Category: Stories

Stop planting things so close together, Holly!

I love Linda’s idea and there are some great comments – but y’all need to send her photo evidence of these gardening adventures/casualties to post! Would make me feel better. It doesn’t take much to get me going on dubious stuff I have done, gardening or otherwise.

Was just up to Northern Virginia to help with  Fairfax Master Gardener training (at the fabulous Merrifield Garden Center).  My talk was on "site analysis and plant selection." As I looked through my digital photos to illustrate the points made, I came across several "ahem" moments, that lead to the "do what I say, not what I do" caveat (but usually gets a few giggles and snorts). … Continue reading this article “Stop planting things so close together, Holly!”

Wicked Good!

At the tail end of August, we (the Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech) hosted our second-ever all-day symposium.  I christened it the Down ‘n’ Dirty Garden Symposium series – no stuffiness allowed! All fun, all useful info.  This year we lured the fab Amy Stewart in as our anchor speaker. Quite the coup for our little town!  My friend from grad school, Paula Gross, of the UNC-Charlotte Botanic Garden and co-author of "Bizarre Botanicals" brought her roadshow of wacky plants and action video. … Continue reading this article “Wicked Good!”

Consternation in the You-Pick Field

It’s high season at our blueberry farm.  Each morning, the yard fills with cars (at 7:00 a.m. – aargh) and eager blueberry pickers hit our four acres of Northern Highbush berries. No late freezes, lots of hard work by our honey bees, and good rainfall have added up to a blockbuster crop.  Certainly helps with the mortgage.

Running a you-pick ( U-Pick makes me itch) farm is an …interesting experience.  Upside – you do the picking, we weigh the buckets, we take the money – $2.40/lb + tax.… Continue reading this article “Consternation in the You-Pick Field”

A Garden Professor migrates east, albeit briefly

I was AWOL last week, as I had 3 presentations to get ready for 3 different states all in the span of 4 days.  Yow!  But they are over and done, and I’ll try to keep up on the blog from now on.

This is a short but amusing post (to me anyway).  My second talk was in Virginia, where I spoke to Master Gardeners at their annual conference.  The speaker right before my talk was fellow GP Holly Scoggins. … Continue reading this article “A Garden Professor migrates east, albeit briefly”

Upside: I’m Two Pounds Lighter!

Cape San Blas
mullet and bass
cheap sunglass
sand flea and crabgrass
beachy landmass*

Had big, relaxing fun last week in the greater Port St. Joe/Cape San Blas/Apalachicola region of the Florida panhandle (billed as the "Forgotten Coast" or more locally "Florida’s Last Stand").  The bays are filled with fishies, the gulf is turquoise and rimmed with soft white sand. Highly under-developed, it’s truly paradise for anyone who likes to boat, fish, kayak, and run with your hounds on empty, wide, dog-friendly beaches.… Continue reading this article “Upside: I’m Two Pounds Lighter!”

Trees: Dead or Alive

In light of the comments on Dr. Jeff’s latest post (When Trees Don’t Know They’re Dead), especially those by Shawn, Ed, and Dr. Linda, I absolutely have to post this.

To the best of my knowledge, the number of stand-up comedian bits related to tree health can be counted on one finger. Here it is, transcribed, as close as I can without having Linda ban me from the blog/WSU server.

Ron White is a big, bawdy, laid-back Texan, permanently armed with a cigar, glass of scotch, and high-beam smile. … Continue reading this article “Trees: Dead or Alive”

Science Education and Lichens

Seemingly once a week we see a report in the news about how Science and Math education in the US lags behind many developed countries around the world.  http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-15/us/education.obrien.response_1_math-and-science-national-robotics-competition-education?_s=PM:US

While we typically think of Chemistry and Physics when discussing science education, biology is in there too.

 

I bring this up because I am continually amazed at how little many people know about basic biology.  Some of this funnels its way into extension calls and e-mails. … Continue reading this article “Science Education and Lichens”

Bordeaux Mix

One of my favorite stories about pesticides is the story of Bordeaux mix.  It’s a story of France in the 1800s (so it must be pretty romantic, right?) and how they were suffering from a shortage of grapes.  Don’t feel sorry for them — it was really their own doing.  Over the course of the 19th century grape vines were brought from the United States to test their merits against European grapes.  It was quickly discovered that, for the most part, American grapes were not the equal of European grapes for winemaking. … Continue reading this article “Bordeaux Mix”

Keep Calm and Carry On…

This past weekend GP Jeff Gillman and I were in Midland, Michigan for two different conferences and had a chance to catch up over dinner (Boulevard burgers – best in Midland) and a couple of cold Bell’s stout ales.  It was nice to visit with Jeff since we have so much in common but rarely get to see each other.  As you might suspect, our conversation centered on negotiating the perils of the tenure and promotion process at research intensive universities, dealing with bumbling administrators, and, of course, our fellow Garden Professors. … Continue reading this article “Keep Calm and Carry On…”

An Early Valentine’s Story

In honor of Valentine’s day I have a story about love and betrayal to share….OK, maybe not….perhaps something more along the lines of branches and ants.  Same difference right?

There was once a tree that was much loved.  It was planted in a cute little corner of a street next to a historic building and was well cared for by its owners. Its many limbs rose to the sky in a seething mass which made the tree look vigorous and robust…and those who planted the tree were very happy.… Continue reading this article “An Early Valentine’s Story”