One of the best cures for writers’ block for a Garden Professors is to spend a little time in front of the tube watching home gardening shows. Now, to be sure, there are useful nuggets of information that can be gleamed from an hour or so of gardening or landscaping on HGTV or PBS Create. But there are moments when I just stare at the TV in disbelief and go, ‘Have these people lost their frickin’ minds?’… Continue reading this article “Plastic grass and organic gardens”
Month: June 2010
Niagara Parks Botanical Garden mystery photo
In addition to the cool Poison Plants garden, I also found this curious trunk – what tree might this be?
This question will appeal to collectors of plant curiousities. Answer and more photos on Monday!
A nifty garden to visit
I missed my regular posting on Wednesday since (1) I’m on vacation and (2) I hadn’t had time to find anything sufficiently worthy of posting. (Of course I have a compost barrel full of snake oil products I could rant about, but even I get tired of that. Especially on vacation.)
Note the strategic head placement
But yesterday we visited the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens just north of Niagara Falls. We didn’t have nearly enough time to see it all, so I’ll share just one special corner.… Continue reading this article “A nifty garden to visit”
What About the Corn?
Year after year farmers in the US plants a lot of corn. A safe estimate is around 80 million acres with another 70 million acres or so going to soybeans. Corn comes from South America, soybeans are from East Asia. When we plant these crops we plant them in such a way that we exclude or, at the very least, limit the ability of native plants to grow. A safe estimate is that 99 percent of our cropland is planted in non-native species. … Continue reading this article “What About the Corn?”
Our visiting Garden Professor and his Kentucky coffeetree
By Dr. Charlie Rohwer
Since my last guest professor submission (buying organic food for health) garnered so much discussion, I thought I’d try to write about a less controversial topic: evolution. There’s no scientific doubt that’s where plants (well, all species of everything, really) come from, but what got me thinking about it recently was my Kentucky coffeetree.
My wife and I bought our first house a couple years ago, and for the previous 25 years at least, the landscaping had been severely neglected. … Continue reading this article “Our visiting Garden Professor and his Kentucky coffeetree”
Friday puzzle solved – better late than never!
I spent yesterday flying from Seattle to Buffalo and didn’t get a chance to post the answer to the puzzle on Friday. This was an easy one for our readers – the shrub is (was?) a mesquite, and the bushy growth in the photograph is mistletoe (as identified by Bob and seconded by Ginny and Jimbo).
I am pretty sure this mesquite was dead, as it had been a wet spring and everything was leafing out. … Continue reading this article “Friday puzzle solved – better late than never!”
Garden invaders
I’m running a bit ragged between travel and getting ready for my grad student, Amanda, to defend her thesis in the morning.
Here’s something a little lightter from our friends at Utah State Extension…
Compost tea…again
My not-fan Justin has emailed me again with some more substantial comments of my criticisms of compost tea. I’ve posted his email here, along with my responses in a point-counterpoint format:
1. “Compost teas do vary from batch to batch, the same way galaxies vary. Without the complexity and biodiversity present in the tea, you might as well just be using water.”
Yes, they do vary, and this is why it is so difficult to conduct replicated and repeatable studies on the efficacy of compost tea. … Continue reading this article “Compost tea…again”
Friday plant puzzler – desert version
While looking over photos from my California desert trip this spring, I came upon this curious plant:
You can see most of the plant is dead (white branches), though there are two clumps of vigorous growth, shown up close here:
What’s going on here?
Answer Monday!
Fan mail…NOT!
Below is an email I received this morning. I’ve apparently made Justin really angry. So as he’s requested, I’m giving him the chance to debate me.
"LISTEN HERE DR. FACE
Who owns you Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott?
You are a cheap mouthpiece and I don’t believe a word that you say. I’d debate you right under the table.
Any day, Lady.
Why don’t you just bring it on sister girl and first describe how vegetation thrived on this planet for millions of years before the phony baloney chemical crap that you use.… Continue reading this article “Fan mail…NOT!”