by Lanier Ivester | Jan 30, 2007 | Flower Reviews, Journal Entries
Sowing sweet pea seeds outdoors in January seems like an act of faith. Especially when the sun hasn’t shown its face in days and the whole world is sodden and drear. I was almost laughing at the absurdity of it last week when, bundled in my winter coat and...
by Lanier Ivester | May 6, 2006 | Book Reviews, Flower Reviews, Journal Entries
I could read a seed catalogue from cover-to-cover. Especially one with beautiful photographs. I still remember the thrill of that first one from Park Seed, and the infinite sense of possibility that it offered me. I was seventeen, and completely dazzled with the...
by Lanier Ivester | Apr 13, 2006 | Flower Reviews, Journal Entries
I’ve spent every spare moment in the garden this week. How wonderful to be alive and outside in such a lovely old world as this! I simply cannot believe it each morning as I see the sun rising over the woods to the east that we are to have yet another of these...
by Lanier Ivester | Jan 14, 2006 | Flower Reviews, Journal Entries
I wanted to show you a lovely present given to me by one of my dear girlfriends, and which has brightened my home through the holidays and beyond. Back in November she came up my front steps with a huge florist’s box all wrapped in craft paper and...
by Lanier Ivester | Oct 3, 2005 | Flower Reviews, Journal Entries
I picked the last of my vegetable garden today, and that upon the urging of two horrified girlfriends who spotted tomatoes literally rotting on the vine this weekend. The truth is I grew weary this year before my garden did. Usually around the end of July...
by Lanier Ivester | May 23, 2005 | Flower Reviews
The first sweet pea bloom of the year is a cause for celebration, particularly considering the attempts I’ve made to grow them since I was seventeen! Last year was my initial success with the elusive little things. You simply must sow the seeds where...