Stories About Gardening
Dogs & Me Comatosed by Winter Sun
That winter sun. Me and the dog comatose on the lawn, energizes flower oils and bees.
Read MoreDeodora Countertops from Storm Damage
When the saw mill guy untarped our deodora lumber, the fragrance made every man there stop, enjoy and forget about the heavy work ahead. I thought of my little deodora, how I dream of watching it grow, providing privacy and shade. I don’t think of it’s death. I dream of the teenage years, it’ll need…
Read MoreSeptember Sekki
What’s a sekki ? It’s a micro-season in short. Or a moment that reminds you that the constant fluctuations of the natural world are really part of a bigger cycle. It’s a Japanese concept; a calendar of annual occurrences imbued with emotions. First frost. Last day of summer. The peak of peach season. Sekki moments,…
Read MoreIvory Elegance in August Weeding
Note; I’m working on a new book about daily life on the lily farm. Each short essay like this would be followed by an in-depth essay on the plants mentioned. I’d love your comments about this style of writing. And, there are pictures and video at the end but you may need to ‘View in…
Read MoreThe Earliest of Flower Gardens
There’s a patch of paper whites and snow drops in our pasture that’s older than I am. Just behind the little shed that’s been pony shed, goat shed and now donkey shed. Those are the kinds of bulbs I want in my gardens. From a practical stand point, because they come back, they thrive and…
Read MoreMoving Big Palms….graceful, adaptable plants often misunderstood
Most people have a really bad sense of design when it comes to placing palm trees. Or maybe a lot of people really like the putt putt course aesthetic. Palms can also seem stark and out of place. Like that 3-story tall sculpture of fire plug in downtown or that antler chandler from an antique…
Read MoreCelebrating Slowly Rotting Stumps
In suburban landscapes, landscapers come along and keep everything fresh, sweeping away, well of course they don’t sweep; don’t let me go astray on those horrible, polluting blowers, so sweeping away the detritus of plant life. Every fallen leaf, nut and flake of bark goes into a landfill. We pretend that nothing dies. It’s not…
Read MoreMother’s Day on the Lily Farm
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Read MoreCrash Course in Historic Gardens of Birmingham
In the 1920’s, architecture and gardens changed as some people, rich people, began to incorporate modern conveniences into house and gardens of traditional styles. In Columbia, an entrepreneur built his dream house. It’s in a style that was popular in more industrial cities and in England. It was of a style that looked a bit…
Read MoreWhen I Found Blood Lilies in Africa….
Cows, pecan trees, okra fields, rusty tin roofs and plenty of racism just weren’t for this free spirited 19-year-old boy. So I ran hard to get away from that run-down family farm. In one giant, naive leap that freaked the family out, I left South Carolina to enroll, as the only, actually the first, American…
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