Summer ends Sunday, September 23, with the autumn equinox as the sun crosses the equator and everywhere day and night are of equal length. Days continue to shorten until the winter solstice when Earth turns back from her farthest loop around our great star. Shadows become longer and evenings in the garden more precious. Many […]
What planet do you live on? One where the rainfall deficit is 11"-plus and the Chesapeake Bay a sewer of nitrogen and phosphorus, or Bizzaro World where a chemical green lawn pocked with automatic irrigation heads (or at least a yellow rotating water spike) is the perfect picture of the good life? Most lawns here […]
July in the gardenUse containers for a fresh start. Mulch immediately after weeding. Learn to prune all the different shrubs. Horticultural wisdom counsels the gardener to surrender to the torpor of summer and do as little as possible—a welcome respite for those who’ve been working steadily since spring, and in the heat and humidity of […]
The arc of the sun reaches its zenith on June 21st, bringing the first day of summer. From then ’til December 22nd the golden orb tracks steadily back towards winter. If you haven’t yet been invited to a summer solstice party, plan one now to celebrate the longest day of the year. Cocktails at twilight […]
“…The flowers come forth like the belles of the day, have their short reign of beauty and splendour, and retire, like them, to the more interesting office of reproducing their like….The Hyacinths and Tulips are off the stage, the Irises are giving place to the Belladonnas, as these will to the Tuberoses, etc….” Say what […]
Something sinister lurks behind the Easter basket prettiness of April. The first blooms of spring also herald the start of the lawn care industry’s campaign to sell high nitrogen fertilizers laced with pesticides that promise to-die-for turf. Do not succumb to this false lure. If you have decent soil and at least a good half […]
Many a gardener has an inner Edward Scissorhands, but not all shrubs flourish under the shears and in real life as well as show biz, timing is everything. Cut broadleaf evergreens down to size from Valentine’s Day through the end of March, but save the electric hedge trimmers for summer. Now is the time for […]
Weather Alert: stretches of balmy temperatures followed by frigid cold. A typical Virginia winter, really. But there’s a whiff of fear in the air these days. Few doubt the climate is warming and weather is becoming more extreme, but is this winter just another blip on the ancient screen of global history or does it […]