Bruce Crawford

I am not certain if it is forgetfulness or simply a lack of patience, but I am always astonished at the number of times I have grown a plant unsuccessfully and opted not to try it again until many years later. A case in point is Bowman’s Root, botanically known as Gillenia trifoliata (as seen below in late May with a backdrop of Physocarpus Coppertina®). I remember exactly where I planted it in 1987 at a garden in Hawthorne, NJ and I did not give the plant much consideration again until...

By and large, spring ephemerals require a bit of trial and error before a gardener can understand how best to use them in the spring garden. By definition, this group of plants emerge in early spring, flower, set seed and enter dormancy all before or around the start of summer. Their strategy is to complete their annual reproductive cycle before the tree canopy is fully leafed-out and competition for sunlight and water becomes more intense. For the gardener, the challenge becomes how to...

There is an old saying that “good things come in threes.” Supposedly, it stems from an ancient belief that three of something is complete and ideal. Hence, “third time is the charm” and, should you have the good fortune of finding a Genie, you might be the beneficiary of three wishes! Even in the world of gardening, arranging plants in groups of three makes them look more natural. One plant that certainly embodies the beauty of three is the genus of Trillium, as displayed by the image of...