Young artists Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe met on a New York City street in 1967. They were newcomers to town—short on cash, hopeful and passionate about art. Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith—Flowers, Poetry, and Light opened last month at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in downtown Sarasota, Florida. Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe … Read more
Be quick about it if you want access to Great Grow Along, which starts tomorrow, March 11, with a welcome “happy hour” featuring Marcus Bridgewater (Garden Marcus). Then, the ambitious ten-day virtual festival is off and running, with Small Space Saturday, Sustainability Sunday, Make It Monday (DIY), Transformation Tuesday, Garden for Wildlife Wednesday, and more, … Read more
It was serendipitous. For a few weeks in mid-spring, my garden is the tidiest it has ever looked, thanks to an application of mulch/compost that gets put down at the beginning of every gardening season. All the winter detritus magically vanishes, leaving spring bulbs, spring-flowering perennials, and the fresh green emerging foliage of summer perennials, … Read more
There have been FLO parties in Buffalo, New York City, Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, and more the past few weeks. My hometown joined the fun. Louisville celebrated Frederick Law Olmsted’s (FLO) bicentennial on April 26th. Olmsted, in 1891, visited a rolling pasture and woodland, bisected by Beargrass Creek, that became the 337-acre Cherokee Park. FLO’s … Read more
I was reminded of Christopher Lloyd ‘s fondness for unpretentious nurseries on a beautiful drive to Lexington, Kentucky, last week. My destination was the 121-year-old Michler’s Florist, Greenhouses & Garden Design. “The Michler family opened their namesake florist and nursery in 1901, and it quickly became Lexington’s go-to for flora.” –Washington Post I know … Read more
Our home-grown snow peas bought the farm a few weeks ago, but I found agents of inspiration to take the edge off summer heat. Jared Barnes and Thomas Rainer have wonder to spare and share. Not surprising for two peas in a pod who grew up “semi-feral” playing outside. Last month, on his Plantastic … Read more
I flew to Seattle a few weeks ago to visit my daughter Molly and her family in Bellingham, Washington—a two-hour drive north of Seattle. Give me Liberty took flight from Louisville stripped of masks and loaded with—I worried—highly transmissible subvariants. A mind-numbing, COVID-incubating slog through airports, and buckled into packed planes, ended 23 hours … Read more
There was an illuminating Patti Smith Instagram post on August 19th entitled: “This is weeding.” The poet, musician, author, and activist had returned from a European concert tour and found her garden in Rockaway, Queens, New York, as you might expect—worrisome. “…I have no problem with the weeds, but they got a little forest … Read more
Expect to read rants from Seattle-based Lorene Edwards Forkner starting next week. A longtime garden writer, Lorene was the first woman to edit Pacific Horticulture, a quarterly magazine focused on West Coast gardens. She also owned and operated a small specialty nursery at one time and gave design advice to gardeners looking to tame their … Read more
The grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference. –Thomas Merton Steve Foltz In late August Steve Foltz was given the last slot at the Plant Trials Day Symposium at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. The auditorium was packed to … Read more