I finally have had success with moonflowers.   I have never been able to get the seeds to germinate in previous years.   This year I happened to see small plants in my local nursery, so I grabbed 2 and planted them on either side of my arch.  They ran up each side and met in the [...]

          My father loved nasturtiums and always grew a small patch right by his front door.  It was a square patch, cut out of the grass by his sidewalk, usually surrounded by 4 mismatched stakes and some string.  I’m not sure why, I never asked, probably to keep his golden retriever [...]

Mid summer can be a slow time in the flower garden.  But with a little planning it doesn’t have to be.  Now is the time that annuals are hitting their stride.  I have zinnias, cosmos, petunias blooming.  But you want something you can basically plant once and forget, you say?  How about some of the [...]

I’ve had great success getting my moth orchids (Phalaenopsis Amabilis) to rebloom, but I never had luck with much else.  I inherited this dendrobium kingianum from my father this year, and low and behold, look what happened.  I read that it liked cool winters, so I put it in my basement under a grow light [...]

After several years of trying to get the color combination right, I think I succeeded this year.  I have planted several rows of bulbs immediately behind my daylilies.  When the bulbs come up in the early spring, the daylilies are also just coming up and don’t block them.  As the daylilies grow, their foliage hides [...]

I recently visited Marrakech, Morocco.  What a magical place!  Yves St Laurent thought so, too, and purchased the Majorelle Garden which was originally started by French artist, Jacques Marjorelle.  It had become run down, and St Laurent and his partner restored it.  Today it is open to the public and it’s beautiful.  Lots of bright [...]

I love color. When looking through gardening catalogs I’m always attracted to the brightly colored flowers. My perennial garden is a riot of color in the summer. But I’m starting to see the beauty and serenity of just white. I have only planted white flowering shrubs along my foundation in the front of my house. [...]

It’s been a long winter in the Northeast US, but the days are getting longer and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I ordered my seeds last night, a little late this year, but I’m going to be away in March, so I can’t start anything inside until I get back. [...]

  I haven’t posted in about a year because my parents had some health issues.  In the past 3 months I lost both of my parents, most recently my father.  My father was a gardener, I learned almost everything I know from him.  For his 75th birthday, about 9 years ago, I took him to [...]

I recently stayed at La Concha Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico and for a moment I thought I was back in the 70s.  I looked around the pool area and there were 2 of my favorite 70s house plants – the ponytail plant and asparagus fern.  I had both of them in my bedroom [...]