Clematis 'Pagoda' Shhh... be quiet amongst the flowers, lest you disturb a sleeping garden fairy. Or frighten a buzzing bee. Or interrupt a chorus of birds. Shhh... if you are quiet enough, You may hear the earthworms digging. You may hear the butterflies flying. You will hear the songs of the flowers. … [Read more...] about Be quiet amongst the flowers
flowers
Purple and Green
Seems all I can think of these days is silver and gold purple and green. Purple and GreenPurple and GreenEveryone wishes for Purple and GreenHow do you measure its worth?Just by the pleasure it gives here on Earth Alyssum Purple and GreenPurple and GreenEveryone wishes for Purple and GreenHow do you measure its worth?Just by the pleasure it gives here on Earth Aster 'Purple Dome' Purple and GreenPurple and Green means so much more when I seePurple and Green flow'rs and berries … [Read more...] about Purple and Green
I never cared about Camellias until…
This is NOT a camellia, it is a rose. I never cared about Camellias until I started reading Eudora Welty's gardening letters (Tell About Night Flowers: Eudora Welty's Gardening Letters, 1940-1949, edited by Julia Eichelberger). I thought I knew all I needed to know about them. My daily iced green tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis and those grown for the flowers, generally Camellia japonica, are not hardy here. Not hardy here. Camillias are generally hardy in Zones 7 … [Read more...] about I never cared about Camellias until…
What is a gilliflower?
Gilliflowers What is a gilliflower? I did not know so I looked it up in Johnson's Gardeners' Dictionary, edited by J. Fraser, F.L.S., F.R.H.S. and A. Hemsley (London: George Routledge & Sons, Limited, 1917). This is a new edition "based on the Original Edition of 1846, thoroughly recast and brought down to the year 1917". And I quote. "GILLIFLOWER. By some supposed to be a corruption of July flower, because the carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) flowers in July. Other … [Read more...] about What is a gilliflower?
Pansies: Gift from the Garden Fairies
According to Alice T. A. Quackenbush, the pansies are a gift to us from the garden fairies. I did wonder about that and suspected that there might be a connection between them. I would guess they are also somehow involved with little violas, too. The evidence... "Once the fairies were making ready for their annual midsummer night's revel and wanted to do something to make the world brighter for the human race. They put on thinking caps -- probably plucked from Foxglove-- and thought … [Read more...] about Pansies: Gift from the Garden Fairies
“The Breath of the Garden”
Roses - the quintessential scented flower Why? Why do I read these old gardening books like "All in a Garden Fair" by Alice T. A. Quackenbush and "The Garden that I Love" by Alfred Austin? Why? Because I can not easily find in newer books the passion for plants and gardening that these authors of another time express through their writing. No one seems to write about gardening the way they did. Yes, many newer books are good, well-written books with pictures that nearly jump … [Read more...] about “The Breath of the Garden”
