Earlier this week I was in New York City and got to visit the High Line for the first time. For those who aren’t familiar, the High Line is an urban park that was created along an abandoned elevated rail line on the Westside of Manhattan. Linda posted about the High Line a couple of years ago. Her visit was in late winter so my visit provided an opportunity to explore the park during the height of the growing season.… Continue reading this article “Back on the High Line again”
Category: Diversions
Spring = really?
I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet, but I am not feeling SPRING. Here in the Blue Ridge of Virginia (Zone 6), March is averaging 10 F below average. Snow and ice is piled up on the north side of buildings. My Herbaceous Landscape Plants class is not impressed by the inch-tall Mertensia and the fact that the only thing we can call a cool-season annual (pansies/violas) is brown mush. All the delightful Zone 7 things I’ve been pushing on people for several years here – er, whoops.… Continue reading this article “Spring = really?”
Tell us how you really feel…
I nearly caused a wreck trying to get this photo.
Feb. 19, 2014. Blacksburg, Virginia
Must be a gardener!
QRCs revisted
Regarding the utility of Quick Response codes and the intersection of garden centers and technology, I asked: “Are YOU, dear readers, taking advantage of this [QRC] technology as it applies to purchasing plants?”
Thirty comments later (not including a repeat and two of my own), as best I can interpret, this is the score:
– Yes I have used them while shopping for plants or own a nursery that uses them – 6 (results varied)
– No (either didn’t have a smart phone or interest in QRCs for plant shopping) – 10
– Couldn’t tell (commenters elaborated on potential/upside/downside/other uses, but couldn’t tell whether commenter had actually utilized them personally while plant shopping) and/or response to other comments – 14
First off, thanks to folks who answered my main question.… Continue reading this article “QRCs revisted”
Advice needed – quick!
Monday’s not my usual day to post, but I need your help.
I’m to present at a large garden symposium next week. You know the usual syposium format: there’s a design talk, one on plant care, another on edibles in the landscape, and finally the plant-lust generating presentation (The Plant Talk). That’s my role in this particular symposium. My topic is very broad – new and underused annuals, perennials, and woodies. Actually, it’s too broad, and it’s giving me fits.… Continue reading this article “Advice needed – quick!”
The Winter Weekend Garden Warrior
As Garden Professors, we are very careful regarding product endorsements. Actually, much energy is spent trying to bring to light weird/crappy/useless/money-wasting gardening products.
But when we feel strongly about the usefulness, quality, and utility of a product, it is our duty to pass that information along as well.
I didn’t mean to be a walking advertisement last weekend.
We were in the final throes of getting our garden cut back; Joel was laughing that I “needed another set of hands” when I came around the corner. … Continue reading this article “The Winter Weekend Garden Warrior”
Answer to the Thursday Non-strenuous Puzzler
Correctomundo, Paul W. Right off the bat, darn it. Retractable (woven) roof; designed to accommodate a bit of snow, but you don’t want to leave it in place for any more than that. This was at the Merrifield Garden Center in Alexandria. Winter of 2011. I was there speaking to the fabulous Fairfax Master Gardeners and trainees (SandyG, I swear you were there).
The snow cover just seemed kind of odd/neat, because the roof was closed back up by the time I walked in.… Continue reading this article “Answer to the Thursday Non-strenuous Puzzler”
Now THAT might kill the aphids!
Here’s a very lightweight, non-strenuous puzzler for your Thursday.
This scene is from inside a [very nice] retail garden center greenhouse.
Open for business.
What’s with the snow?!
Hidden from view is the commemorative plaque in honor of one of our regular commenters:
"SandyG Shopped Here."
Gardeners plus QR Codes equals Really Happening?
Proven Winners is putting QR codes on plant tags. So is Walters Gardens, a major wholesaler of perennial liners. Growers often purchase tags from the propagator to go along with the liners. In the case of patented plants, that’s a common method of collecting royalties – the finishing grower has to purchase the tag.
Quick response (QR) codes are everywhere. For those that are vague on the concept, it’s a two-dimensional barcode. Install a code-reader app on your smartphone, snap a photo of the code, and your web browser takes you to a specific site for more information. … Continue reading this article “Gardeners plus QR Codes equals Really Happening?”
Won’t you help the poinsettias?
Those creative Utah Sate University Extension folks are at it again. Jerry Goodspeed’s hilarious Gnome Management video was a big hit among the gardening crowd a couple of years ago.
His current effort is a bit more…film noir.
"Mission accomplished" if you’ve been shamed into watering that poor poinsettia languishing in the dining room. A little fertilizer wouldn’t hurt, either.