Garden Variety

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, roses are everywhere. Roses aren’t just on Hallmark cards and in floral bouquets—they are on the covers of all kinds of books. And not just romances... Read more...

Want to know a secret? I live in Vermont, home of the vibrant red maple and wild daylily, but I confess that I am not satisfied. Oh no, the lilacs and blueberries and peonies are not enough for me. I want it all. I crave camellias, lust after lemon trees, and ache for artichokes. Read more...

There are many books, magazines, and online resources aimed at the growing community of backyard gardeners. When wading through the sea of information available online, gardeners can become understandably confused or mislead by buzzwords like organic, sustainable, and green. Although it's easy to find opinions about fashionable plants and new gardening trends online, often when the urgent need for information about a disease or an insect strikes, it can be difficult to know where to turn for real scientific facts. Read more...

“Sometimes you feel like a nut; sometimes you don’t.” While these books may not be your typical garden fare, they’ll put a smile on your face. Read more...

There are gardeners, and there are garden writers. And then there are writers like these five, who have such a masterful way with the written word that they’ve become as well-known as authors and essayists as for their gardens. Read more...

Gourmet restaurants may be a luxury for most of us these days, but for the home cook, a luxurious meal may be as close as the backyard. Fresh herbs; heirloom tomatoes; cipollini onions; purple, pink, and yellow potatoes; lemon cucumbers; alpine strawberries; the list of possibilities goes on and on... Read more...

If you live in a wintery-climate like I do, this is the time of year when your garden's underling structure, (or lack thereof), really stands out. The 'bones' of the landscape, provided by design elements such as trees, shrubs, sculpture, fencing, walls, and other architectural details, hold a garden together when the flowers and foliage fade away. Read more...

They’re out there. Deer, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, moles, voles, chipmunks, ground hogs, armadillos, and even wolves, bears, and mountain lions, depending on where you live. Some welcome all kinds of wildlife into their gardens. Others, like my mom, think the critters are out to get them. Love 'em or hate 'em—or maybe even fear them—it’s their world, too, and we're all in this together. Read more...

Find a cozy spot and dig into these delicious essays, rich with all the flavors of the garden. Read more...

Good grief. It's still the first week of January, and boy am I in trouble. Winter has only just begun, and I'm already dreaming of tropical escapes and botanical destinations. What's a horticulturally obsessed, snow-bound gardener to do? Read more...