf, I’m forever tinkering with plant combinations based upon foliage associations. I work with contrasts and harmonies in sizes, shapes, textures–even colors. And the bigger the leaf, the more I can do with it. After all, a big leaf[...]
The reinvention of my front yard is a continuing–and far from complete –endeavor. But I’m making progress. In Front Yard Fiasco, I wrote about my frudstrations in trying to create distinctive and welcoming yet low maintenance space in a narrow area bounded by a wooded slope. Now I’ve got part of it done. Part of[...]