Author Archives: Liza

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
 And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
 He’ll sit in a barn and keep himself warm 
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.   It’s snowing … Continue reading →

One dull, chilly morning a few weeks ago, I looked up from my laptop to see a flutter of blue and red in the living room window of our house in the Berkshires.  An American bluebird was snacking on the … Continue reading →

French gardens are a lot like French women: chic and elegant and pulled together in a way that makes the average American gardener want to just throw in the spade.  I’ve made something of a study of the French garden … Continue reading →

Perhaps it’s because I grew up in a small, close-knit community, but something in me periodically needs to break free, sail away, explore the wider world. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “Questions of Travel” she writes: “What childishness … Continue reading →

I think there must be a gardening gene, yet to be discovered in some secret strand of our DNA.  My paternal grandmother created one of the most beautiful and extensive rose gardens I’ve ever seen (and I’m a devoted rosarian) … Continue reading →

For me, few things are more satisfying than digging into the earth, uprooting weeds, pruning back shrubs, and planting bulbs. It’s also a beautiful way to commemorate someone you love.  We have neighbors in the Berkshires who plant a fruit … Continue reading →

Though the observation is hardly original, I’ve come to understand firsthand that, at its heart, gardening is the urge to add order and context to the landscape, to somehow harness and humanize the wild.  In that sense, Mother Nature herself … Continue reading →

Because gardening is such a solitary practice and in many ways repetitive, it can easily serve as a form of meditation.  When you’re going through a difficult time — or have a serious problem to work through — there’s nothing … Continue reading →