Category: Green Industry

Trials and Triumphs: All-America Selections Judging and 2024 Winners

I’ve written before about my time as a trial judge for the All-America Selections program, which I did during my seven years with Nebraska Extension. I happened upon the opportunity to be a judge by accident, but really came to relish my time and the work that the organization does.

You see, All-America Selections started in 1932 as a way to actually certify the claims that newly-introduced plants were actually better than ones already available. Previously it was sort of the wild-west of claims made by everyone who had a garden catalog or wrote a garden publication.… Continue reading this article “Trials and Triumphs: All-America Selections Judging and 2024 Winners”

Fair Judgement: garden lessons from a fair (and crop trial) judge

I love a fair! Which is a good thing since I find myself at a lot of them as an extension professional.  It seems like fairs attract extension folks like honey attracts flies.  We’re always involved in the 4-H activities – the livestock, project displays, and contests.  Sometimes we pop up other places as well.  The one thing that I get asked to do multiple times each summer is act as a judge for horticultural entries. … Continue reading this article “Fair Judgement: garden lessons from a fair (and crop trial) judge”

Testing, testing, 1-2-3: Trialing new plants for the home garden

How do you know that plants will do well in your garden?  Do you research the types of plants for your region, study different cultivars, and select only things that have been proven to do well for your conditions?  Or do you buy what catches your eye at the garden center, plant it, and then see what happens?  I used to joke that my home garden was a horticulture experiment station, since I’d try all kinds of random plants or techniques and see what works for me. … Continue reading this article “Testing, testing, 1-2-3: Trialing new plants for the home garden”

When spring is delayed

Enjoying our first day above 55 F in quite a while here in mountains of Southwest Virginia. We’ve had far-below-average temperature and three significant snow events over the past four weeks.

Saturday, April 7, 2018 at our farm (Newport, VA).  Not making me want to garden.

For much of the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Midwest, spring has been very slow to arrive. The jet stream has been riding mighty low, and is taking another dive next week.… Continue reading this article “When spring is delayed”