Gardening is wonderful work. It can be very relaxing and even therapeutic. There are, however, times when it is more like a battle. It seems that way when you must battle the green nemesis. The worst green nemesis that I’ve discovered is Japanese knotweed. It is an invasive species. It was actually introduced as an […]

I know where I’ve been, but where I am going can be a complete mystery. Sometimes, I plan for where I’m going, but, other times, I just let events carry me along. When I was in journalism school, I planned my entire career in advance. I would start as a copy editor for a newspaper

The Riverside-Salem Environmental Chapel is located on undeveloped land, near the Niagara River. If you walk across the street, you can look across the river to Canada. Every week, the chapel offers programs on a wide variety of topics. People are welcome to attend and to bring food for a potluck dinner. People bring whatever

This morning, it rained, as it seems to do every Tuesday. I’ve started calling it a “Tuesday ritual.” By late morning, the sun was shining, and I decided to take a walk so that I could see the river surrounded by color and light.  The Rose of Sharon bushes are starting to flower. There used

When I take care of gardens, I do a lot of stuff. I dig up weeds, I plant flowers and vegetables, and I prune shrubbery and small trees. One thing that I don’t do is to prune large shade trees. I don’t have the skills or the equipment to do that sort of work. If

Plans for a garden tour in Grand Island yesterday were canceled by the event’s organizer. There were to be a few private gardens open to the public, complete with hors d’oeuvres provided by local restaurants. Tickets were to cost $15, which would entitle the ticket holder to view lovely flowerbeds (like the one shown above)

On Thursday, July 16th, I returned from Cleveland.A little less than an hour after I returned home, I was in a car, traveling south, with Diane E. and Suzanne T. We were going to the Native Planting and Habitat Restoration Tour that had been organized by WNY PRISM. That alphabet soup name stands for Western

After a delicious dinner at Batuqui, Maria, Charlie, and I went to Mitchell’s, where the birthday party would be held. There were two guests of honor: Maria and Leland (age 21). We had use of a private area upstairs for our festivities. Mitchell’s is an ice cream parlor in Cleveland. All of the ice cream

I came to Cleveland to celebrate my friend Maria’s birthday. For a variety of reasons, I had to make it a quick overnight adventure. I caught the 10:10 a.m. bus from Buffalo. Because I had to edit my article about rain barrels and compost bins, I had to turn my bus seat into a rolling

… an opportunity to do a fun creative writing exercise! My gardening customer and I agreed that it was too rainy for me to dig weeds today, so we rescheduled the appointment for next week when, we hope, the weather will be more cooperative. I stayed at home and caught up on other tasks, which