Cattle ranchers, church-goers, writers—those who look for signs will see them, especially in early spring. A yearning for fresh collards leads Jill Nokes to revelations in the fields of Granger and on the street in Houston. Thank you, Jill! At the end of February, I came across a recipe for minestrone soup that called for […]
Jill Nokes tracks marigolds from India back to their homeland in Mexico, asking how this flower first made its way abroad—with ceremonial punch intact. The plot, like mole sauce, thickens…. Earlier this fall, I was fascinated by a HFP story about pandals, those ephemeral shrines in West Bengal dedicated to Durga, a Hindu goddess of […]
With a navigational sunflower for a guide, Jill Nokes takes us wading into the Kansas prairie. Eyes out for Jill’s forthcoming book Yard Art and Handmade Places, due from University of Texas Press next month. What a thousand acres of compass plant looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question […]
On schedule, students are back in class and the school house lilies are in bloom. Jill Nokes, author of the forthcoming book Yard Art & Handmade Places, notes the paradox of their simultaneous uprooting and rediscovery. Thank you, Jill! A developer is tearing down four houses across the street from our neighborhood park. No doubt […]
Reading and travel to the American Midwest transport horticulturist Jill Nokes. And so does the lyricism of a familiar plant. Thank you, Jill! I have been re-reading Willa Cather this summer in anticipation of my first trip to Kansas. I tried to imagine what that landscape had in store for me, wondering if it would […]
As the unruly “salat” maker vies for space in her garden, horticulturist and garden designer Jill Nokes puts in a good word for a disparaged plant. Jill, we and the mockingbirds thank you! Around here, the summer of ’07 will surely be remembered for freakishly abundant rainfall. It’s already mid-July, yet my garden looks more […]
Horticulturist, author, and landscape designer Jill Nokes has seen (and created) garden marvels across the world. Today she beckons us to a personal favorite in Oaxaca, Mexico, where cultural history reaches right out of the ground. We eagerly await Jill’s Yard Art and Handmade Places, due out in October. Mil gracias, Jill! My friends in […]