The transition from a small ranch house in New York to a huge farmhouse in Maine was shockingly easy. Except for the reception on our television. In 1951, televisions were still a luxury in Buckfield, Maine. Because my parents were in their 20s and already watching over a crowd of six children, the ranch house […]

In the world of gardening, I fall into the Death and Destruction Sector. My first plant was a Boston fern, in my dorm room at the University of Maine at Farmington. I watered it. I put it in the sun. I even sang to it. Dead. I think it’s a family thing. My father never […]

I once heard a joke suggesting that people who garden should add “plant manager” to their resumes. As a gardener and an executive manager for much of my career, that little quip tickled me, because of the inherent truth it contains. In fact, many of the skills needed to grow a really great garden are […]