Aug 25 2026
Few flowering shrubs can transform a spring garden quite like azaleas. Covered in masses of pink, white, coral, red, purple, or peach-colored blooms, a mature azalea can become one of the most spectacular plants in the landscape. Fortunately, keeping azaleas looking their best doesn’t require complicated gardening techniques. The secret is understanding what these shallow-rooted …
Aug 25 2026
Few dishes turn such humble ingredients into something as luxurious as classic French onion soup. A pile of ordinary yellow onions slowly cooks down until soft, deeply golden, and almost jammy, forming the foundation for a rich beef broth scented with thyme and white wine. Then comes the part that makes the dish irresistible: crusty …
Aug 25 2026
Born on August 25, 1910, Dorothea Tanning built one of the most fascinating creative lives of the twentieth century. She was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, costume and set designer, novelist, memoirist, and poet—and she resisted being confined to any one of those identities. Tanning is most often introduced as a Surrealist, and some of her …
Aug 24 2026
There is a brief, glorious stretch of summer when tomatoes seem to be everywhere. Garden vines bend beneath their weight, farmers’ market tables overflow with heirlooms in shades of red, gold, green, and purple, and even a simple tomato sandwich suddenly feels like something worth celebrating. This is the moment to let tomatoes be the …
Aug 24 2026
There is something wonderfully satisfying about a garden in early fall. The air turns cooler, late-blooming flowers glow against deepening autumn colors, and the frantic pace of summer gardening begins to ease. Yet this quieter season is far from the end of the gardening year. In many ways, autumn is one of the most important …
Aug 24 2026
On August 24, we remember one of the most distinctive literary minds of the modern era: A. S. Byatt, the British novelist, critic, essayist, and storyteller whose richly imaginative books seemed to contain whole libraries within their pages. Born Antonia Susan Drabble on August 24, 1936, Byatt would have celebrated her 90th birthday today. She …
Aug 23 2026
Creamy, gently sweet, and warmly scented with vanilla and cinnamon, this easy rice pudding is the kind of old-fashioned dessert that feels instantly comforting. It is made from a handful of simple pantry ingredients and cooks right on the stovetop—no baking required. The finished pudding is soft and luxuriously creamy, with tender grains of rice …
Aug 23 2026
Vanilla may be one of the most familiar flavors in the world, but the plant behind it is surprisingly exotic. Those fragrant brown vanilla beans tucked into jars in the pantry begin as the fruit of a tropical climbing orchid—a plant that requires warmth, humidity, patience, and, in most gardens, a little help from its …
Aug 23 2026
On August 23, we celebrate the birthday of Nazik al-Malaika, the Iraqi poet, critic, scholar, and literary innovator whose work helped reshape modern Arabic poetry. Born in Baghdad on August 23, 1923, al-Malaika became one of the defining literary voices of the 20th-century Arab world. She is particularly remembered as one of the pioneers of …
Aug 22 2026
There is something unmistakably hopeful about the start of a new school year. Fresh notebooks appear on store shelves, backpacks wait by the door, and even an ordinary Monday begins to feel like a clean page. A new manicure can capture that same sense of possibility: a small, colorful detail that makes the first day …
