Readers often have favorite authors and are not content with reading the author’s books. They want to know where and how the author lived, what made them the writer, the person they were, what influenced them and what supported them. In recent years, after a tough beginning, I have come to enjoy Eudora Welty’s books. I confess it took listening to an audio book of her stories including “Why I Live at the P.O.” and heard those southern…
Last week I visited the Lyman Plant House at Smith College in preparation for a column and post about the Annual Chrysanthemum Show which begins Friday, November 5 with a talk by Smith alum and author Paula Dietz about the gardens she has visited and written about in her book, On Gardens. The Smith Botanical Garden and the Lyman Plant House are treasures for the whole community to use. The Lyman Plant House is open every day (except Thanksgiving and…
Eudora Welty has been much on my mind these last months. First there was a performance of the one act opera composed by Alice Parker based on Welty's The Ponder Heart, and then I read a biography of Elizabeth Lawrence who was a friend of Welty's, and then my book club read One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty. All of that is topped off with the publication of One Writer's Garden written by Susan Haltom who researched and…
In our part of the world we are surrounded by trees. We are so used to seeing trees that we don’t really look at them anymore. When we do attend to them we see them in their entirety, trunk and an undifferentiated mass of leaves. As autumn approaches some of us pay a little more attention, the flame of maples, the sheen of dark oaks and the gold of birches, but still we are not seeing the whole…
Our area is still picking itself up after Irene left her gifts of washed out roads and bridges, flooded basements and houses. We have been fortunate here at the End of the Road because we never lost power and the water that ran into our dirt floored basement, ran out politely without making a fuss. We thought our only problem was hoping the popcorn supply would last through Sunday afternoon while we read our books. In fact we…
The weekend started out happily with my book signing at World Eye Books. I got to meet new readers, and chat with old friends like Bob and Sue Gruen who gave a wonderful talk last night for the Heath Historical Society about weaving in colonial times - and now. But, by the time we left their talk around 9, Irene's rains had arrived. Heavy rains on and off all night continued until noon, then let up somewhat. We…
I haven't seen Seeing Trees by Nancy Ross Hugo, but I have seen some of the gorgeous photographs by Robert LLewellyn. This book promises to give many ways of recognizing trees in the most delightful way, through all the tree's stages. Timber Press, which publishes some of the most distinguished garden books around is holding a contest. A signed, 16"×20" print of a Robert Llewellyn photograph from Seeing Trees, custom matted and framed (see contest site for image)…
It’s been a rough year for the vegetable garden at the End of the Road. There was lots of rain in the spring which was great for all the gardens. Then rain became scarce and if I have learned anything in my years of gardening it is that vegetable gardens need regular watering to thrive and be productive. However, a new problem this year was bunnies! We haven’t had problems with rabbits in the past, but this year…
Lorene Forkner, one of the organizers of the fabulous Seattle Fling, invited us to her own garden which is not large, but filled with enough plants and art of interest to keep me inspired for the next decade. I cannot help it. It is the roses that catch my eye first. This rose cluster was so heavy it would have been on the ground in my garden, but Lorene whipped up a support. My question is - did…
Do you ever have trouble with deer nibbling and destroying plants in your garden? I am sad enough when I go out and find that deer have eaten my peas down to nothing, but I get really discouraged when I go out in the spring and find out that my expensive Hinoki false cypress is no more. Ruth Clausen has felt my pain and put together this useful book that not only gives excellent cultural information about 50…