Birds Brighten The Winter Garden

And so they come, the long winter months when the garden lies still and withdrawn beneath Nature’s decree of dormancy, and the eye sees only the shadows of shrub and

The Coleus Comes Back

Great-grandmother grew ribbon beds of coleus, carefully pinched to keep them from becoming uneven or straggly and never allowed to bloom.  Grandmother filled hanging baskets on the porch with Trailing

If You Like It… Have Fun Espaliering

Topiary art is a form of structural gardening that once had great prominence in the old country. This called for the trimming and training of amenable plants in certain forms

Plants And Paints

Gardening and fine art may seem, at first glance, rather unrelated. But gardeners know it takes considerable art to create an effective garden picture, and artists find that plants and

Plant Roses In Fall The Debate?

For about 25 years, our local men’s rose club members have debated whether it is desirable to set out new rose bushes in the fall.  We are no nearer to

Summer Flowers In Winter Windows

Each fall, to add variety to winter windows, I pot a few annuals to bring inside before the nights become too cold.  First Gilliflowers Last year, I potted an annual

Recipe For Compost

The usual directions for making a compost heap call for a lot of physical effort on your part and quite a bit of your free time.  You’re advised to prepare

What Gardens Mean To People?

One rainy day last spring, two ladies visited me at Breeze Hill. One of them came from Harrisburg, and the other from Syracuse. They were equipped with large umbrellas and

A Lifetime With Lilacs

For distinguished achievement in horticulture” is the bold line across JL the top of a parchment citation which was bestowed upon Hulda Klager of Woodland, Washington, by the Oregon Federation

Choose The Right Container

The plants you grow indoors this winter will be doubly enjoyable if they are used as decorative material for your rooms rather than in a nursery-style row on the window