Every once in a while I come across a gardening reference book that reads like a delicious novel, filled with fabulous conversational writing, sage advice, and enlivened wit leafy villains, thugs and heroes. What delightful book is this?

It is Jodi DeLong’s recently released book, Plants for Atlantic Gardens: Handsome and Hard-Working Shrubs, Trees and Perennials, released by Nimbus Publishing! A fabulous collection of plant profiles….

Written on Saturday, March 26, 2011 in Books & Products

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Woke up Monday morning to -11 degree Celsius (12 degree Fahrenheit) with a wind chill of -20 degree Celsius (-4 degree Fahrenheit). With these cold temperatures it’s hard to believe that the official start of Spring is less than two weeks away and that anything will be growing by then.

But the cold and the lack of vibrant green growth got me thinking about last summer’s trip to the largest gypsum dune field in the world: Whites Sands National Monument Park in south-central New Mexico at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert. Here embedded in the pure white gypsum sands, numerous plants and animals survive, nay thrive, in this inhospitable environment.

Written on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 in Plants

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My hot-facing, I mean, my west-facing garden begs for an air-conditioner in the summer. From 11 O’clock in the morning until sunset, my backyard bakes under the relentless sun. And since most of windows also face west … the house also gets hot.

Written on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 in Plants

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