My Besuited Home

Your yard has good bones but something’s missing. Maybe you’ve got a lawn that looks fine, a few shrubs doing their job, and yet the whole thing feels flat. No drama. No “wow” moment when you pull into the driveway. That’s usually a tree problem, not a lawn problem. A weeping tree fixes this faster … Read more

Everyone tells you to plant “pops of color.” Red for drama, yellow for cheer, purple for elegance. Nobody ever mentions brown. Say the word “brown flower” at a garden club meeting and you’ll get the same look you’d get if you suggested painting your living room the color of wet cardboard. I get it. Brown … Read more

Every fall, my neighbor Denise knocks on my door holding a magazine photo of some impossibly perfect camellia bush and asks, “Can I grow this?” And every fall, I have to explain that yes, she absolutely can, but only if she picks the right variety for her yard instead of just grabbing whatever’s blooming at … Read more

My neighbor Carol planted a camellia the same week I planted mine. Hers bloomed like a magazine cover every winter. Mine sat there sulking for two years, dropping yellow leaves and refusing to flower, while I stood in my yard wondering what she knew that I didn’t. Turns out, camellias aren’t fussy plants. They’re just … Read more

You planted a weeping willow because you wanted that dreamy, curtain-of-leaves look hanging over a pond or a corner of the yard. Instead, you’ve got a sad, lopsided stick that’s dropping branches, turning yellow, or just… not growing. Sound familiar? I get it. Weeping willows have a reputation for being “easy” trees, and in some … Read more

Every November, my neighbors start covering their flower beds with mulch and mentally checking out until spring. I get it. The garden looks tired, the days are short, and color feels like a distant memory. But here’s the thing nobody tells new gardeners: winter doesn’t have to be a colorless wasteland of bare dirt and … Read more