The name, from a Victorian slang term meaning “tipsy," is in keeping with the unpretentious approach to wine and the communal, convivial vibe. (Nibbles provided, or BYOF.)
A commotion of flapping colors, shapes and sizes approaches and persists as birds take turns digging into the high-energy food we provide, whether the most modest or lavish spread.
A New Year’s Eve walk through the Olbrich Botanical Garden in Madison, Wisc., made me realize that buds, fruits, and bark can draw us into the winter landscape and keep us outdoors in the depths of the season.
By day’s end, 15 inches of snow had whitewashed whatever we’d wished to accomplish in the garden before winter. Snow accentuated every landscape and architectural feature, creating new beauty.
At this time of moving between preparing outdoor and indoor spaces for winter, dig and pot a few of the frost hardy plants still in the ground. Where trees have grown so tall as to block hours of direct sunlight from the vegetable garden, late fall and winter are good times to harvest them for firewood.
From now on, when fall takes on its crimson tones, I can thank these crimson beauties (as well as the lady bugs) for helping to control my aphid population.
There are two times of year when gardeners start thinking ahead. The first arrives in January when the seed catalogues show up; the second happens in early summer when bulb catalogs arrive.
In the absence of protective and nourishing snow and sustained freezing weather, it seems arbitrary to proceed as if there’s been winter and to accept that we are halfway to spring.
