Herbs For Kitchen And Garden
UNITED STATES—Herbs might be in our garden right now, whether we are aware of it or not. Trailing rosemary happens to be a popular and practical groundcover, and some varieties grow as low shrubbery. A few varieties of thyme also work as ground cover for small areas, or between stones. Various lavenders are popular low mounding shrubbery. Quite a...
My Brief Life As A Spy
UNITED STATES—One can be deceptively in awe of other nationalities when one belongs to the ink trade. They seem to have established more reliable means for distinguished writers to be distinguished. In Latin America one can become a diplomat (Octavio Paz and Pablo Neruda). In England, for instance, quite a few have gotten into intelligence, such as Ian Fleming,...
Concrete And Jungle Can Be Compatible
UNITED STATES—Concrete is one of the most common of landscape materials. There are probably more landscapes that include concrete of one form or another than there are landscapes that include lawn, and most landscapes include lawn. There are more landscapes that lack shade trees than there are without concrete. We do not notice it much because, once it is...
Breakfast For Chameleons
UNITED STATES—Zozobra--that's a Spanish word for colossal delirium which was unleashed when my elderly mother revealed that some letters of mine had ended up in the recycling bin. Coming from a legendary packrat this was disturbing, indeed unhinging. The revelation added urgency to a long delayed trip up north to get to the bottom of how the letters got...
Summer Kicks Off Fruit Season
UNITED STATES—I love the summer months, but I also hate the summer months. I hate summer because of the intense heat, but I love summer for the abundance of variety that comes with fruits and vegetables. The summer months kick-off the arrival of many fruits that I have come to adore. I mean peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, Plutos, cherries,...
The Birds And The Bees
UNITED STATES—There is so much more to gardening than mere horticulture. There is so much more to horticulture than mere plant life. Plants get eaten by insects and animals, and also take advantage of insects and animals for pollination and dispersion of seed. Some of us who enjoy gardening also like to attract some types of animals and insects...
A Hollywood Story
UNITED STATES—The exact time becomes vitally important when there is a criminal element involved. So it was around 1:30 a.m., last Thursday night. I was up at my computer, and my dog could not grasp the idea of me at a computer instead of being asleep. He whined and growled. He clawed my arms, the cutest dog in Hollywood...
Naturalizing Might Be An Advantage
UNITED STATES—Of course, to the plants who do it, naturalizing is an advantage. To the rest of us, it is often a problem. The advantage to the plants who do it is that they move into new territory, make themselves at home, and probably do quite well with the new place. The disadvantage to everyone else is that naturalizing...
Parallel Lives
UNITED STATES—Both are born in 1892. Ernst is being groomed to enter the family tailoring business. Max is bitten by the stage, though it’s unclear his enthusiasm rubbed off on Ernst, or the love of drama was something both Ernst and Max carried already and bounced off each other. The two had been childhood playmates and then they becaome...
Overgrown Shrubbery Becomes Small Trees
UNITED STATES—Those of us with 'maintenance gardeners' are likely aware of how rare it is to find someone who knows how to maintain hedges properly. It seemed so simple years ago. Several identical plants could simply be planted in a row, and then somewhat regularly shorn for confinement to a prescribed space. They were not allowed to exceed a...