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Gardeners and their Gardens

  With all the Buzz about pollinators in the news lately (sorry, just couldn’t resist it), I thought that this might be a good time to think about adding a pollinator garden to the landscape.         For the past few years, flower and gardening magazines, websites and even home improvement television shows …

  For a glimpse of spring during those last, long days of winter, plant a patch of Lenten rose. Clusters of the cup-shaped flowers will rise above the snow to delight the eye and lighten the mood. Lenten rose prefers a protected location in partial to full shade and rich, well-drained soil. Cut back flower …

Insect populations around the world are rapidly declining. Within the next 20 years, 40% of the earth’s insect species may be extinct and within 100 years insects could disappear completely.  (Blog intro: Declining Insects —  Declining World, Feb. 20, 2019)   As usual, once I start thinking about a topic, it pops up everywhere; declining …

  Writing about houseplants the last few weeks has made me want to spruce up my office with some new plants. The ones I have are solid, dependable varieties that do well in low light conditions and benign neglect, but they don’t particularly inspire me anymore. It’s time to try something new.     Saturday, …

    We got snowed in last weekend — eighteen inches of snow, no heat, no electricity and no way to get out of our driveway.  Since there was absolutely nothing else I could do, I took the opportunity to bundle up in blankets, sit down in my favorite chair and read. All day — …

I’ve never  been very good at either making or keeping New Year’s Resolutions.  Like a lot of people, if I do remember to make them, I forget about them within a few days. Then, I feel guilty that I didn’t follow through, I start to feel badly about myself and my new year is off …

Watching someone you love slowly disappear from the present, fade into the past and eventually lose the ability to function is both frustrating and painful. Millions of American families are currently experiencing these emotions as their loved ones struggle with the challenges of Alzheimer’s Disease. It is the 6th leading cause of death in the …

    American bittersweet can be counted on to give spring, summer, fall and winter beauty. This native vine, which grows well in poor to average soil, prefers full sun for maximum flower and fruit production, but it will also tolerate part shade. The greenish-white to yellow blooms appear in May and June. In late …