In Japan right now, families should be enjoying the sakura zensen, the “cherry blossom front” that sweeps northward from Okinawa to Hokkaido from January through early April. Throughout the spring, families and friends celebrate Hanami, picnics shared beneath the luminous pink-and-white canopies of blooming ornamental cherry. Instead, this springtime in Japan brings unimaginable calamity. As…
What’s blooming in Nashville? Magnolia stellata–a lovely, early-blooming small tree, native to Japan. Unfortunately, you don’t see it nearly as frequently as its ubiquitous blooming contemporary, the Bradford pear. I will supply a photo of that execrable weed, so beloved of contractors. But the photo in no way constitutes an endorsement of that blighted, flimsy-limbed,…
It doesn’t have to be hideous or gnome-related. A couple of examples from the Halcyon garden:
We bought this hyacinth as part of a pretext/disguise (I cannot reveal more!) a couple of years ago. When the case was over, I decided to pop the bulbs into the ground instead of throwing away the plant. Excellent choice. A little more love for the saucer magnolia: Stay tuned: redbuds take the stage next…
Since 2008, The Orwell Prize has been blogging George Orwell’s diaries 70 years to the day after he wrote them. I particularly love this most recent “post,” a moment of springtime loveliness as the blitz rages in London. 4.3.41 (March 4th. In European format, the day goes before the month.) At Wallington.* Crocuses out everywhere,…
What’s blooming in Nashville?
Gorgeous spring days making you itchy to get started in the garden, but not sure where to begin? A few ideas:
“Don’t forget to call Lidia Yakovlyevna tomorrow,” my émigré friend Inna reminded me yesterday at our weekly Russian lesson. “For the holiday.” I searched my mind frantically. I always feel so proud when Inna and her husband Victor tell me I’m “practically Russian”–usually when I’m happily scarfing down a plate of smoked herring or beef…
The Greenery 