Like many home gardeners, we maintain a compost bin (a lovely 3-bin system built by my husband). I don’t need very much compost as the only organic matter I add to our landscapes is an arborist wood chip mulch. We do have a couple of raised beds for veggies and I do need organic matter for potted plants, so our compost goes there.… Continue reading this article “Compost, raised beds, and unexpected finds”
I’ve been thinking about snow and winter precipitation a lot this week as Georgia digs out from a record snowfall that hit the southern part of the state with amounts of up to 9 inches. This is the second snow event this winter, something that does not happen very often here, although I know it is much more common in many other parts of the country and the world. The heavy snow band stretched all the way from eastern Texas to eastern Virginia up the East Coast, bringing record snow amounts to many areas along the path, including a very heavy snowfall in New Orleans.… Continue reading this article “Is snow really “poor man’s fertilizer?””
Even though some may not be fond of them, we understand that most spiders are beneficial, excellent predators of arthropod pests and are extremely interesting organisms. Gardeners are often really enthusiastic about this group of arthropods and enjoy observing them in outdoor landscapes, usually at a comfortable distance. There are some of us who enjoy the company of these creatures in closer proximity, even indoors and as pets (myself included).
Once again we wander down the path of botanical history.
George Julius Engelmann was a botanist, physician, and meteorologist, but is remembered primarily for his botanical monographs. George, also known as Georg, was born Feb. 2, 1809 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, the oldest of thirteen children, nine of whom reached maturity. Unusual for the time, his parents established and ran a successful school for young women there in Frankfurt.
Like most privileged young men of the time, George attended gymnasium.… Continue reading this article “People and Plants”
How did your garden grow in 2024? Was it a lush playground full of beautiful flowers and plentiful produce? Or was it a sere landscape of brown, wilted foliage? How your own garden fared in 2024 was certainly dependent on where you live, what you had planted, and how you took care of it, but it was also subject to the variations in weather and climate in your area. This week we will take a look back at the climate conditions in 2024 and look forward to what it might mean for 2025.… Continue reading this article “2024 in Review and a look ahead to 2025”
We at the Garden Professors stress the importance of accurate diagnoses of plant “problems.” Often, problems aren’t due to pests or disease, and sometimes they aren’t problems at all. That got me thinking about a tree oddity I saw earlier this year when I was visiting my daughter in Walla Walla. Near her office at Whitman College stands a mature box elder (Acer negundo), whose lower crown has large swaths of pale yellow leaves (Figure 1).… Continue reading this article “2024 – A Tree Oddity”
I am writing this post on Thanksgiving Day, and I can hear football in another part of the house while I sit here with cat in lap. Here in Georgia, we are still officially in the growing season, although that will end in the next few days since a cold front has pushed through today, ushering in much colder conditions that will result in temperatures in the mid-20s next week. It will be a while before we see snow, though, and in fact we only get it every couple of years in Georgia, so we may not get any snow at all this La Nina year, since La Nina winters are usually warmer and drier than usual in the Southeast.… Continue reading this article “Underneath a blanket of snow”
Ants are a very familiar and recognizable group of insects in our homes and gardens. Due to their common presence on or around our plants and garden pests, some people consider that they may be the cause of some of the issues that we see. For the most part, ants play important and diverse roles in their ecosystems and are usually beneficial to us in our garden settings. As with every situation, however, there are always exceptions.… Continue reading this article “Ants in my Plants!”
I thought this would be a fairly straightforward individual to research and write about. But no, talk about a rabbit hole.
Have you ever known someone that makes you ask, “They did what?” or “They’re where?” or “What are they up to now?”
If so, then you’ll recognize the type in this installment of People and Plants.
Friedrich/Frederick Adolph Wislizenus was a German-born American medical doctor, explorer and botanist. The name Wislizenus traces its etymological roots back to Poland, specifically the town of Wislicza.… Continue reading this article “People and Plants”
If you find yourself singing “How Dry I Am” these days, you might be under the influence of a large, stationary area of high atmospheric pressure. This past month, most of the eastern United States has been trapped in this pattern, with warm temperatures, clear skies, and no rain at all for most of the past month. In fact, many cities are on the verge of setting new records for low or no precipitation for the month of October, and some may even break records for the driest month ever.… Continue reading this article “Feeling high and dry?”