WOW returns! (Why oh why?)

It’s spring, and everyone is itching to buy stuff at the nursery.  I’m there too, with my camera as well as my wallet.  I thought you might enjoy some of my “Things to avoid when you are plant shopping” collection:


These are called “Serpentine.”  I call them unnatural.  Like foot-binding.

Rootstock revolt.  The surest way to kill off your grafted scion.

A botanical bow?  Or a horticultural harp?

And check out the pot!  If there’s enough root mass in there to crack the pot, you can bet it’s long past its potting up date.

Love broccoli?  Then why not have a broccoli tree???

Looking for a maintenance nightmare?  Then this beheaded beauty is for you!

Don’t ever unwrap this plant.  It will immediately fall over and/or break.  Just keep it as is – call it your turtleneck tree.

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Linda Chalker-Scott

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is an ISA certified arborist and an ASCA consulting arborist. She is WSU’s Extension Urban Horticulturist and a Professor in the Department of Horticulture, and holds two affiliate associate professor positions at University of Washington. She conducts research in applied plant and soil sciences, publishing the results in scientific articles and university Extension fact sheets. Linda also is the award-winning author of five books: the horticultural myth-busting The Informed Gardener (2008) and The Informed Gardener Blooms Again (2010) from the University of Washington Press and Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens: Good Science – Practical Application (2009) from GFG Publishing, Inc., and How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do from Timber Press (2015). Her latest effort is an update of Art Kruckeberg’s Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest from UW Press (2019). In 2018 Linda was featured in a video series – The Science of Gardening – produced by The Great Courses. She also is one of the Garden Professors – a group of academic colleagues who educate and entertain through their blog and Facebook pages. Linda’s contribution to gardeners was recognized in 2017 by the Association for Garden Communicators as the first recipient of their Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award. "The Garden Professors" Facebook page - www.facebook.com/TheGardenProfessors "The Garden Professors" Facebook group - www.facebook.com/groups/GardenProfessors Books: http://www.sustainablelandscapesandgardens.com

7 thoughts on “WOW returns! (Why oh why?)”

  1. I don’t go to nurseries anymore. I go to my backyard where things are properly planted, de-girdled, and already established. 🙂

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