Purple Toadflax
Purple Toadflax I have an image of a fastidious gardener weeding out everything without “papers,” that is, everything that didn’t either come with a name and pedigree or that self-seeds in everyday English (such...
Author: nannorrhops
New Perennialist Planting
It’s called a movement sometimes, this apparently loose-defined international way of thinking about plants. It’s “planting,” rather than “gardening.” It emphasises simple, minimal maintenance needs, variety, and an unstructured appearance a point in our...
Imperial Gardening
There are moments when it seems like gardening is English. I seem to recall sensing this even as a child, growing up in the American Midwest, that there were “English” gardens — either long-ago or far-way,...
Leave it alone!
I seem to be burdened with some idea that a “garden” implies detailed knowledge, fastidious maintenance and a sturdy aesthetic, that is, a reliable sense of what you — the gardener — like. I...
Structural Gardening
As I was setting up this blog, I came across a short, sweet on-line gardening course called Managing Perennials. Noel Kingsbury is the tutor and the course is about Piet Oudolf’s design principles. Oudolf...
Starting to Garden
My gardening began in an act of violence, born of a long frustration with some Japanese anemones (my husband called them “daisies,” and I accepted it, then.) that were flopping over the walkway, blocking...
