Category Gardening
The House: Of Moss and Men
This weekend’s house story is one of me winning against nature — and by “nature,” I mean “the moss that’s growing all over my back patio.” The moss itself isn’t a problem. In fact, after seeing moss gardens like this one . . . Zen garden at Tofoku-ji shrine . . . in Japan this […]
The House: Lightbulbs and yard work
At 4:14pm on Friday, my realtor called to congratulate me: The closing was complete; I was officially Seattle’s newest homeowner. Wahoo! Not surprisingly, I ditched work immediately to go get the keys and savor my entree into the landed class. Not that there’s all that much land involved here (just the fraction of an acre beneath […]
Kyoto (Day 4) – Nanzen-ji
Today Amanda and I parted ways — she went west to spend a couple of days at a Buddhist temple in Koyasan; I returned to Tokyo to prep for a climb up Mount Fuji. But before we went our separate ways, we had a few hours to squeeze in one last temple. We picked Nanzen-ji […]
Kyoto (Day 2) – Nijo Castle
Leaving the tasting tour behind us, we set out to see Nijo-jo, the 17th Century castle in the heart of central Kyoto. It’s composed of moats, fortifications, some grand gates, a couple of palaces, and gardens. Like everything else in Japan, much of the castle had been destroyed by fire and rebuilt at various times in history. […]
Polar Vortex (or, Fish Rescue 101)
As everyone who has access to any form of weather-reporting media outlet knows, Washington has been struck by the dreaded zombie apocalypse polar vortex. Or, I should say, the POLAR VORTEX!! Because this is way serious. I mean, never mind the fact that it has been negative a million degrees and snowy in Chicago for months — the important thing is that […]
Container Gardens, Year 3 – Focus on color and texture
Spring and summer are my favorite seasons. The days are long and bright and warm, and I get to plant my balcony gardens. I finished all my planting about a month ago and have enjoyed watching them grow. Every morning I sit on the balcony to eat a piece of fruit and soak in the colors and […]
Back to the wild
After two days with temperatures in the mid-sixties, the ice block on my balcony finally melted. Time for the goldfish to move out of my refrigerator! First step was to place the vase inside the pond to allow the fridge water to equalize with the pond water temperature. Once the water temperature had equalized, I tipped them out […]
I’ve got goldfish in my fridge
It’s one thing to leave your ornamental goldfish outside overnight when there’s a light freeze: The fish just keep swimming happily under the ice. I think they’re pretending to be killer whales, waiting for a baby seal to fall through the ice so they can eat it. It’s another thing altogether to leave them outside when […]
Water Hyacinth
I looked out the window, and what did I see? A sprig of purple flowers emerging from my water hyacinth! I’m so pleased. Everyone I spoke to (and all the books I read) while preparing this summer’s water garden cautioned me about buying flowering plants: Apparently they need something like a gazillion hours of direct sunlight before […]
Garden Consulting
Danya, a friend of mine, has a cute little condo in one of DC’s cooler neighborhoods. She’s on the ground floor and has a great patio in the back, with a small square of unplanted ground. When she heard of my adventures in balcony gardening, she asked if I would be her gardening consultant for […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 