Month: April 2012

WOW returns! (Why oh why?)

It’s spring, and everyone is itching to buy stuff at the nursery.  I’m there too, with my camera as well as my wallet.  I thought you might enjoy some of my “Things to avoid when you are plant shopping” collection:


These are called “Serpentine.”  I call them unnatural.  Like foot-binding.

Rootstock revolt.  The surest way to kill off your grafted scion.

A botanical bow?  Or a horticultural harp?

And check out the pot!  If there’s enough root mass in there to crack the pot, you can bet it’s long past its potting up date.… Continue reading this article “WOW returns! (Why oh why?)”

Here we go again…

Despite Linda’s assertion to the contrary, I was not cow-tipping nor was I sampling micro-brews last week when I missed my regular post.  As usual, the beginning of spring is a busy time on the research side of my appointment.  This past week we began setting up for a major new project.  The goal of our newest study is to look at physiological traits of street trees that may enable them to better withstand future climate change. … Continue reading this article “Here we go again…”

Our visiting professor takes on veggie nutrition

First, let me give a blanket apology for all of us GPs – this is the first time ever all four of us have NOT posted in the same week.  I’m on the road this week with my high schooler checking out colleges, and I think the other three are out drinking beer and tipping cows somewhere.  So our visiting GP veggie specialist extraordinaire has graciously stepped in to answer a reader’s question about the apparent decline in vegetable nutrition. … Continue reading this article “Our visiting professor takes on veggie nutrition”