Call me Dagwood. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—I read the funny papers in the Sunday newspaper. I was a child but not a child of the 1930s. Still Blondie, the 1930s comic strip featuring Dagwood Bumstead, engaged me, though I didn’t want it to, other unlikely comics less so. I remember Mary Worth, […]
Today, you may be surprised to learn, is the first day of Fall. Fall, you may feel, commenced weeks ago—just in time for the football season, innumerable Fall sales, and references to Fall in news reports. “Here Comes Fall Weather,” announced the Washington Post on September 15th. New York Magazine published its Fall Fashion issue […]
On my way to the last Heronswood Nursery west coast open house for 2011, I paused at a red light and waited to turn left. Coming from the opposite direction, I saw a motorcycle. It was very early morning, Saturday. There were few other vehicles on the road. The motorcycle was coming fast, accelerating hard […]
About 35 years ago a gardening campaign called “Fall Is For Planting” began. It was okay, but just okay. Nice title, but it didn’t go anywhere, much less take you along for the ride. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great – no “wow” factor, not even a smile. In fact, it described work. Planting […]
Until a few years ago, the only plant I ever had under my care was a small cactus. To be sure that it survived, I went so far as to put it in my carryon bag when I moved from New York to Wisconsin. I think that cactus lasted about 5 years until somehow it […]
Much has been made in the news about the heat this summer. No wonder. Nobody needs much reminding, with large swaths of the country sweltering. There’s been drought too. This weather is tough on our infrastructure and most living things—plants are no exception. How does heat affect them, and how do they adapt to it? […]
Mid-summer—before kids start football, soccer, or whatever practice—is vacation time. And for us, it’s no different. Agree with me or not; I think California’s a great place to visit. But as with any visit, the best part often is going home again. So that’s what we did for our summer vacation. We went to Chicago […]
High above the Wabash River with night falling, it was still almost as hot and humid as it had been all the way across Missouri and Illinois. Now with the flat tire, it seemed unlikely that I’d make it the remaining 330 odd miles home that night. As I removed the jack and straightened up, […]
Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’ Weeping Beech Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’ Weeping Beech Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Fir) ‘Graceful Grace’ Pseudotsuga menziesii on the left and at front right is Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress) ‘Cascade Falls’ Taxodium distichum ‘Cascade Falls’ with Seed House roof Another view ‘Graceful Grace’ again Pinus parviflora ‘Glauca Nana’, a rare cultivar of Japanese White […]
For a long time, I used to say that crows like nothing better than pizza crust. But that’s not strictly true; crows seem to eat and to enjoy most table scraps. They don’t obviously roost near our house, but they must watch us because when we put out stale bread, old pasta, or anything else […]
