People we find clever or interesting in some other way.
An ode to mulch
It was serendipitous. For a few weeks in mid-spring, my garden is the tidiest it has ever looked, thanks to an application of mulch/compost that gets put down at the [...]
A free garden festival with talks from experts in every area? Sign me up!
Be quick about it if you want access to Great Grow Along, which starts tomorrow, March 11, with a welcome “happy hour” featuring Marcus Bridgewater (Garden Marcus). Then, the ambitious [...]
Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith—Flowers, Poetry, and Light
Young artists Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe met on a New York City street in 1967. They were newcomers to town—short on cash, hopeful and passionate about art. Robert [...]
Win Dunwell’s Garden Library and the Chaos of Memories
On December 11, Win Dunwell drove a half-hour to his workplace of 40 years. He knew the tornado that ripped apart Mayfield, Kentucky, had made a direct hit on [...]
The Purest of Human Pleasures? From Eton to Paradise.
Robin Lane Fox, classical scholar, gardener, equestrian and journalist, has been near the front of the cavalry charge of garden writers in Great Britain for over 50 years. In [...]
Wonderful Documentary about Japan’s Gift of Peace – Bonsai
Entrance to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in the National Arboretum in November of 2021. The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum opened in 1976 with a gift of 53 [...]
Ron Finley’s Master Class on Gardening
To my now-surprise, I had no idea who Ron Finley was, despite Marianne saying that HGTV should hire him (not Martha). Or Allen quoting him and describing him as "the [...]
Be Inspired by Earth-Minded Berea College Students
Climate change makes my head hurt. Remedies seem insufficient and technological breakthroughs uncertain. While governments squabble, students at Berea College are re-thinking the planet’s future and working together. This year [...]
American Hort Society is Saved, Gets Keith Tomlinson as Director!
The Potential Sale of River Farm and the Struggle for Control of AHS When the American Horticultural Society put its Alexandria, VA headquarters on the Potomac River - the historic [...]
Sorrow and Solace in Sichuan on 9/11
On 9/11 I was searching for garden-worthy Chinese plants in the western Chinese province of Sichuan. I was in good company: five American plant hunters, a photojournalist, a retired doctor, [...]
Beatrix Farrand’s American Landscapes
Rose and I recently went out for our first movie in a long time. We picked a good one. “Gardens are good for the soul…They make you feel like your [...]
Abra Lee Conquers the Soil
Abra Lee is unearthing the American history of Black ornamental gardening—one story at a time. The White Lion landed near Hampton, Virginia, in 1619. On board were an estimated 20 [...]