by Lawn Reform Coalition Member Tom Christopher Like other members of the Lawn Reform Coalition, I believe that the contemporary model of lawn has got to go. It does have its virtues, though we critics tend to overlook them. For example, traditional lawn provides a relatively inexpensive and easy way to maintain large expanses of [...]
Read more in: Guest Rants, Lawn Reform
Body: Posted by Bert CreggLast week I posted about some horticultural disasters I witnessed in the Czech Republic. This week the chamber of horrors. […]
Biodiverse Lawn by Coalition Member Thomas Christopher Like other members of this group, I believe that the contemporary model of lawn has got to go.. […]
Body: Posted by Linda Chalker-Scott If you've been following us for a while, you might remember a post from August 2009 when I got cranky about a pot. […]
Anne Raver covered the newsworthy topic of Impatiens suffering from Downy Mildew Disease in her usual clear-headed way for the New York Times – or so I thought. This week they published comments by some dissenters, readers taking offense at Raver’s dissing of their beloved annuals. Raver had identified...
Read more in: Everybody's a Critic
Michael Pollan and Wendell Berry were in Louisville during the first week of May. They weren’t on the Derby celebrity runway that rainy day at Churchill Downs. That was left to Kid Rock, Smokey Robinson—among the few names I did know—plus dozens more B-list television, music and sports “stars”...
Read more in: Eat This, Guest Rants
As a big fan of Organic Gardening Magazine, I take no pleasure in expressing my shock surprise at seeing this photo illustrating an otherwise wonderful article about growing wildlife-friendly gardens. The caption on the right says “Orange Boy watches wildlife from the front porch.” I don’t imagine he just...
Read more in: Everybody's a Critic, Ministry of Controversy
Guest Rant by Geoff Lewis I would like to speak to the curious sport of bedding plants. Bedding plants – you know, big pansies, dwarf marigolds and their ilk. One’s vision is of an orgiastic colour melee: Vast flocks of the vegetative equivalent of Pekinese and/or Schitzu-Poodle crosses (schit-poos)...
Read more in: Designs, Tricks, and Schemes, Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
Thousands of red tulips have been planted in the Churchill Downs paddock and winner’s circle for this year’s Kentucky Derby. They were shipped from Holland months ago. Nearly 500 red roses will arrive from South America a few days before the race (the first Saturday in May) and be...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
Guest Rant by Will Raap Honey bees and wild pollinators need your help and need it now. Gardeners know that good pollination makes for better crops of tomatoes, cucumbers, apples and raspberries. And that’s especially true for certain commercial crops like almonds, which need to have 1 million honey...
Read more in: Gardening on the Planet, Guest Rants
On a recent afternoon, after a day and a half of strenuous garden work, Professor Roush quit working and took a number of photos to convince himself, and all of you, that spring was beginning in Kansas. I was sidetracked, however, by the quick appearance of a small storm...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Taking Your Gardening Dollar
When you think of plant hunting—Indiana Jones style—you usually think of faraway places. Throw in tall mountains, deep ravines, landslides and feuding warlords, and you might soon forget the plants. The story becomes more about the adventure. Andy Schmitz and Jeff Carstens haven’t been to China or India, but...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
The memorial to FDR has been a local favorite since it opened in 1997, and yesterday it was the first stop on my cherry blossom tour via bicycle. (You can get your own bike there via subway or rent one when you get downtown.) But like thousands of other...
Read more in: Everybody's a Critic
In the early days of the iPhone, we were ravening for gardening apps. After a while though, the craving just seemed to go away. I have several theories on that. It could be that our devices have become so essential to the tasks of multi-level communication, social media, mapping,...
Read more in: Armitage Rants, Taking Your Gardening Dollar
Guest Rant by Evelyn Hadden Let’s face it, the outdoors is getting noisier, and not in a good way. It used to be that a person could find calm, quiet places even in the city — be it a park, a secluded backyard, or a low-traffic residential street. But...
Read more in: Gardening on the Planet, Guest Rants
Armadillos have reached southern Kentucky, while the Asian longhorn beetle is poised just across the Ohio River in southern Ohio. Both are on the march to Louisville. The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) got here first. Armadillos (possums on the half-shell) root around like feral hogs and make a...
Read more in: Guest Rants
Guest Rants in Verse by Jennifer Martenson For Whom the Leaf Blower Blows Consumer grade cost cutters available in mildly indifferent and turbo screw all y’all models* shift the burden of debris faster than you can say externality *inline deregulators sold separately Prélude à l’après-midi d’un leaf blower...
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Recently there was a lively garden-writer discussion on Facebook that began with this question: “I’m a member of several professional garden groups and a recurring theme that comes up is anti-master gardeners. Why?” Boy-oh-boy, did people have answers. One opined that Master Gardeners represent a “stale and stagnant status...
Read more in: CRRRITIC, Ministry of Controversy
Guest Rant by Shenandoah Kepler I’m a Baby Boomer and am told that just as we changed the work environment as we entered it, we’re now changing the nature of retirement and aging. So, have you noticed that you can now go into most big-box hardware stores and find...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Taking Your Gardening Dollar
As a gardening veterinarian, I feel obligated to defend our feline friends against the recent onslaught of poor publicity directed towards them. I’m referring of course, to news reports that stem from a January 29, 2013 article by Scott Loss, et al in Nature Communications, titled “The impact of free-ranging...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Ministry of Controversy
A few years ago, I was offered about ten years worth of Garden Design magazines if I paid for the postage to get them to me. The two boxes came and I put them in a closet, intending at some point to unpack and shelve them somewhere I could...
Read more in: Everybody's a Critic, Ministry of Controversy
Enduring winter in Kentucky is like sitting at the stop light, fiddling around trying to find a radio station, waiting for the red light to turn green. Eventually, spring arrives, just not soon enough. There is, however, a little consolation for all gardeners who are anxious to kick-start spring....
Read more in: Guest Rants
by Debra Prinzing Read on to WIN ONE DOZEN AMERICAN ROSES Post a comment here about why American-grown flowers are important to you! You might just win one dozen gorgeous roses from Oregon or California! We have rose donations from Eufloria Flowers and Peterkort Roses. Two winners will be...
Read more in: Books, Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling, Taking Your Gardening Dollar, What's Happening
Commented on Roses redux { I dug out a 'Show Garden' climber and sent it to my sister in Oregon because I never got to see the flowers; the Japanese... } – May 18, 10:15 PM
Commented on Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? { You have given me abosolutely no idea what in this essay you find objectionable. } – May 18, 2:36 PM Commented on Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? { www.bitterpoison.com/tools has lists of the essential amino acids ("building blocks" for protein) in all kinds of foods, both plant and animal, so you can count... } – May 18, 2:34 PM
Commented on Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? { Doubt if I will ever go all veg, spouse never will but I control the kitchen. Am cutting back on the red meat and introducing... } – May 18, 2:24 PM
Commented on Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? { WHAT A BUNCH OF MANURE............ THE TROLL } – May 18, 10:42 AMWe are:
perfect
magazine
gardens.
Gardening
our
asses
off.
Having a
hell of a lot
of fun.
