In the hour of twilight after I got home from work last night, I thinned the rows of carrots and beets that I sowed the last week of August and harvested a salad bowl of spicy mesclun mix and spinach. The finger-sized carrots are so crisp and sweet—best of the season and not even full […]
Some of my favorite perennials bloom at this time of year and their end-of-the-season finale is well worth the wait. With its gold flowers and purple leaves, Desdemona ligularia pairs brilliantly with a 7-foot-tall fleece flower (Persicaria polymorpha) in the garden at Muckross castle near Ennis, Ireland. Desdemona ligularia (Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’) A […]
It’s not a disease—just finely shredded leaves. Gardening could be an inexpensive hobby, but at my house it’s not. One of my many springtime splurges is the purchase (at $8.50 per bag) of six to ten bags of cocoa mulch. I use it in my perennial beds, applying it by the handful and only in […]
