Staking Dahlias: Why Loose Ties Grow Stronger Plants

For several days, the sky over the Hudson Valley has looked unfamiliar. The sunlight has been muted, the horizon obscured, and the air quality has at times reached levels considered...

One of the mysteries of gardening is that success doesn't always repeat itself. A dahlia that was covered with flowers last year seems less vigorous this summer. A perennial you've...

You planted your dahlias. Now comes the waiting. Every spring, gardeners find themselves looking at bare soil and wondering whether anything is happening beneath the surface. After a few weeks,...

There is something a little curious about the way peonies behave in the cultural imagination. They are treated as the aristocrats of the garden—luxurious, fleeting, extravagant—yet almost no one talks...

Many people focus intensely on peonies while they are flowering. They carefully stake them. Photograph them endlessly. Cut armfuls for the house. During those brief weeks in spring, the flowers...

Our instinct, when something looks wrong in the garden, is to act. We zoom in on a plant. Grab the hose. Reach for the fertilizer. Pinch off the leaf.  This...

A winter with deep snow can feel heavy in the moment. Walkways disappear. Beds vanish. The garden seems farther away than usual. It’s natural to wonder what all that cold...

Winter is when we look at the garden and think about what to add. A few more dahlias here, another row there, one more plant in the place that still...