Cochineal and Contrast: A Letter to The Midwest
28 January 2023 Lovettsville, VA Dear Scott, Saturday morning and I’m sitting in the yellow chair I was sitting in when you annoyed me so badly with that Horticulture snark [...]
Marianne Willburn
An Honest Ranter’s Thoughts About Saving Your Amaryllis
Just because we CAN do a thing, doesn’t mean we SHOULD do a thing or even MUST do a thing. This applies as equally to saving tender plants as it [...]
Why I Use a Garden Auger to Plant Bulbs; And When It’s Not A Great Idea.
Yes, I know. We could have done with this post about two months ago. But two months ago I was planting bulbs and didn’t have time to write it. Still, [...]
Of Bulbs, Grandchildren and Christmas: A Middle-Aged Letter To The Midwest
December 28, 2022 Lovettsville, VA Dear Scott, Whew. What a December! I believe I spent the entire month on my knees planting bulbs during the day, and at my desk [...]
Are You Giving Gifts, or Guilt?
‘Tis the season for giving, and once this season ‘tis over, ‘tis another one right around the corner. The pressure is on to find the perfect gift, and if you’re [...]
Eternal Sunshine of The Creative Mind: A Letter To The Midwest
November 17, 2022 Lovettsville, VA Dear Scott, It says something about my scattered state of mind and work ethic at the moment that I have five half-finished articles up on [...]
Adventures in Marmalade & Frugality
I’m a marmalade lover, and make orange marmalade regularly every winter; but this year I harvested the first significant fruit from my hardy orange tree (Citrus trifoliata syn. Poncirus trifoliata) [...]
We’re All Seeking Absolution: A Letter To The Midwest
15 October 2022 Lovettsville, VA Dear Scott, I’m pretty sure you set some name-dropping records per-column-inch in your last letter. After reading it I have no concerns over your ability [...]
My House Is a Death Trap Because of My Houseplants. Yours Might Be Too.
Yesterday, a friend in the UK turned my attention to the type of sensationalist tabloid online article that we should be trying to turn our attention away from. No, no [...]
New Trick for an Old Gardener: Planning and Designing EXACTLY what I want.
This weekend it's time to get professionally serious about a small area west of my fenced kitchen garden which has functioned as a mini-wildflower meadow (and then general eyesore) for [...]
Lions And Tigers and Tropicals, Oh My!: A Letter to the Midwest
1 September 2022 Lovettsville, VA Dear Scott, September dawns and I am completely unprepared for the fact that I was hardly in my garden in August and therefore terribly behind. [...]
Strategy and Self-Seeders: A Letter to The Midwest
July 30, 2022 Lovettsville, VA Dear Scott, I sense sarcasm in your last letter. Huge heavy wads of it if I’m not mistaken. The recrimination is deserved. You are correct, [...]