Podcast

July 9, 2019 Mulch Placement, Colonel Henry Wallace Johnston, Nikolay Vavilov, George Shull, Emily Dickinson, Answer July, Lives of the Trees by Diana Wells, Wheelbarrow Garden, and Samual Smithers as Plantman

Here’s a little primer on mulch placement. Keep mulch away from the bases of plants and trees. Trees can be harmed or killed by mulching too heavily around the trunk. Perennials and other plants can be smothered or damaged by heavy mulch around the crown as well. Mulch is a wonderful tool in the garden, but it pays to pay attention to placement. Brevities #OTD Today in 1926, the Green Bay Press-Gazette posted an article titled, “Ice Cream Grown…

July 8, 2019 Herb Societies, Forrest Shreve, Eva Reed, Leonard Cockayne, Monty Don, National Meadows Day, Charles MacKay, Janice Emily Bowers, Stop Fertilizing, and Milk Sickness

Have you checked to see if there is an herb society near you? Herb societies offer gardeners what I call next-level understanding of plants. Aside from parsley, oregano, and thyme, you’ll probably be surprised by the sheer number of plants that fall into the herbal category; bronze fennel, red-veined sorrel, lovage, tansy, and sweet cicely. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1878, the American botanist Forrest Shreve was born. We owe such a debt of gratitude to Shreve. He was…

July 3, 2019 Clearance Plants, Gilbert Laing Meason, Michael Keens, Lambertus Bobbink, William Henry Davies, Grow in the Dark by Lisa Eldred Steinkopf, Hakonechloa All Gold, Richard Evans Schultes, and Calvin Sperling

Sometimes the plant gods smile on you with a clearance sale featuring something genuinely spectacular like Japanese Forest Grass or, in this case, Hakonechloa ‘All Gold.’ My local Lowes was clearancing them for $3 a pop – and it was just what the plant doctor ordered to dress up our cabin up north. In 2009, my garden idol, Margaret Roach, tweeted, “Another plant I cannot garden without Hakonechloa ‘All Gold.’ Solid gold in the shade.” She’s right. Brevities…

July 2, 2019 Delphinium, Marian Farquharson, Ralph Hancock, Hugh C. Cutler, ECOSTRESS, Herman Hesse, Seasonal Flower Arranging by Ariella Chezar, Dividing Solomon’s Seal, and the Richard Wettstein Memorial

Do you have delphiniums in your garden? I used to start every summer by planting twenty delphiniums in front of my porch. By the time my red lilies were popping, my delphinium would be 4 feet tall. In that same area, I had planted white astilbe and alyssum; I had a little red, white, and blue garden under my American flag for the 4th of July. The Delphinium is one of the birth flowers for July. It’s also known as…

July 1, 2019 Martagon Lilies, Vale of York Field Naturalists Club, Illinois State Flower, the Violet, Joseph Hooker, Ann Taylor, Tree in the House by Annabelle Hickson, Dividing Flag Iris, and Frank Kingdon-Ward

Martagon Lilies are in peak right now in most gardens. They bring the most beautiful architectural aspect and form to the garden; they are so exquisite. Offering a Turk’s cap-style bloom, Like many plants, Martagon colonies get better and better with age. Martagons like rich soil, and they will be grateful for a dusting of lime every year. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1871; the Yorkshire Herald reported the first meeting of the Vale of…