Guest Rant by Scott Beuerlein, who insists the end is not nigh. Gardeners join together. One of my very favorite quotes came from a supervisor I had many years ago in what seems like a previous life. He said: “It’s not that I want to be an asshole, it’s...
Posted by Scott Beuerlein on December 29, 2016 at 7:39 am. This post has 16 responses.
This is the first of a two-part series on the decline of plant societies and garden clubs. Tomorrow, Scott Beuerlein explains how to dig out of the hole. Many of us who garden, and who benefit from garden group gatherings, have kept quiet about the decline...
Posted by Allen Bush on December 28, 2016 at 7:38 am. This post has 16 responses.
In our region, the end of the year corresponds rather neatly with the end of the gardening season. Yesterday (Boxing Day), I was texting with a friend who was taking advantage of the freakishly balmy temps to finally getting some bulbs planted I had given him. He wanted to...
Posted by Elizabeth Licata on December 27, 2016 at 10:37 am. This post has 5 responses.
I’ve complained before about the hassle of bird feeders in my tiny townhouse garden, where the shit-stained baffle isn’t doing the job of keeping squirrels away as these world-class gymnasts simply vault from anything nearby to the feeder. I then complained that hummingbird feeders are too much of a commitment for...
Posted by Susan Harris on December 23, 2016 at 7:14 am. This post has 11 responses.
This holiday season, I’m searching for any good news, and this might qualify. Or at least it might save people some money. According to studies conducted by the Journal of Clinical Psychology and the Centers for Disease Control and Production, the condition known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) may...
Posted by Elizabeth Licata on December 22, 2016 at 9:02 am. This post has 4 responses.
Bob Hill has a deal for you. Even in our cell-phone-talking, Kindle-reading, GOOGLE-surfing age, this is the time of year when many of us are dwarfed by the deluge of incoming garden catalogs. In the early years of our marriage, my wife and I debated if we should add...
Posted by Bob Hill on December 21, 2016 at 7:41 am. This post has 9 responses.
I have a love/hate relationship with weeds. Perhaps love is too strong a term, but I do greatly admire the persistence of weeds and the role they play in preserving disturbed soils. Indeed, a number of years ago, I wrote an article for The New York Times Sunday Magazine...
Posted by Thomas Christopher on December 20, 2016 at 8:57 am. This post has 2 responses.
Searching the Internet for good gardening videos for over a year now, I’ve come to lament their dearth in one major category – ornamental plants. Thanks to Extension universities and a few media-savvy experts, there’s plenty of help for new veg-growing gardeners, but if you want to beautify your...
Posted by Susan Harris on December 16, 2016 at 8:36 am. This post has 7 responses.
Today, our pretend prairie celebrates the fifth anniversary of its first seed sowing. The prairie is our beautiful baby, and I don’t worry with questions about legitimacy. Central Kentucky—the Bluegrass Region—was until human settlement, a vast woodland with cane breaks of native bamboo, Arundinaria gigantea. There were no prairies...
Posted by Allen Bush on December 14, 2016 at 7:57 am. This post has 9 responses.
A friend of mine, pissed off with the continuing loss of Louisville’s trees, emailed me yesterday, after reading the front page of Louisville’s Courier-Journal. She stripped off the bark. “You know what I say to myself every time I step outdoors? I sure wish they would mow down a...
Posted by Allen Bush on December 13, 2016 at 10:39 am. This post has 3 responses.
During the Western New York growing season, my focus is (mostly) on keeping plants alive and viable for seasons to come. I weed, prune, and nourish perennials and shrubs that I hope will become stalwart landscape features. The idea is to create garden areas that won’t need replacing every...
Posted by Elizabeth Licata on December 12, 2016 at 9:18 am. This post has 2 responses.
My numero uno project these days is reviewing and collecting good gardening videos, as I might have mentioned here a few times (ahem). And to be on-trend (oh, always!), we’ve gone looking for some that demonstrate how to make holiday decorations out of (mainly) plants, and found these 14. If you’re...
Posted by Garden Rant on December 9, 2016 at 2:37 pm. This post has Comments Off on Get your Holiday-Decorating Videos Right Here.
Next up in our “Ask a Designer” series is designer Claire Jones in Maryland. How many times do you visit a garden center and get overwhelmed with the many choices that entice with gorgeous foliage and blooms? And you impulse buy the “flavor of the month” perennial that the garden center...
Posted by Claire Jones on December 8, 2016 at 8:54 am. This post has 2 responses.
We welcome first time Guest Ranter Bob Hill as he digs deep into the past and tucks away stories for the future. When we first moved into our 1860’s farm house in Southern Indiana about 40 years ago, it came with a leaky tin roof, a wiring system apparently...
Posted by Bob Hill on December 7, 2016 at 7:09 am. This post has one response.
One of the basic rules of gardens is that if you leave, you don’t return. In this respect, I have found, involvement with a garden is like a love affair. A crucial part of making a success of the experience is having the clarity to know when it is...
Posted by Thomas Christopher on December 5, 2016 at 9:35 am. This post has 5 responses.
Commented on Robinson Crusoe’s Ten Favorite Perennials { Allen (Crusoe), Thank you for sharing ALL these plants. After another 0 to 7 degree day, it gives me hope up here in Chicago. You... } – Jan 09, 8:02 PM
Commented on Robinson Crusoe’s Ten Favorite Perennials { I love the Sunburst Ruby photo. I will definitely look to see if I can grow that. My shade garden is full of the Japanese... } – Jan 09, 7:40 PM
Commented on Robinson Crusoe’s Ten Favorite Perennials { Thanks for the visual reminder of warmer times to come Allen! I feel your pain--along with my back, after shoveling some of the 14 inches... } – Jan 09, 2:05 PM
Commented on Robinson Crusoe’s Ten Favorite Perennials { Dear Allen Bush, Please write a book! Or at least compile one out of things you have already written. I've been hoping for a book... } – Jan 09, 12:33 PM
Commented on The Landscapes of McMansion Hell { Parts of yout comment make no sense to me. Surely you don't think that less densely populated places are universally more self-sufficient than cities? I'm... } – Jan 06, 11:12 PMWe are:
perfect
magazine
gardens.
Gardening
our
asses
off.
Having a
hell of a lot
of fun.
