The hurly burly happenings of the past week, culminating in a holiday gathering of family, are behind us. Now I’m set to settle in and relax for a few days before ringing in the New Year with friends - leafing through gardening books, new & old, gleaning inspiration for the new year, browsing seed catalogs, and [...]

I’ve packed my smallish urban plot chock-full, creating a dense, layered tapestry of plantings. As a result, I find that I have little or no bare ground left, yet my plant lust has not abated. The solution? Buy plants that stay small. Conifers, for example, have been some of the most worthwhile additions I’ve made [...]

During the chilly winter months, I spend a lot less time doing the garden thang and more time reading, thinking, planning and dreaming about what I’m gonna do come spring. So in that vein, I’ve been appraising my garden and ruminating over the changes I’ll make this coming year. After reading Douglas Tallamy’s book, Bringing [...]

Many gardeners’ entrée to ornamental gardening is via the vegetable patch. I on the other hand, came to the garden almost exclusively from an ornamental perspective. After the purchase of my home, I found myself captivated by plants and focused on the creation of a garden devoted to playing with them and learning how to [...]

Just because we’re headed into winter doesn’t mean that you have to let go of having fabulous containers gracing your doorstep or deck. The secret to creating great winter containers is the same as in any other season – focus on creating a vignette that includes a variety of color, texture and form. Same concept [...]

Ever wonder what a holiday-lights festival would be like if gardeners designed it? Garden D’Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden in Washington has the answer. Every year at this time, the Bellevue Botanical Garden’s planting beds, well known for their fabulous mixed border plantings that inspire gardeners from far & wide, make way for this [...]