Columns

Summer often brings longer days, packed schedules and the best intentions to slow down and soak it all in—but in reality, life often speeds up. Between travel, work, family plans and shifting routines, staying in touch with the people who matter most can fall...

Gardening trends come and go. Who doesn’t love to read garden magazines with all those beautiful photographs during the winter and dream about your garden’s potential. Ditto for all the gardening blogs on the internet that are written by some very talented people who...

When my bearded iris didn’t bloom much this year, I made a note to divide them in September. It’s on my to-do list. These iris are very special to me as I dug them up the spring after my house burned. One is the...

The blouse was grey, and the most beautiful blouse that this little 8-year-old girl had ever seen in her short lifetime. The blouse had ruffles on its sleeves and a ruffled ascot at its neckline; I couldn’t take my eyes off the blouse that...

“I try to take care and be gentle to them… Once broken, they become impossible to repair.” —Anne Sexton Last week I received an email from a gentleman reader named Scott. Scott had read my cheesecake article, and Scott, a retired chef, was worried about...

I received a phone call just at sunset from my friend Rosemary “Rosie” Chalmers two weeks ago. Usually Rosie is in bed at that time as she rises at 3 a.m. Monday through Friday in order to open her broadcasting studio by 5 a.m. Rosie...

You can have chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Jack Frost nipping at your nose, but what would the holidays be without a beautiful wreath to decorate the door? Maybe you want to put together a swag for the mantle or candle holder...

A couple of years ago I bought a dwarf butterfly bush and planted it in a pot near my entry. It’s one of the plants that came back from the roots after the fire and it now lives on my deck but in a...

Being the type who doesn’t take no for an answer, I’m going to try growing veggies on my shady deck again. I wasn’t very successful a couple years ago. I thought that three hours of hot midday sun would be enough for green beans...

The daffodils are blooming. Will spring be early this year? When will I no longer need to worry about the danger of frost? How much is climate change affecting our natural world? We can all remember years when there is little rain in January...