Mankind has really been put in its place over the last 500 years.  Why only the other day, back in 1400, the sun orbited the earth; man was God’s consummate work of art; humans were masters of themselves and the domain God provided for them.  Our secular fall from grace began with Copernicus, who dislodged […]

Spectacular Japanese Fountain Grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’), indeed, but it would be so much less without the Bent Grass (Agrostis stolonifera), an Asian native beloved in the Pacific Northwest and considered a weed in the Atlantic Northeast.  Photograph taken at Heronswood’s original test and display gardens in Kingston.   Get rid of your lawn?  Plant […]

Easter reminded me of another miracle—eggs.  Let me explain.  There may be no food more effective on a cost basis.  Here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a dozen eggs goes for about $3.00, or 25 cents each, and there are grocery stores everywhere you turn.  If you have two a day, you’re spending 50 cents.  Ground […]

I am going to compare the approximate costs of “family activities”, and therefore the potential savings, of a six-month home gardening warm season, and a routine of garden-event based experiences during the same period.  These costs are for a family of four. The idea is that if you don’t have an “active” garden, your family […]

I was surprised to learn recently that Sears Tower was being renamed.  What an obsession we Americans have for renaming buildings that have achieved historic and superlative status.  Does anyone think folks are going to call it anything other than Sears Tower? It started me wondering about our monuments and institutions.  Old churches and libraries […]

 New Plant Frontiers Parts 2 & 3 Here are the middle sections of my speech for today, April 3 and tomorrow, April 4 at 1:30 P.M.  Also, we have the hellebore expert and new plant explorer Simon Crawford speaking at 11:00 A.M. both days on the timely subject of the Lenten Rose.  Even if it’s […]

Here’s a preview of the first half of my speech to be given this Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, at 1:30 P.M.  Come hear the rest of it! Part 1, New American Sun Garden I’m going to talk today about the future of plant breeding from the unique perspective of someone who has […]

There’s a brief moment in early spring—usually in the first week—when a perfect freshness unfolds.  The balance of light tilts to favor the “out of doors”.  Clean air streams inside.  Fordhook’s 60 acres of forest, meadow and gardens flash in the sun. I enjoy the “species” quality of spring.  By July the jumbled, generic woods […]

America’s rich are now under greater scrutiny than at any time since the era of muckrakers and Robber Barons. What the rich are guilty of, it seems, is making money and being rich. It is certainly true that wealth is concentrated in relatively few hands, with just one percent of the country possessing 34 per […]

Around this time of year, I love to watch “Wild Palms“, the ultimate spring flick. The great character actor Robert Loggia can’t catch up with the pace of his imagination, which takes a devilish turn. It’s about life’s quickening quality—never catching up with itself—and our innate frustration with comprehending, much less understanding it. I like […]