For many gardeners around the US (and the northern hemisphere) the weather is warming up for spring planting season and many are itching to get out in the garden. But when is the right time to plant those veggies and flowers and not gamble on their success? Just like Kenny Roger’s character in The Gambler, knowing when to do something is important (this is where I’ll end the cheesy comparison – you’ve just got to come up with a catchy title sometimes).… Continue reading this article “Don’t be a garden gambler: You’ve got to know when to sow ’em, know when to plant ’em”
Category: Perennials and Annuals
Rethinking the monocultural lawn (again)
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been in London having some unforgettable garden experiences. Thanks to the generosity of my UK colleagues Glynn Percival and Jon Banks I was treated to Kew Gardens, RHS Wisley Gardens, and Windsor Castle. I hope to construct several blog posts from these visits, but today’s post is an homage to the English garden meadow. Instead of monocultural turf lawns, mowed and sprayed into submission, why not consider a more biodiverse and visually pleasing approach to groundcover?… Continue reading this article “Rethinking the monocultural lawn (again)”
Feel the Heat: Temperature and Germination
In most parts of the country it is time to dust off the seed starting trays, pick out your favorite seeds, and get a little plant propagation going on. There’s definitely a lot of science (and perhaps a bit of art) to successful seed starting. While the process starts (and relies on) the imbibition of water, one of the biggest factors that affects the success, efficiency, and speed of seed germination and propagation is temperature. … Continue reading this article “Feel the Heat: Temperature and Germination”
Set your roots free on this Independence Day week!
We’ve discussed barerooting/rootwashing trees before, and research on this controversial topic continues. But what about smaller shrubs and woody perennials? What about herbaceous perennials? Basically, what about PERENNIALS???
I’ve always made a practice of rootwashing everything except for annuals. They don’t last long enough to suffer the perils of potbound plants. But many gardeners are nervous about disrupting more fragile root systems. Let’s see what happens when we do.
A little context: we’ve just moved to our family farm, which has AMAZING spring flowers that the bees love.… Continue reading this article “Set your roots free on this Independence Day week!”
You, too, can be up to your pits in perennials!
(posted by Holly Scoggins)
The Perennial Plant Association (PPA) is a unique group of folks – comprised of plant breeders, educators, propagators, promoters, garden writers, growers, retailers, gardeners, and landscape designers – all under one umbrella. The PPA is probably one of the most vertically-integrated plant organizations out there. If it has anything to do with a perennial plant, there’s a good chance one of our members is involved.
The marvelous/legendary PPA Symposium has been held in all parts of the country.… Continue reading this article “You, too, can be up to your pits in perennials!”
Fight the tyranny of spring!
Here in Michigan, spring is coming. Crocuses, snowdrops, and reticulata irises are in full bloom. Hepatica, forsythia, and daffodils will be coming on before long. Soon, garden centers and nurseries will be opening and gardeners driven mad by the long winter will rush out to buy every plant they can find with a flower on it. In the mad feed frenzy for flowers, we gardeners will sadly look over countless beautiful fall-flowering perennials and shrubs simply because they don’t happen to be doing their thing when we are shopping.… Continue reading this article “Fight the tyranny of spring!”
Rogues gallery
You know the word “rogue” as a noun and adjective, and probably from when Sarah Palin “went rogue” during her time as vice presidental candidate.
But you may not know that it also a verb. That’s the way I use it most often. I rogue plants and I complain — often — about seed producers not doing enough roguing.
To rogue means to weed out inferior or off-type plants. It is a critical part of producing and maintaining seed selections of plants.… Continue reading this article “Rogues gallery”
Creative Lighting for Seed Starting
As we get close to the time to start tomato, pepper, and other seedlings indoors, I thought I’d share this picture of my older sister’s seed starting setup from few years ago:
Two desk lamps with compact florescent bulbs. Not traditional, but worked great. Just a reminder that you can get creative when it comes to lighting for seedlings, using whatever fixtures and layout works for your space. The only rules are to use florescent or LED bulbs, not those old fashioned incandescent bulbs which have poor light for plants, and err on the side of more light rather than less to make sure you get compact, healthy plants that will transition to the sunny outside world without drama.… Continue reading this article “Creative Lighting for Seed Starting”
Allium Fever
Ornamental onions are hot patooties. From big, bold, purple globes to small pink half-moons, there is no end to ornamental onion-y goodness out there with 30+ species and cultivars in the trade. There’s no substitute for ornamental onions in regards to architectural drama – the perfect geometric foil to wispy grasses, floral spikes, and umpteen daisy-thingies. The seed heads from the sturdier species will persist and add interest to autumn and winter perennialscapes (not sure if that’s a word).… Continue reading this article “Allium Fever”
Blast from my petunia past
A few days ago I recorded a podcast with Margaret Roach were we talked about all our favorite seed sources. One of the many things we mentioned were the great species petunias available from Select Seeds. Which caused me to flash back to my time in graduate school doing research on petunias, and dig up these old images.
At the top are Petunia integrifolia (purple) and Petunia axillaris (white) and below are an assortment of flowers from a population of F2 hybrids between the two.… Continue reading this article “Blast from my petunia past”