Archives

Miss Jan for Christmas Taking pleasure in the small things by Jim Dodson As she eats her Sunday morning breakfast, Miss Jan looks across the table at me and cheerfully remarks, “You look very [...]

Summer twilight The brief, magical time between day and night by Jim Dodson  Illustration by Gerry ONeill Not long ago as a beautiful summer evening settled around us, my wife and I were sitting [...]

The incomplete gardener We dream and scheme — and forever learn. by Jim Dodson Over the past five years, I’ve been building a garden in the old neighborhood where I grew up, a garden of shade and [...]

Death of a Green Dragon A gardener’s bittersweet reminder of life’s impermanence  By Jim Dodson Last month, I returned from my first trip since the start of the pandemic to discover a baffling [...]

America’s oldest mystery gets a new look, a new life and a new vision By Gary Pearce   •   Photographs by Joshua Steadman A drive that takes 30 minutes to an hour from the Outer Banks takes you [...]

Simple Gifts The secret to a good life? Less is more By Jim Dodson A friend recently wondered why I named this column “Simple Life.” I joked that it was better than the original name I came up [...]

In the Beginning A grande dame, an old beech and other memory-keepers on the path to this gardener’s genesis By Jim Dodson Fifteen years ago, a grande dame of English gardening named Mirabel [...]

Unexpected September And the art of rolling with the punches By Jim Dodson Not long ago, my daughter took a new job and moved with her fiancé from New York City to Los Angeles, or as I try not to [...]

September breaks you open with her golden hours, her wildflowers, her long, sweet kiss of transience. She is absolute radiance. Summer in her loveliest form. And one day, out of nowhere, she [...]

The Write Stuff What makes memorable writing work? By Stephen E. Smith “These are the times that try men’s souls.” “The world will little note nor long remember . . .” “A date which will live in [...]