As those that have followed the blog for awhile are aware, among my pet peeves are some of the naïve statements that are repeated ad nauseam by proponents of native plants for landscaping. You know the usual litany: natives don’t need water, don’t need fertilizer, resistant to insects, resistant to diseases, yada, yada… According to the dogma, … Continue reading Is local always better?
When botany and advertising collide. Here we have the latest from AT&T. The advertisement description’s in quotes. “We open on an urban setting and see a vine begin to grow up a pillar.” What kind of vine?? It looks like a mutant clematis, though the leaf arrangement’s wrong, and there are no orange large-flowered ones. … Continue reading Er, Too Much Coverage?
This week is our annual Great Lakes Trade Expo, the main trade show and education venue for Michigan nursery and landscape industry. One of my talks was for the Arboriculture track on landscapes conifers. The theme this year was “The Good, the Bad, and the Underused.” Hey, you try giving a dozen talks a year for 10 … Continue reading Landscape conifers: The Good, the Bad, and the Underused
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had restful and enjoyable holidays. In addition to looking back over the year that just past, a common New Year’s tradition is to make predictions for the coming year. Without going too far out on a limb, one of my predictions for the upcoming year is that the debate … Continue reading New Year’s Prediction: Invasive Fire Continues to Burn
Unintended consequences. When doing one thing causes something you didn’t expect. Many unintended consequence stories in biology start with introduced species. I’m going to skip those here. I’ve been thinking about unintended consequences recently while trying to figure out what to do about my hops. You see, hops have a nasty habit of getting powdery … Continue reading Unintended consequences
OK, it’s the middle of December so I get to indulge my passion for Christmas trees. One of the most interesting projects I’ve gotten to work on during my time at Michigan State is a study to look at alternative species of firs (Abies spp) for Christmas trees and well as for landscape conifers. Firs … Continue reading What fir?
Seattle had its first snowfall last week – a mere 3-6″ – and the city shut down. (Yes, those of you in the snowier parts of the midwest and east can laugh…but we’ve got hills. That’s the main problem.) It was unusally cold, so the snow that fell was the light, fluffy kind that I remember … Continue reading Snow falling on cedars…not always a good thing
One of our semi-recurring themes on the Garden Professor’s is our WOW’s or “Why Oh Why’s”. As in “Why oh why do nurseries continue to sell invasive plants?” Today, I’d like to turn things around a bit and look at a group of people that are often maligned by the public but, in fact, are … Continue reading Utility arborists: Give ‘em a break
It’s ‘Wildlife week’ on the Garden Professors. One of the most common questions that we get when speaking to garden groups is, “What can I do around my home to promote wildlife?” My stock answer used to be, “Throw a party!”, but only a handful of people ever got it so I’ve backed off of … Continue reading The Garden Professors Go Wild!
We usually look up to the trees for the spectacle of fall foliage color but there’s plenty happening down low. Ornamental grasses in autumn are, of course, amazing – I think I’ll give them a post of their own. But there are a few perennials that consistently deliver good fall color instead of turning to … Continue reading Pssst…over here…trees got nothing on us…