Posts by Jenks Farmer
September is Still Summer
Late summer here extends into September and October. Plants love it. This is the best time of year for gardens in the south. I like to garden visit now, everything is full and flowing, purple and orange, dripping with the weight of summer growth and buzzing with moths and the energy of life. Here are…
Read MoreTrends in Foodscaping
“Over the past decades, our plant pallet changed in ways other than you might expect. Plant explorers and breeders bring new plants into nurseries. They, as well as garden designers, decorators and all sorts of cultural leaders, become the tastemakers, slowly changing which plants we can get hold of…..One slow, huge change, tracks our shift…
Read MoreONLY Three Seeds Covered this Trellis with Giant Gourds
A few winters ago winter I sketched out the shape of a trellis I dreampt up. I wanted this massive thing to fit in on the farm. I wanted visitors to look at it and wonder if it used to be some sort of agricultural structure. Then I went to the metal yard, built it…
Read MoreThe Otherside of the Web Page
I’d like to introduce you to three fellas who keep our website running. They are important in our life. And in your life too. Without the guys who do tedious, frustrating and creative web stuff, I couldn’t focus on growing good bulbs, nor could you read about or buy them for your garden. What’s behind…
Read MoreYou’ll Smell These Two Plants As You Walk Past
Grow these plants along walkways for fragrance every time you pass by. Brush up against them, step on them or pinch a bit off as you pass. In every garden I make, I use a fragrant plant like this; it never fails to delight. These two are favorites: one thrives in sun, one thrives in…
Read MorePeter Pan Might Live Here!
This is our design studio. And it’s where interns get to live. Someone described it recently, saying I had “a Peter Pan Thing’ going on in here. What’s that mean? Tom Hall and I built this place. More accurately we rebuilt our old woodshed, with the help of lots of volunteers, friends, a cob expert,…
Read MoreSand Dune Meadow; A Plea for Stewardship in Gardening
Our beautiful barrier islands have been landscaped beyond recognition. Typical “landscapes” seem designed to demonstrate that people can dominate nature. We can. We do. For a moment in time. But in making and keeping up typical landscapes, we’re doing harm to the life on the islands, in the soil and in the water. We can…
Read MorePlant Sale For Crinum Farm Field Day
Leonotis menthifolia ‘Savannah Sunset’ Bright orange, fuzzy flowers in a perfect whorl around the stems. Loves hot dry places and flowers all summer. Perennial in warm parts of zone; great annual in other parts. $10 Crinum ‘Bradley Giant’ This is a big growing lily, reaching 4 feet tall…
Read MorePlants for Deep South Meadows
You know those meadows that you see in magazines? The ones that beckon pick-nickers with knee high whispering grasses and painterly masses of wildflowers? The kind of meadow you might skip through, roll in, take off your shirt and nap with your dog in? In the Deep South, we only have those in calendars and…
Read MoreI Will Survive! Flowers for a Disco Queen
When a horticulturist (or anyone) comes up with a new plant, they get to name the plant. Older, more genteel generations named plants to honor their wives or Alma-matter. Think of Azalea ‘Mrs. G.G. Gerbing’ or ‘Clemson Spineless’ Okra. When I found a special crinum, I got my first chance at naming. Decades ago, I’d…
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