First off, my apologizes to writer E.L. James for riffing on his popular novel title “50 Shades of Grey”. I rather doubt that my comments here will ever make it to the big screen. Just the same, the month of December in my garden is a pretty steamy mix of tan, brown, or black (and all the shades in between) emanating from foliage, seed heads, and bark, and frankly, I find it pretty stimulating…
One useful plant more and more local gardeners are discovering is the Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), an evergreen shrub with spectacular flowers. We are borrowing this beauty from…