Memorial Day is coming right up and thoughts turn to those lost and gone from our lives. One gesture that makes a difference is the planting of commemorative trees. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.

Pollen levels have been high lately and the allergy-prone are running through their tissue supply. One garden author who has rated the pollen-producing quotient of landscape plants says choosing carefully can help you breathe easier.

Tis the season to go plant shopping - and what a temptation this can be. Make sure you choose the healthiest plants to get your garden off to a good start. Here are some tips to keep in mind.

If you’re seeing a lot of worm castings on the top of your soil, lucky you. It means you have hard-working earthworms tilling your soil and improving its fertility. Don’t be put off by their squirmy nature. Worms are your friends.

Lilacs are coming in early this year and my shrubs are laden with trusses ready to open. Who doesn’t love their sweet, clean fragrance? A trick I learned years ago: To prolong life in the vase, remove ALL of the foliage.

Easter Sunday is coming and I’m feeling nostalgic for that special addition to my brand-new outfit — a corsage. These seem to have gone out of fashion along with hats for men. If I had my way there would be a revival.

Bobbing and fluttering on thin, wiry stems, columbines might remind you of winged things. They are charming plants for dappled shade, blooming in spring as the early bulb flowers fade. Easily grown from seed, making them a bargain.

It’s too easy to get carried away when six-packs of blooming seedlings fill the garden centers with living color. Before you blow the budget on annuals that require constant attention, try to plan for four-season interest with plants that can take care of themselves.

If it’s April - and soon it will be — let there be daffodils. These reliable spring flowers naturalize gracefully and include (literally) thousands of varieties. All of them brighten up spring’s early days.

It’s officially spring, but the season is just now stirring, shaking off the long sleep of winter. As the crocuses and robins return to show us it’s coming, hearts rejoice. Spring is the world made anew..

We can’t let ourselves be seduced by a pretty face that hides aggressive intent. The lesser celandine, a favorite in its native land, is a menace to the native wildflowers of our damp woodlands. Take a deep breath and root it out.

Don’t pussy willows take you back to a certain childlike joy? Soft and silky, and oh-so-pettable, these little catkins charm everyone with their prediction that spring is on the way. If you’ve thought of growing your own, read on.

March is at hand and we’re all looking forward to winter’s end. Prepare to be disappointed — it’s the most fickle of months and sure to break your heart.

If you — or your dopey dog — have ever been skunk-shot you won’t soon forget it. Be especially careful for the next month while skunks are looking for love.

It’s Valentine’s Day and more bouquets will be changing hands today than on any other holiday. Don’t settle for the same old, same old when you could be sending secret messages in the language of flowers.

In honor of the just-celebrated Chinese New Year, my thoughts turned to the many plants that have made their way here from the Middle Kingdom. I knew little about the paulownia until I was asked to identify a strange leaf.

Give me a beach where the sun is warm and the shade comes courtesy of a rustling palm. You can grow palms here as over-sized patio specimens with a great backstory. How many other plants once figured in a political scandal and inspired an indelible figure of speech?

In few places are art and nature more deftly entwined than in Claude Monet’s gardens at Giverny. Located about 45 miles from Paris, the gardens are familiar from the artist’s Impressionist works, which are known worldwide.

If dreary winter weather gets you down, consider a trip to a warmer, gentler season. It doesn’t take plane tickets to bask in abundant living color at one of the area’s outstanding glass houses. Road trip!

January is sort of a slow month. To liven it up, I like to give amaryllis bulbs away at Christmas and then challenge my friends to a race. Who will get the first bloom? Gentlemen and gentlewomen, start your engines…