At this month’s meeting of the Blount County Master Gardeners a fellow member gently, almost embarrassingly, tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I really miss your posts in After Eden.” She thought I had stopped writing. I have not stopped. But I have not written--at least I have not written recently for After Eden. …
The need for this post came upon me as I was looking around the late winter garden at the lake. It was just a few weeks ago in early March. Everything was rather bare. Mottled green and maroon Trilliums were starting to open, pale gray-green Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) was beginning to bend softly over to …
As I begin writing this, it is cold in Alabama—not cold for Alabama, cold in Alabama. It is midafternoon and only 26 degrees, with a wind that makes it feel like 16. It even snowed a snow that stayed around for more than a few hours a couple of weeks ago. Another winter storm threatens …
Being the holiday season, I thought that a post on garden books would be a timely plan. And I had three very different, but good, books chosen. Lorraine Harrison’s, How to Read Gardens: A Crash Course in Garden Appreciation, was the first. A quick read with beautiful photos, the compact volume is filled with basic, …
When I think of “academic” gardening (some might prefer to call it horticulture) in Alabama, I automatically think of Auburn University. After all, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System is housed there and at Alabama A&M, with most of the horticultural research being done at Auburn. Moreover, the Alabama Master Gardeners program is a program of …
I’ve been attending a number of presentations and workshops at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens lately. As I would expect is true for many of you, one of my favorite gardens there is the Japanese Garden. After a preview of the BBG’s fall plant sale one afternoon, I went to the garden, camera in hand, intent …
This is the story of a Forest Pansy redbud tree. Or, maybe it is a parable of a redbud tree. The Forest Pansy redbud, Cercis canadensis - 'Forest Pansy,’ also known as the Eastern Redbud is a magnificent tree. Zig-zagging, arching branches of silver grey, rich purple flowers that bloom early and right off the …
We had our beginning, as created beings, in a garden. So say the world’s great monotheistic religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Whether one views the Genesis narrative of Eden as metaphor or as history, an essential point remains the same: we choose to believe that we were intended for a place of beauty, bounty, and …
After Eden 