The second day of astronomical summer seems an appropriate time to review and preview what the gardening season has held for us and what it is yet to hold. Even such a garden eminence as the famed Gertrude Jekyll of the south of England in the early 20th century lamented on the comparative d…
Mid-June, and an excellent time to eat watermelon, wallow around in the chiggers and ticks lying in wait for you in your garden, and above all, taking stock in your said garden and determining whether you want to throw in the trowel and head for the beach or mountains, or if you are man — or…
“What is so rare as a day in June?” …
Tired of me yet? Or, to put another way, are you tired of my bewailing bad luck or, more accurately, bad decisions of the past half-century of ornamental gardening?
You may remember the several years I used this space to condemn an unruly giant sycamore tree west of our house. A wilding it was, having been dug from the woods and moved as a sprout to our property. Among the plethora of mistakes I have made in the past 40 years, it ranks as the costliest,…
Say someone — or you — becomes, after years of gardening, enamored of such and such a plant, or such and such a color. Before you know it, you have swamped your garden with those plants or that favorite color.
It is fortuitous for ornamental gardeners in these parts that the much-lauded azalea season that is beginning to fade is followed closely by the onset of hydrangea season.
It has been awhile since I have extolled here on the value of hand-me-down plants, as — sometimes — opposed to boughten stuff. I have been reminded during the waning daffodil season of the truth of that claim.
It is now on or about the Ides of April. The March Ides are better known, of course, but other months have them, too, right at the middle of the month or at least near it. So we will say the Ides of April are here.
“April is the kindest month. April gets you out of your head and out working in your garden.” — Marty Rubin “April — the month of dust and lies.” — Nagwib Mahfour S ay wha? Who’s right, if anybody? There’s a little of both and a lot of other stuff in the month of April. I said last week Apri…
Cursed Julius Caesar! Cassius — not Clay — and Brutus and a bunch of other hooligans conspired to stab poor Julius to pieces on the 15th day of March way back in 44 B.C. He didn’t have a chance.
In 2017, residents of one of the oldest neighborhoods in Paris looked at a piece of property with a worn-down house and saw a garden in its place.
Trivia question: which is harder to explain in plain English, an aroma or a color? I am left with that quandary often in attempting to describe either one. Since both appeal to the senses, it becomes a very much nebulous task simply because one person’s tastes — another sense — are different…
Last week’s dissertation on the winter joy of Japanese maples, particularly correctly pruned ones, was intended to cover other trees and sights of our winter landscape. I ran out of brain and paper and had to cut off after the Japanese maple comments. There are other winter joys we should se…
With the cusp of spring just around the corner, we should be, at least part of the time, grabbing at whatever stale patches of winter are left.
Oh dear, more deer. Deer problem getting worse.Deer problem worsens, they need eradicating
Much has been debated, written and discussed of late of the value, or lack of it, of peat moss as a garden soil amendment. The debates have mostly emanated from European countries and the British Isles where, as we speak, peat harvest has been severely curtailed or outlawed altogether. The a…
Victories have their ecstasies as sure as defeats have their agonies. My friend Rick Conger contributed to my agony of defeat right at Christmas time, 2021. He posted on Facebook back in December a picture of open daffodils in his considerable garden on Greenacres Drive, right next door to m…
It is always frustrating when I can’t remember where a favorite plant of many years came from. Or, especially, who it came from. My garden is fairly rife with hand-me-down plants, and some of them were gifted by other generous gardeners. To wit: I had a great-aunt, my mother’s aunt, who live…
Old Janus is on the prowl, making sure all his constituents are looking forward.
Hail and farewell. In a few days a new year will emerge on the scene, one that has never been seen before. A day before that, it will be farewell for 2021, a year that will never be seen again. Tempus fugit. Time flies when you’re having fun.
Here we are, just one day into winter and after the winter solstice, marking the shortest day of the year, and already there is talk of the “dead of winter.” For your information winter is not dead, nor will it be even later into its annual visit.
A fool’s paradise, it is — now, that is. Here it is, just 10 days until Christmas and fools like me are staring into space and doing virtually nothing about it. Hey, there gifts to be bought and decorations to be taken care of, and the boob tube and football games yet call, even on week nigh…
Winter hereabouts is generally said to be the months of December, January and February, notwithstanding the fact the astronomical calendar does not place its onset until Dec. 21 and continues it until March 21.
Our very own Pilgrims are given credit for inventing the first Thanksgiving here in the states, when they were simply colonies, but their Mother Country had practiced a somewhat similar holiday back there in England before that.
It has been a while since I have done a dirty column, 1984, believe it or not. Wait, I misspoke that. The column was on dirt, but, heck, that is about as dirty as you can get. It was during the initial year of succeeding my grandmother as your author. Let us move on, before I engender any mo…
Consider composting like recycling, but for food and organic matter.
A new love has taken up residence at our place. No, not My Assistant. She has been around some 64 years and I would not take a farm in Georgia for her. Or one in Alabama either.
Here we are, just three days before All Hallows Eve, and almost the end of October. Back at the first of the month, I had some comments here on the “golden month.” Since the most famous writer in the English language, William Shakespeare, never mentioned October, I will modestly propose to m…
My innate modesty prevents me from saying much about myself, but I can’t resist one egotistical remark that comes not from me but from a number of garden visitors. I have been complimented more than once on my skill in pruning.
Fall leaves are lots of fun, unless you’re the one that has to rake them. The good news is you don’t have to rake them this year.
The “fall of the year,” they call it. Leaves fall, many flowering plants fall, skies fall and daylight falls. I prefer the nomenclature “autumn,” which has a more pleasant resonance.
It can be easy to forget that the big trees in your yard are plants just like your more fragile roses and flowers that need frequent care.
October has been called “the golden month,” and for good reason. When I was outdoors editor here, I always had a column on the benefits of October, with its harvest of early wild game seasons and looking forward to ducks and quail to follow. Then, of course, there was the excellent fall fish…
The Paris Pessimist Club met in regular session a couple of weeks ago with the full membership present and answering roll call. The main order of business was handling pests in our local gardens. One member said the title of the meeting should be “If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.” Voting…
Happy Yom Kippur to all today, particularly my Jewish friends. Then too, happy autumnal equinox, next week, to all my friends, Jewish and gentile.
“I heard the bells of Christmas Day,
Staking, I believe it was. Last week, that is, when we talked something of the onerous task that staking of plants in the garden requires. It is not the physical labor, nor a problem of brain power. Any ordinary person can learn to tie a half-hitch, square knot or even a granny knot when the…
A couple of typical Williams type goofs a few weeks ago refreshed what’s left of my memory on staking plants in the garden.
A marked difference between ordinary ornamental gardens and more notable ones often consists of pleasing plant combinations or the absence thereof. A thought-out combination of rather plebeian plants can come to the fore when used with some thought in their placement.
The old dog star, Sirius, creeps back into his doghouse today, officially calling an end to the 40 days since July 3 that are known as dog days in honor of the rising and setting of said dog star. I don’t want to wish my life away, but good riddance. The dog days doldrums in our part of the …
We said last week, with hope springing eternal, that we might — might — see the turn to fall this month. In some few miracle years it actually does. I can remember going through the early dove hunting season a few — very few — times hardly working up a sweat through the month of September. O…
We’ll reach the cusp of August next week. Summer will turn the corner, so it is said.
Christine Reynolds was a champion for Paris and Henry County. She was born in 1909 and married Herman Reynolds.
Inevitably, every year without fail, there comes a period between cold winter and hot summer, popularly known as spring. It is when fresh new buds flash out on trees, and your garden is unsullied by any semblance of decay and letdown.
If there is anyone out there who reads this column, you know it is nothing new for me to dwell on the valuable garden color, bright yellow, and when tinged with green, chartreuse.
One of the most useful items in a gardener’s arsenal of tools is a can of paint, spray paint usually. Say what?
It is hard to believe the year is more than half over. The sun reached its zenith two days ago and is now sinking, imperceptibly at first, toward its nadir a few days before Christmas. Astronomical summer is here at last and just at the time we are hungry for a colorful explosion in our gardens.
Here we are just days from the summer solstice and the longest day of the year, and it is as good a time as any to go over again — Watering 101.
As much as I love perennials, I have to admit that for long-term color, annuals have them beat. With annuals, you miss a constantly changing repertoire but the compensation — if it is one — is the more or less endless blare of color the season through.
“What is so rare as a day in June” … wrote James Russell Lowell in the 19th century.
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