Posts Tagged ‘gardening with crinum lilies’
Transition from Turf to Meadow Using Spring Annuals as First Step
When I first met with the owners of Blue Poppy Farm, we stood surrounded by endless turf. They said, “We ride the horses into the woods around here and it’s so beautiful out there. ” Can you make this look more like that?” The transition will take years. The long term goal includes Sandhills meadow…
Read MoreCrinum for the Fourth of July
In our fields and gardens, we have some crinum lily in flower from April first all through the summer all the way to mid November. A different lily for every month. In our book, Gardening With Crinum Lilies 3, there’s a nifty chart showing what flowers when. Always for the beginning of July, we have…
Read MorePlanting a Perennial Border for Hospice Cut Flowers
Linda has a cool story. She’s cared for her parents, worked a lot and ready to retire. But not ready to slow down. So she bought a little farm house at the edge of booming suburbs and is planning a cut flower operation– specifically to give cut flowers to local hospice centers. She’s into nutrition,…
Read MoreA Good Excuse to Write
Why would a wildlife conservation magazine ask me to write for them? I don’t get it either — kept thinking it was some sort of scam. “Could you write on how gardening soothes the restless soul?”, they asked. Well that just struck a cord and I wrote a very person story. It’s in their magazine,…
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 MoreTime to Cut Back
Good god at the weeds. In my city garden, I compromised; broke down and used some chemicals. But on the lily farm, for two years now, the crinum lily fields have been organic. I just can’t taint the purity of my lilies. Really, I can’t stand the thought of the toxins settling in the dirt,…
Read MoreBreeders
I’m not a good breeder. That requires a forsite and planning that my mind doesn’t do well. So, my crinum selections are all happenstance and simply noticing something cool that’s happened in the field. But I am a good gardener and part of being a good gardener is remember connections between plants and people. Sometimes…
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