We here at Smackdown Gardens are on a Dengue Fever kick. Last gasp of summer? Maybe.

So, I’m guessing a few of my GDRT colleagues may write about restoration. Unfortunately, in my young career as a designer, I’ve yet to restore. RENOVATION, on the other hand—oh, but renovation is dear to my heart. So dear, in fact, you might call me the Renovator. One of my favorite gardening terms has always [...]

Long had Firmiana simplex blipped about quietly on my radar until I actually went to China and laid eyes on full-sized specimens. It wasn’t until then the tree made any real impression. So graceful! So different! So apropos of its common name, Chinese parasol tree.

Ornamental oregano first caught my eye in my first Logee’s catalog when, as an impressionable lad of 15, I spied Origanum ‘Kent Beauty.’ My interest in all plants Mediterranean had begun to percolate, and it was one of the catalysts. Years later, it wasn’t ‘Kent Beauty,’ but ‘Pilgrim’ I happened upon at a local nursery [...]