Hello Fellow Readers, The Press publishes a New Year’s pictorial issue to provide their staff with a week off between Christmas and New Year’s. I’ll admit I enjoyed the deadline respite too but wish to reach out to my faithful online followers – thank you for being so! As I writ

Hello Fellow Readers, One of the greatest gifts of Christmas is spending time with loved ones. I’ve just returned from visiting lifelong friends that live outside of Austin. The first stop was Round Top Texas, where Dorothy from my college days lives. She’s an artist with a gall

Hello Fellow Readers, There’s Christmas cactus that came my way by adoption from a then-husband, a story shared in a column long ago (link below).  Neglected and riddled with old deadwood, I revived it, and it bloomed beautifully for many years. Then it mysteriously returned to

Hello fellow readers, Over the weekend I participated in a Family Holiday Program for Comfort Zone Camp (CZC), a bereavement camp for kids and young adults. It’s their twentieth anniversary of serving families who have lost loved ones too early in life. The holidays are especially dif

Hello fellow readers, Tom from Tranquility NJ wonders if his Flowering Pears (Pyrus calleryana) are in trouble. “The leaves immediately turned brown right after the dump of snow and are still clinging to the trees. Does that mean the new buds haven’t yet formed?” No worries Tom, ornam

Hello fellow readers, Last week, I crumbled under the stress of racing to meet deadlines. It felt paralyzing with classic symptoms of anxiety, a tight chest, and labored breathing. It’s a good thing I’m in good shape, I thought to myself, so my heart can ride the race. I also thought

Hello fellow readers, I recently learned that Boxwood Blight might be coming to town from Patrick LePore, an associate from Bartlett Tree Experts, who alerted me that it’s arrived in Central New Jersey. He was on his way to our client’s Bob and Kathy of Piscataway to asses

Hello fellow readers, While the fall planting season is wrapping up, there’s still time to plant most species of woody plants. Good thing as Gail and Rich of Sparta NJ have a naked garden dilemma since a new neighbor moved in who opted to take down a glorious stand of Canadian hemlock

Some of the most beautiful bulbs you plant in the spring are like flowering pets such as freesia, dahlias, and most gladiolas. Then there are care-free hummingbird magnets such as crocosmia.

Hello fellow readers, I recently returned from a respite in Virginia Beach. What a treat to enjoy summer weather and sunshine especially given our summer of wetness. Half a watermelon in plastic wrap was in the fridge, which I didn’t think would still be viable. But it was. When