The grumpy bulb forcer’s lament
It’s a bit sad when the lilies drop their final petals, the hosta leaves start to brown, and it’s time to deadhead the last double rudbeckia. One of the ways [...]
Elizabeth Licata
Is there a High Line(ish) in your town’s future?
There’s no replicating the beautiful Piet Oudolf-designed gardens and sophisticated ambiance of New York’s iconic elevated park, but municipalities throughout the world have been inspired by what such a scenic [...]
I’ll never be without zinnias again
For years, I ignored these very popular annuals, thinking of them as low-rent versions of dahlias. I chased after dahlias instead, starting them inside in April, planting them out, staking [...]
How a viral hoedown got started
It didn’t take much. As I noted in this July 7 post, Facebook removed three or four comments in WNY Gardeners, a 8k-member group I co-admin, for various uses of [...]
Puce is not a good look for flowers
You can call it bronze all you like, but basically, we’re talking brownplus or—old-school—puce. I love to experiment with unusual annuals and have long mail-ordered old-fashioned tall nicotiana from companies [...]
Oh Facebook, really? We can’t say hoe?
We’re in danger of losing our WNY online garden group because of one word. Hoe. Sometimes, Facebook seems to understand that this is a garden tool and leaves it be. [...]
Philly flower show sees the light of day (UPDATE)
It’s better to be outside. That is surely one of the central takeaways from the past year. Rather than simply cancel its annual late winter event, which has been held [...]
Call me mellow yellow
I’m not exactly mad about saffron, but I do love the seasonal yellows I am seeing throughout the garden. As it happens, a yellow shade, Illuminating, is one of the [...]
This package might work against its purpose
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about my fellow gardeners, it’s that they lean toward frugality on the micro level. On the macro level, they might be spending half [...]
Ellen Biddle Shipman, restored
For decades, it was an overgrown tangle of weed trees and buckthorn, with its few original plantings nearly strangled by years of neglect. When attention was finally paid to Graycliff, [...]
I like thug plants and I cannot lie
When I saw this quote/paraphrase from Sir Mixalot's 1992 hit in my local gardening group, I thought, “Finally. Somebody gets me.” My gardening life is punctuated by love/hate relationships with [...]
Relax, it’s just weather
Where would we be if we couldn’t complain incessantly about the weather? Such whining is harmless, as it has zero effect, and it’s fun. I do it all the time. [...]