Posts by Jenks Farmer
Bulbs for the South & Artist In the Garden
I love when an organization ask me to return for more than one presentation. There’s so much more to say, do, talk about than can happen in the usual one hour format. These two presentations, with a break for lunch couldn’t be more different. But the first builds up to the second; the first is…
Read MoreWhat Lies Within. Why We Planted a Giant Pot of Bamboo.
We’re working with a client who thinks about the big picture in her gardening. Including unpleasant stuff and what happens in the distance; the production and disposal of plants. We’re a perfect fit. I often lament that the “green industry”, which should be a part of the solution, is often a part of the environmental…
Read MoreWinter Cover Crops for Farm, Yard or City Garden.
On the farm, we do all the work by hand; no tractors, no plows, no till. Our crew includes interns, volunteer kids from down the dirt road, city cousins and some well trained farm animals. But we also use plants to do lots of work. All year long, cover crops do the tilling, pest control,…
Read MoreFall Pictures From Beech Island
Gardening is thinking ahead a few minutes, a few months or a few generations. There’s something about this little spot of red dirt, perched on the wooded hills above the river, with Augusta, Georgia, making noise and light in the distance, that helps people find peace and think in generations. Click here to see a…
Read MoreMaking Art with Garden Trash
My grandfather painted. My father made furniture. I make gardens. Three generations of artists, and we have a lot in common. Including waste. The waste of artists has always fascinated me: uniform ends of wood, those squeezed tubes of oil paint, discarded drawings, even sawdust. The waste from gardens enthralls me. It’s fuzzy. The distinction…
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 MoreLilies & Nocturnal Seduction. There’s a word for that and it’s a silly, fun, lovely word…..
As nights warm up, a flashlight reveals the fluttering cloud above dark lily fields. Millions of moths. The crinum lilies invite them. Daytime those moths hunker down in the straw mulch. But something more than shifting light calls them up from below. If you had a slow-motion camera and a fragrance detector, you could see…
Read MoreWhere Do You Grow Crinum?
Let’s build a Crinum map together! Send pictures of your crinum lilies. In the email subject line please type your city and state. (Send your town even if you don’t have pictures). We’ll mark your town and post the picture to our map of Crinum Lovers! (Don’t worry, we won’t post your name or address…
Read MorePlant Evaluation — Selecting New Crinum Varieties
I’m a tough critic when it comes to plants, especially when evaluating plants we’ll sell or share or use in gardens, streetscapes or bioswales. Nothing floppy, nothing wimpy, nothing that doesn’t make a great all around garden plant makes the cut. Because I know their potential well, having grown them since the 70’s I’m especially…
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,…
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