Here’s the follow up picture from Friday’s puzzler: As you can see, there’s a street light near the lower half of the maple. (I cleverly hid it behind the utility pole in the first photo.) The green part of the tree never received the message that days were getting shorter, since the street light is … Continue reading I see the light!
I know a few folks out there are starting to believe that I’m just an apologist for the nursery industry. While it’s true most of the nursery people with whom I work are hard-working folks trying to do their best to run a successful business and produce a quality crop, there are certainly some issues … Continue reading Carrot-top syndrome in white pine
Just kidding. We have no buffalo on the campus of Virginia Tech, just lots and lots of students with the flu. Yuck. But this is much more interesting: Bouteloua dactyloides (bless you!), better known as buffalo grass: We’ve recently added a 1-acre meadow to our on-campus teaching and display garden (the Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia … Continue reading Where the Buffalo Roam
Posted in honor of Garden Rant’s Halloween-related garden photo contest. Pick me, Amy, pick me!!! Now For The Scary Part This little dude is the Florida Semaphore Cactus, native only to hardwood hammocks in the middle and lower Keys. According to the Center for Plant Conservation, “Opuntia corallicola may very well be the most endangered … Continue reading RAWRRR!
Yesterday I received a call from an administrator at a large military base. (I have to tell you that anytime I get a call from someone in government I immediately start wondering about “the file” that I’m sure is kept on me. No, I’m not paranoid, but I’m an outside reviewer for a number of … Continue reading Size matters.
“Where have you been all my life?!!” Every once and a while, I come across a plant and simply fall in love. I am not alone on this particular species, and the bandwagon is getting mighty crowded. Sporobolus heterolepis is the object of my affections…it even has an intriguing common name – Prairie Dropseed. It’s native … Continue reading Fabulous Sporobolus!
There was an article published recently that traced the melting of glaciers in the US over the last 50 years. This study showed, pretty convincingly, that the glaciers are, indeed, melting, and melting rapidly. Meanwhile, in our atmosphere, levels of carbon dioxide from humans burning fossil fuel are increasing in a manner roughly correlated to … Continue reading Global Warming, Carbon Dioxide, and Plants
A big “score” at a great garden center or nursery results in guilt. Not about the money I spent, but the giant pile of pots and tags left in the wake of the planting frenzy. I plan to provide a more thorough review/discussion on this topic in the future – but for now, I want … Continue reading What I Learned This Summer (part 2): Pot Recycling, a Photo Essay
I’m an associate professor in the department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Washington State University. I’m also an Extension Specialist in Urban Horticulture, meaning that I have a global classroom rather than one physically located on a college campus. I’m trained as a woody plant physiologist and I apply this knowledge to understanding how … Continue reading Introducing Linda Chalker-Scott