Category Archives: Despatches from the Hollow

We were holding hands on the beach at Nags Head for the Autumn Equinox as the season began in the Northern hemisphere when the sun shone straight over the equator back on the 22nd and everywhere day and night were … Continue reading →

Our new kitten, Zsa Zsa, is settling in as new cat in the hollow. We plucked her from a porch just over the county line last June when she was 8 weeks old, weaving her way in and out of … Continue reading →

Here we are simmering into the summer of 2012. The West is on fire and here on the eastern seaboard we’re just recovering from a week long heat wave and historic derecho wind storm that together have thrown us back … Continue reading →

I had a ball driving all over Albemarle and Louisa counties the past three weeks, interviewing some of the best gardeners around for my feature in C-VILLE magazine, “Roots: Gardening with Natives in a Time of Change” -  www.c-ville.com The … Continue reading →

Signs of Spring before the Equinox: snowdrops and daffodils, dead skunks in the middle of the road, Lonicera fragrantissima, bright blue blue birds, quince since Christmas, wrens cheeping in the morning, witchhazel in bloom, and bright shiny red peony eyes … Continue reading →

It’s been a bumpy year here in the hollow, but we’ve made it past the solstice into the lengthening of days and the hopeful winter sky. Jupiter continues to make his stately progress each evening heralding Orion the hunter with … Continue reading →

Each year, for so many I don’t want to count, we head for the Outer Banks of North Carolina – Jennette’s Pier in south Nag’s Head, to be exact. It was the bull’s eye of Hurricane Irene and we watched … Continue reading →

The best thing about moonvines is that you don’t have to wait til dark to see them bloom. Individual moonflowers last only one night, withering with the morn, but you can begin toasting them as soon as twilight. An annual … Continue reading →

Watering the Tomatoes How wonderful to be here when the bats begin to feed, Lightening bugs among the basil,  The sky a tender screed. Not a breath is stirring, Though the earth exhales her ease. The insect chorus rising, A … Continue reading →

Everybody knows trouble’s the best diet and it makes for a good late garden, too.  A family emergency this spring re-sorted our priorities like a deck of cards and we came to appreciate the garden more deeply as vast areas … Continue reading →