Amicia zygomeris is a cute little herbaceous thing I picked up on a visit to Plant Delights nursery back in October. For $13, I wanted to be sure it survived the winter, so it’s been in our kitchen garden window, just waiting for spring. Soon after putting it in the window, I had an “oh no, … Continue reading All Right, Linda; I’ll See Your Paraheliotropism and Raise You a Nyctinasty
I’m an associate professor in the department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Washington State University. I’m also an Extension Specialist in Urban Horticulture, meaning that I have a global classroom rather than one physically located on a college campus. I’m trained as a woody plant physiologist and I apply this knowledge to understanding how … Continue reading Introducing Linda Chalker-Scott
Like it or not, the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) has become a part of our daily lives. While you might not use AI directly (or you don’t know that you do) it is now a common part of society, especially in the online world. Many people, sites, can companies use it to create content. … Continue reading Shoveling the Artificial CRAP: Navigating Gardening Un-Intelligence in the age of AI
UPDATE: As of 11/15/2023, the USDA has published an updated Plant Hardiness Zone map that covers the 1991-2020 period, which includes a lot of the warmest years on record for the US. This map shows more detail than the old map and generally increases the zones in most areas by maybe a half-category. It also … Continue reading How accurate is the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map?
My news feed has been filled in recent weeks with many stories about the unusual heat that has affected many parts of North America, Europe, and the Atlantic Ocean. High temperature records are being broken at an amazing rate, and while we don’t expect every day or season to break a new heat record, the … Continue reading It’s the heat (and the humidity!)
Biological control is the use of natural enemies such as predators, parasites/parasitoids, and pathogens of pests in order to suppress or control them. This is a great tool for pest control and we hear about biological control a lot, especially when we talk about IPM (Integrated Pest Management). It usually comes with the classic imagery … Continue reading Buying lady beetles and mantids for your home gardens is probably not the best pest control strategy
I have a very interesting research project on the effects of urban pressure on Coast Live Oak (CLO). CLO is a California native oak and I am interested in seeing if urban cultural conditions prevent the development of mycorrhizal fungi on their roots. My study is blocked, that means that all the treatments occur in … Continue reading Landscape Fabric Strikes Again–Oh the Horror!
It may seem odd to sing the praises of a weird, sometimes gross, looking phenomenon that sometimes freaks gardeners out, but every summer I love educating gardeners about the fascinating lives of slime molds. Here in Nebraska we often get calls about “this weird thing that’s all over my mulch” after a rainy period in … Continue reading Barf! An ode to the fascinating life of slime mold
Linda’s post last week about “drought-resistant” plants made me think about drought and how different types of drought affect gardeners in different ways. In her article, she defined drought as “an unusual lack of rainfall”. This is one of four different kinds of drought that climatologists talk about, and I thought it might be interesting … Continue reading “How dry I am “: Four types of drought and how they can affect gardeners and gardens
