A man does not plant a tree for himself,  he plants it for posterity. - Alexander Smith

With little effort and zero fancy equipment, I’ve reduced my average water consumption by three percent. Long, hot days of summer have slowed me down and drained ME of energy, but not the weeds. The weeds are running riot and lustily propagating faster than I can eliminate them. I am mostly watering only the plants which I planted this spring and summer, plus my tomatoes, the containers, and of course the hydrangeas. More...

Seattle’s winter 2008 has been too long, too gray, and too cold for this transplanted soul. But one day of sunshine can erase the memories of the drab and dreary days past and induce a euphoric state of optimism.

Saturday was just that sort of day as I left home for a romp in the Washington Arboretum Annual Plant Sale. Gazing across the lawn, I noticed a soft blurry blanket of white dandelion fluff hovering six inches above most of my lawn. As I backed out of the driveway I noticed more dandelion foam cresting over the front slope. I confess I’ve been harboring thoughts of chemical weed killers. The weed mass being so much bigger than my time and energy makes the promise of quick weed eradication tempting.  “Darn, I’ll have to deal with that as soon as I return”, I thought . More...