Until the equinox on September 21, we bask in late, late summer. Walnut leaves are yellowing, black gums turn scarlet at the edge of the woods and the soil is warm as a sunny lake on Labor Day, more hospitable to root growth than the cold clay of March. Ample rainfall makes for ideal conditions […]

Unlike the devil, it’s impossible to mistake a hell strip for anything else. Sterile concrete medians, inhospitable sidewalk patches and blazing afternoon decks do not appear in disguise. They differ from ordinary sunny garden sites in their sometimes polluted but always harsh exposure to reflective heat from asphalt and walls bereft of the buffering effects […]

Spring comes to us variously—covered in mud, blasted through on dry winds, smuggled beneath the skirts of late freezes. It has been known to rise gloriously from a burgeoning earth like the first day of Eden, which seems likely this year. Abundant moisture from rain and snow portend a spectacular flowering of classic favorites: dogwood, […]

Central Virginia is paradise compared to the parched, burning lands of California, Texas, Nevada, and Oklahoma. Here on the verdant side of the great river, our groundwater is replenished and streams run high, but everybody has to worry about water in the 21st century. The click-click-click of irrigation heads keeping time for twilit suburban idylls […]

After a prolonged wet winter, there will be mud. In the long run, this is a good thing, as steady moisture nurtures roots and flower buds for what should be a spectacular show this spring. Many tasks await as gardeners make their first stirrings, but beware trudging about in the muck too soon. Digging or […]