Phlox for Parking Lots
Over the past few decades slow changes in the hort industry left old fashioned, home gardening in the shadows. Today, landscapers, growers and customers aim for new, lush and sexy plants, patios, turf and tools. As a friend once told me, “You garden designer types just like to tart things up. Don’tcha?” I was more…
Read MoreOpen Source vs. Proprietary Plants — Can People “Own” Plants?
Yes, they can, they do and they want to own even more. You can, but it’s complex and expensive. So mostly the people who own plants are huge agricultural companies. They control the plant– you’ve heard about this with genetic modification no doubt, but it sure happens in the flower world, too. It used to…
Read MoreMaking Soil Better with Mushrooms
When you dig up a plant, you get plant, roots and dirt. If you take that plant away, you leave a hole. In field nurseries or turf farms, we do that over and over and over and leave a big hole. Filling that hole can be a big problem. Buying top soil is expensive. It…
Read MoreComparing Sizes
Asparagus from Seed
Everyone, yes even the web, will tell you that if you want to grow asparagus, start from crowns planted in the fall. But some recent research and plain old common sense says that asparagus from seed can be just as productive. It certainly is cheaper. If you look around gardens this time of year, you’ll…
Read MoreThey’re Like Southerners but with Funny Accents
We’ve been on some pretty exciting trips this summer. A flight to do a reading at the famed Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia included staying in a house that was recently featured in the New York Times. The road trip to lecture at the U.S. Botanical Garden ended with a tour of some extraordinary private gardens…
Read MoreCemetery Lily in Medicine, Art, and Memories
Through recent trials, we know one species of crinum lily thrives in unexpected places like the mid-west, high plains of Denver, in Ohio and New York. Three foot tall pink or white flowers top sculptural gray leaves. You can see the universal quest for life in its robust growth. Ironically, the same species has long…
Read MoreGarden Things to Do in the Heat; Capture Summer’s Energy
Gardening work gets rearranged around here when the afternoons get really hot. Rearranged; not stopped. Gardening must go on. In fact, contrary to lots of gardening media and advice, it should go on. Think about it from an energy standpoint: this is peak production time. As on rainy days, there are some things that work…
Read MoreSlick Photographer’s Trick
You know how guys are always looking to enhance perceptions of size. Gardeners, especially. An old photographer’s trick is to get a child or a small person to stand by some big plants. It makes them look bigger. That’s why I pal around with Buck– he’s a dwarf donkey, and he makes my crinum lilies…
Read MoreGardening as Art.
This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for a subscription, paper only magazine last year. The whole thing addressed in personal terms how gardening is art. This is a more succinct side bar…. It Is Art I can only speak for me. Garden design is sometimes industry, sometimes hobby, sometimes art. I engage…
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