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Neither an Influencer Nor a Follower Be
[ed. The following article can also be found stirring up comments at Garden Rant later this week.] Tesselaar’s Blue Storm Agapanthus is worth growing because it’s a high-impact, no-nonsense plant, not...
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Notepads and Jackets
Have you been walking through your garden? I hope so. At this time of year we are as clearheaded as we will ever be. Winter may not afford us congenial temperatures, but what it lacks in warmth, it...
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First, Do No Harm: Coping with Snow on Trees
This extremely rude specimen has been affectionately named “Happy” – and I always avert my eyes when brushing off the snow. I’d like that bit of errant bark to make me smile just as broadly in ten...
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Digging Into Cuttings
Winter is a time for research, and not just of the deeper contents of one’s drinks cabinet. Are there techniques that you’ve been wanting to know a little bit more about? Perhaps you want to...
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‘Easy’ Is a Matter of Perspective
Well this is one of many ‘white alliums.’ But I can assure you, at 3 feet, ‘Mt. Everest’ does not make a dainty houseplant. With millions of innovative gardeners on this planet, differences of opinion...
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When you make your own yogurt but don’t milk your own goats: Finding your...
It’s a running joke amongst our friends that our place is the safe house for any type of future apocalyptic scenario. I’d like to believe that they just want to get together, laugh, drink wine, and...
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This isn’t your grandmother’s Show: Philly rocks it with “Explore America”
I cannot say I was optimistic this morning, heading north and wondering how on Earth the Philadelphia Horticultural Society was going to pull off a show dedicated to the immense grandeur of America’s...
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Foodscaping on a Smaller Scale
Gorgeous greens decorate a Pittsburgh rooftop garden. This is America. We super-size everything from our sofas to our fries. And when it comes to our plants the same rules apply – we want Mortgage...
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Raised Beds – Not Blood Pressure
Definitely not taking his measuring duties seriously. I have been in a discussion this week with a friend who has just bought a new (old) house and is about to claim a bit of the brushy, overgrown...
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Now Comes The Waiting: Planting with Patience
A nursery grower friend texted me last week over an ethical dilemma. Should she sell her precious, seed-raised specialty tomatoes (and assorted tender darlings) to customers that promised faithfully...
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Beyond The Glass: Gardening Without a Greenhouse
Photo courtesy of BC Greenhouses “You need a greenhouse.” If I had a dollar for every time I have heard that phrase over the last ten years, I would certainly have one, financed completely by the...
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Shame: The Ultimate Tutor
Embarrassment is definitely frowned upon as a teaching tool. In a world where everyone’s a winner, no one has a wrong answer, and definitions are fluid, it might be fairly unpopular to assert that I...
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Somebody Stop Me: The Frenzy of Plant Buying
It would take a stronger woman than I to walk away. We’re acquiring right now. Oh come on, don’t pretend that you’re the only one abstaining. Seventy-five degrees with a light easterly breeze and low...
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Ordered Chaos: The Case for a Potting Station
In every home there is a place where unfolded laundry is thrown and a week’s worth of junk is shoved when guests rap upon the door unexpectedly. For some lucky souls it may be a spare room. For others...
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Conquering Prejudice One Plant at a Time
I’ve never liked Rhododendron. There, I’ve said it. I’ve opened myself up to the maelstrom of indignant rhodo-lovers who up until this moment thought I was a dedicated advocate for all things green....
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The Garden Tchotchke Conundrum
We’ve all got them. Tchotchkes. Knick knacks. Doodads. More kindly put – and through squinted eyes – objets d’art. Unless you’re a minimalist with an inflexible disposition, your rooms and shelves are...
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Smile and Adapt: Gardening the Unexpected
A dry hot April, a wet cold May. What is the world coming to? Late April freezes have nixed the wisteria show for gardeners, yet month long May rains would have made the whole thing fairly pointless...
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Varmints: First, a rant. Then, a solution.
Disappointment. 8 feet of peas = 4 peas. It was, in many ways, inevitable. If you build it, they will come, if you plant it, they will eat. Friends have bemoaned the loss of salad beds and snap pea...
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Let the Garden Soften the Journey
Just go outside. We’d had a bad day, he and I. Not together mind you, but each in our separate lanes, navigating the daily demons that divert us all from enjoying the precious days we are granted on...
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My Romance with Becky
Given sufficient provenance, the memory of a plant can hold a place in our affections just as the memory of an old love affair. In fact, such floral memories are perhaps sweeter, for they do not carry...
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