Plants we love, hate, or just have something to say about.
Houseplants As Dehumidifiers
I feel I should start this piece with an apology. Spring has well and truly arrived here in the UK and I fully intended to write about the beauty of [...]
Imposing Our Gardens on Future Generations
Imagine some anonymous gardener who is showing you their garden. How would you describe them? Seems an absurdly broad thing to ask, right? Because, like any group of people, gardeners [...]
Pansy impulse control? Forget about it.
OK, it was Tuesday, March 11, 2025, on or about 2:27 p.m. on a very nice, sunny day in early spring. I had not purchased a single plant all [...]
Early Spring In Cornwall
After what feels like an eternity of dark and dismal days, the optimism of spring is slowly creeping in. Lengthening days are very much welcome; even if it's raining the [...]
Chatting up the U.S. Botanic Garden’s orchid show designer and grower
I recently showed off my new Phalaenopsis orchids, bought as rewards for achieving my food goals, now enlivening my kitchen window sill. From your comments - here, on social media, [...]
My Woody Plant ID class: Is memorizing Dirr’s text still the best way to teach?
Karen Petroff teaching Woody Plants at the University of Maryland. It's about time for me to report on the Woody Plants ID class I took last semester at [...]
Naked Trees
Winter has taken hold here; while British winters are generally more benign than those in some parts of the world, I concede that the cycle of frost then wet and [...]
Orchids as Rewards for Healthier Habits
My Scheme for Healthier Eating So I'm trying to eat healthier, like probably lots of you. But how to achieve it? Over a lifetime of unhealthy eating I've tried lots [...]
Snowdrops and Ambivalence
Snowdrops and Ambivalence Well, I'm sorry, but I didn't have a happy Christmas. We were both full of cough and were quite unwell. I have not recovered, and I find [...]
Skunk cabbage can make you believe in spring
If you are afflicted with melancholy at this season, go to the swamp and see the brave spears of skunk-cabbage buds already advanced toward a new year… Is it the [...]
Fallen Trees
This has been a rather stormy weekend, with some parts of the UK seeing winds up to 85mph. Compared to the hurricanes that batter parts of the US these winds [...]
Death Comes to the Double Impatiens—Finally
Our annuals first arrive at our house every spring as garden visitors, then became guests, even friends. They form the backdrop, the understory, in many a fine landscape, including ours. [...]