At Duke’s Nicholas School of Environmental Science, researchers blow CO2 through stands of trees to determine the positive effect—if any—of global warming. Thus far, it isn’t conclusive that there is a benefit from any increase in carbon dioxide—a theoretical boon for trees. Some experts speculated that tree health would be the only silver lining of the greenhouse gas cloud. However, the effects of health derive from systemic change—holistic, to be… Continue reading

One of the many oversights made by the folks who share their opinions with me is the contribution to the artistry of the garden’s design by Heronswood’s architect and co-founder, Robert Jones. Like a brass player with a woodwind instrument, an architect can discover new tricks when he plays on a garden. Indeed, Jones is in many ways just as interesting a garden designer as Hinkley. The uniqueness of the… Continue reading

In the early 1980s, I attempted to resurrect large-scale production (which is to say any scale of production) of the fancy old perfumed lapel violets. The only place I found any remnants of the past glory days was Southern Europe. I also attempted to purchase a distinguished perennial seed specialist breeder and producer in Northern Europe. He turned out to be using, as some of his production sources, seed collected… Continue reading | 1 Comment

The floating Savior heard the pleas. Cool weather arrived Friday afternoon like a soothing daydream—a bit of Lompoc right here in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Delaware Valley.After the shipping lanes from Great Britain and France were blockaded by the Germans in WWI, the US horticultural seed industry (vegetable, flower and herb seed) struggled to find new sources for these traditional crops from Northern Europe, the former home of most 19th… Continue reading

Most books have some measure of relevance, but the “greats” – the resonant ones – reflect a lifetime. One has to read heavily and strenuously in both classics and contemporaries in order to find the gold.

Like Madame Bovary haunted by the crippled idiot, and Anna Karenina spooked by the vision of the railroad worker’s death, I remember under duress my totem-like deep images. Most carry the Hydra’s head of past… Continue reading

After a few beers, I decided to write a self-indulgent blog entry. I like escape movies, so long as they’re mindless. But I’m afraid James Bond has become a serious “art film” subject. Thank God for Jaguar Paw.

First, the “new” Bond flick. Although Daniel Craig is a welcome replacement for Pierce Brosnan, who was almost as bad as Roger Moore and George Lazenby, he has a bland, dull voice, neither… Continue reading