With the fading of our last passionflower last month, things are muted, florally speaking, right now inside our garden. The exceptions would be our small hibiscus shrub and our jade plant, whose delicate white flowers are already beginning to emerge. We’re predicting that it will...
“Your thighs are appletrees / whose blossoms touch the sky,” William Carlos Williams writes in his 1920 poem “Portrait of a Lady.” The immortal modernist was born on this day in 1883 in Rutherford, New Jersey. (“The sand clings to my lips -- / Which...
It’s that time of year again! You know, that end-of-summer stretch marked by groaning mailbags, raised eyebrows at the newsstand, and 900+ plus pages of fashion euphoria? That’s right, Vogue magazine’s September issue is out. The famously fat edition is a design-world event not just because of...
We’ll let you guess which half of The Horticult we’re talking about here: Growing up, one of us was hopelessly obsessed with miniatures. Ages 8 through 11 13, C used to make pilgrimages to suburban mall kiosks and craft stores to buy toothpick chandeliers, lawnmowers operated...
"Setting up your perennial garden may seem intimidating, but don't be afraid...
This week, we couldn’t get enough of the cheery woodland blooms, dignified hedging and audacious sculpture that filled the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show, now in its 100th year. The garden scenes and scandals (yes, scandals!) are providing us with lots of inspiration as we...
“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars,” F. Scott Fitzgerald writes at the top of chapter three of his immortal, absurdly re-readable The Great Gatsby. Narrator Nick Carraway is describing the...
On the one hand, there are flings — the here-today-faded-tomorrow flashes of love, drama and seduction. And on the other hand, there are the smooth and steady partnerships that only get better and more brilliant over time. We were reminded of these two kinds of...
Science Friday, the long-running public radio show, is our jam. Last week’s episode was broadcast live from ASU in Phoenix, Arizona, and includes a half hour on “the secret life of the Sonoran desert.” It’s a must-listen. The segment reveals more than a few surprising facts...
From the hidden vibrations of flowers to empowering heirloom seeds in India (to, hello, that Higgs boson), it’s been a big week for small things. ✚ You know the bit of garden folklore about how tomatoes scream when they’re sliced? Although the ESP aspect has been soundly MythBusted, this...