LuAnn Johnson

It is easy and fun to save seeds from this year’s annuals.

Psalms are an important part of both Jewish and Christian rituals, perfectly suited to musical settings of many kinds. This week, we'll look at Latin versions of a Psalm that begins "Out of the depths I have cried to thee.” Plus, music from a 17th century French harpsichord manuscript… found on eBay of all places!

I used to believe that some plants—like peonies, for example—were immune to deer. Not anymore. I have seen deer eat just about every plant...

Not a pretty name for such an attractive plant.

A plant that attracts butterflies to our garden is the pincushion flower. The botanical name is Scabiosa, and these plants usually have blue, white, or pink flowers. As their common name suggests, the shape of the flower resembles a pincushion as the central florets form a rounded shape.

One often sees Veronia, a.k.a. ironweed, on roadsides and in fields and ditches. The wind disperses the seeds, which explains why it is a surprise when it appears in our gardens like an uninvited guest.

This hour, music from 15th-century Milan from the court of the powerful Sforza family, whose lavish productions sometimes bordered on the spectacular, including staging machinery designed by da Vinci. Join us!

This hour we’re all about that bass — the chaconne, to be specific. This harmonic-bass formula has had us singing, dancing, and strumming for more than four centuries. We’ll trace the chaconne from its mythical island origins through many delightful variations as it passed from musician to musician.

Dancing causes something unpredictable to happen in how you look and how you feel. Thankfully, you can’t experience both of these simultaneously.

Wordsworth obviously was as impressed with this versatile plant as we still are today.