Great Dixter Through the Lens of an 11-Year Old
Rose and I traveled to England early this month with Story May Lowe, our 11-year-old granddaughter. To Story, I am known as Babu a name I inherited. My grandfather was [...]
Allen Bush
In the Garden This Year I’m Betting on Cool Breezes, Soaking Rains and Joyous Moments
My good luck began this spring with a three-year-old thoroughbred named Justify. I was smitten the first moment I saw the beautiful chestnut-colored horse walk onto the Churchill Downs track [...]
Time to Rethink “Pretty” in the Garden
Benjamin Vogt and I began an email exchange last March after I read his very interesting A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future.
Movie review – “Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf”
The documentary Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf opens with Oudolf pulling out colored pens and drawing, with his left hand, bright squiggles, slashes, curlicues and abbreviated Latin plant [...]
Kentucky’s Secret Gardens, Including Mine, on TV
Looking for inspiration and information? Catch a glimpse of Kentucky's Secret Gardens. Author Tavia Cathcart Brown hosts the documentary, sponsored by Kentucky Education Television (KET). I was flattered to be [...]
Owl Decoy Saves Magnolia from Sapsuckers
“I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.” -Robert Harling, Steel Magnolias Our saucer magnolia had a tiny bit of stamina left, but I didn’t [...]
Our first “Daffodil Doodah” Party Got Snowed On
Scott Pruitt was scolded recently for flying first class at taxpayers’ expense. The Administrator of the EPA was sent back to coach class for punishment. Do me a favor if [...]
Kentucky Legislature to Cripple the Solar Power Industry
Salvisa, KY. I retired from Jelitto Perennial Seeds last month, and it’s been cold and gray in Kentucky ever since. I’m itching for spring. I have to be [...]
Winter Get-Away to the Tropical Fish Store. Closer than Hawaii.
Hanauma Bay Sorry to be late with winter coping tips, but I’ve got two ideas that might be worth mentioning. If you’re at your wit’s end of winter, [...]
Taropy in Hawaii – Youth Therapy by Growing Taro
Two weeks ago I stood in the checkout line at Louisville’s Whole Foods. Sleet, freezing rain and snow were predicted for the next day. (I knew ahead of time that [...]
The Little Greenhouse That Could
The little greenhouse in 1980. My first greenhouse was neither big nor fancy. Built in 1980, the 14’ X 32’ hoop house—small by commercial greenhouse standards—became my plant [...]
Jelitto – the Best Seed Company in the World
It is time to say good-bye to the wonderful and versatile Jelitto Perennial Seeds—at least in one sense. I’ll be clocking out, for the last time, at the end of [...]