hortulus fuchsiarum

The Great Garden Chore of 2015

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OK. The Great Garden Chore of 2015 has been accomplished. I really don’t know why it took so long. It was’t actually even that hard. But it’s one of those things that you look at, sigh, and think, “I really need to do this”. Before you let yourself be distracted…➤ Read More

The white tide recedes

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What a difference a week of vaguely normal weather can make. Temperatures above freezing all last week, a little rain here and there, and the white tide recedes. Good riddance, you miserable Winter of 2015. Hello Spring!➤ Read More

The great plunge of January

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The really cold part of the winter usually has the good sense to wait until sometime in January before annoying us. Well, right on the heels of the Three Kings, it’s here. Some assorted scenic snowfalls and then The Plunge blew in. Thanks guys. The snow was a nice present but...➤ Read More

Between the years

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Since well before the holiday last week, the weather’s still been pretty mild here. That’s not really all that unusual. In spite of the plunge in November, the really cold snaps usually have the good sense to wait until the New Year’s...➤ Read More

Prisoners of the snow

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The Garden remains encased in snow but my windmill palm seeds finally arrived in the mail. I’ve been coveting Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Wagnerianus’ for a while. This was even my second attempt to get my hands...➤ Read More

Punxsutawney Phil sees a shadow

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Somewhere in the wilds of western Pennsylvania, far away in an improbable place called Punxsutawney, that celebrated sybil of winter weather named Phil emerged this morning from his cozy, warm burrow...➤ Read More

P.S. And then the snow finally arrived

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That foreboding winter storm, incongruously identified with Hercules, finally arrived late Friday night. I would have preferred calling it after Ganglati, servant to goddess of the frozen northern underworld, Hel, but...➤ Read More

Happy New Year! It's into the freeze now

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I woke this new morning to find a beautiful dusting of snow covering the garden, like powdered sugar on a spice cake. We’re off to a fine start for the New Year! Except that there’s already six to eight inches of snow...➤ Read More

Getting ready for the cold. And, suddenly, silence

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The final cleanup of fall always seems to take me by surprise. Especially when the weather has had that golden crispness that usually settles in sometime during autumn here, when the summer’s heat and humidity have fallen back south. The City comes into its own then...➤ Read More

Now appearing. Hostas take the fall stage

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Every year, as the weather cools and the garden’s summer green slowly fades to gold, I’m surprised again and delighted by how fall plays out even in this small urban space. The first performer is my potted purplebloom maple...➤ Read More

Falling leaves. All over the garden

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Fall comes slowly to this sheltered garden. When other spots are past their peak, the leaves on the nearby trees seem to equivocate a bit longer here before they finally decide to turn their attention to the coming winter...➤ Read More

Come on, Kwintet, be a good sport

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Something funny happened in the garden this morning. No, the squirrels didn’t leave a fruit basket on the back step with knock and a nice note apologizing for having gnawed off the lily buds...➤ Read More

Summer starts in the spring

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The urban fuchsias live in the City. In a small garden. In a small apartment garden. With no greenhouse and precious little space to overwinter plants indoors, lots of them have to be sacrificed to reality...➤ Read More

The winter spa treatment

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On warmer days and nights that don't go below breezing, I sometimes set some of the plants back outside to take in the spa of cool, refreshing air. Right now...➤ Read More

The long winter's nap

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It's the beginning of January right now. Despite the incredible loop we were thrown by Hurricane Sandy just before Halloween last October, the weather this past fall has been a...➤ Read More

Fuchsias for another year

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It’s only the first week of October and tweets from all over arrive in seemingly rapid escalation. Freezes tonight from Missouri to Chicago. Frosts expected already in…➤ Read More

Fall reflections

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You can almost hear sighs of relief as the oppression of the summer’s heat and humidity fades away by the second half of September. It’s a respite that can play itself out...➤ Read More

Get a move on it

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It’s finally here. As a gardener, I can procrastinate with the best of ‘em when it comes to putting things ready for the coming winter. Or maybe it’s just a denial of the inevitable. As I think about it...➤ Read More