What a crazy spring! But it finally, finally came here to the Blue Ridge Mountains (Linda Chalker-Scott refers to them “speed bumps”).
My Ornamental Plants Production & Marketing class has been at work since early February, growing plants and marketing them at the Hort Club Plant Sale as part of their lab experience. Of course, they are completely at my mercy as to what they get to grow (bwuhh ha ha *evil hand wringing*). … Continue reading this article “A Real, Live, Learning Experience”
As you may know, I spent most of the last week in Charlotte, NC. On my last night, I got to visit uptown and enjoy the pocket parks along Tryon Street. Here’s one of them at the intersection of Tryon and Trade:
It has a lovely water feature – it was a warm day and the breeze from the fountain cooled the air off significantly.
A little further on was this plaza, featuring jasmine-covered “umbrellas”:
The umbrellas were actually sculptures – little works of art on their own:
The nicest things about the uptown area were the wide streets and equally wide sidewalks. … Continue reading this article “Pocket parks and urban corridors”
We finally got a reprieve from our wet, cold weather. Just in time for the annual inspection of the conifer troops at the Harper Collection of Dwarf and Unusual Conifers at MSU’s Hidden Lake Gardens. One of the interesting things about making repeated trips to a conifer collection like this is that different conifers stand out each time. Whether due to lighting, background foliage, your mood, whatever; it seems like there are different stars each time.… Continue reading this article “Spring fever: Conifer style”
April is turning out to be a soggy month for most of Michigan and our surrounding states. While most homeowners are inclined to hunker down indoors and keep an eye on their sump pumps on these dark, dreary days; our current run of wet weather is a good opportunity to take a stroll around your property and make some notes. In particular, note any areas where water is accumulating.
Poor drainage is one of the most common sites factors that limit landscape tree and shrub survival and growth. … Continue reading this article “It’s raining, it’s pouring, it’s a good time for a site assessment…”
I’d rather we didn’t use them, but I see their value and I appreciate what they can do for us when they’re used properly. One of the things that I hate about pesticides though is that, even when they’re used correctly, sometimes they can come back and hurt us in ways that we don’t expect. You have probably heard that you should not use grass clippings where herbicides have recently been used as a mulch because they could injure them.… Continue reading this article “Applying pesticides when you don’t mean to”
What a difference a year makes. This time last year our growing degree day accumulations were nearly a month ahead of normal and we had already experienced temperatures in the 80’s, with more than a week straight of 70 + deg. temperatures. This year, of course, is a different story. But spring will come eventually. As trees and shrubs begin to leaf out or we get antsy and begin to plant annuals, we need to be prepared for late frosts.… Continue reading this article “Protecting plants from frost”
There’s still snow on the ground, but I know that spring is finally coming to Minnesota because I FINALLY saw a crocus peeking its head out of the ground this week!
So perhaps you wonder from time to time what garden professor types get excited about. Well, here’s an example. Tomorrow I’ll be meeting up with a friend of mine, Meleah Maynard, which is nice, we always have a good time chatting, but I’m especially excited because she’s bringing me some drippings from her vermicomposting. … Continue reading this article “Worm Juice!”
I spent the last two weeks in Spain, combining business with pleasure. It’s interesting when something that starts out as part of the pleasure ends up being business instead.
Charlotte translated this sign for me – it’s historical information. Note the brightly colored mine tailings in the background.
My daughter is teaching English in Mazarrón, a small town in the province of Murcia. The climate there is very similar to southern California, though drier and not as warm: it’s pretty much a scrubland ecosystem.… Continue reading this article “The invisible, insidious presence of heavy metals”
(special guest post by/with permission of good friend Mr. John Friel, marketing manager for Emerald Coast Growers – Holly Scoggins)
How do you recognize a dogwood? By its bark.
That old joke might not be a joke anymore, if the innovative folks at Metamorphic Agriculture Developers (MAD) get USDA approval for a new line of ornamental and functional shrubs that blur the line between the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
MAD scientists claim to have successfully introduced genes from Canis familiaris into a cultivar of Cornus canadensis.… Continue reading this article “Scientists Put the Dog in Dogwood”