THE WINNER, randomly chosen, is Katie at The Garden of Words, who predicted she’d probably have to buy the book. Well, guess not. First, some photos from Garden Bouquets and Beyond by Suzy Bales of arrangements I might actually achieve. Hakonechloa grass looks great with blue or purple, including this lupine but also aster or [...]
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Posted by
Susan Harris on February 22, 2010 at 4:34 am This post has 44 responses.
The General Services Administration building in Portland is getting itself a — well, a — one of these. You know, one of those 200 foot-tall green shag carpet things that you put on one side of your building and grow plants on. Those things. It's part of the stimulus...
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Posted by
Amy Stewart on February 3, 2010 at 5:27 am This post has 20 responses.
UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS to Ginny Stibolt, randomly chosen to receive the Flowerdew book—which is a really cool big illustrated volume from Mitchell Beasley, the company that did the Pavord bulb book. And thanks again to those who helped me with these picks. Overall, it was a good year, with an...
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Posted by
Elizabeth Licata on December 31, 2009 at 5:00 am This post has 17 responses.
Look out, Martha, coz none other than award-winning hort professor Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott is watching you – and correcting your mistakes. Take this interview you did for NPR. Here's some of what Linda has this to say about it on her team blog. She's a proponent of organic food...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on December 27, 2009 at 6:45 am This post has 24 responses.
You won't be surprised to hear that a documentary about the maker of PCBs, Agent Orange and Roundup has lots of shocking bits. Monsanto falsely claimed that Roundup is biodegradable and a French court made them stop. In a more criminal move, Monsanto tried to bribe a Canadian health...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on December 12, 2009 at 5:04 am This post has 9 responses.
Personally, I couldn't care less whether there's a blue rose or not, but please don't try to pawn this off as one. Bleh!
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Posted by
Elizabeth Licata on November 24, 2009 at 11:00 am This post has 18 responses.
Garden photographer David Perry takes us up-close and slimy as he entices slugs to give him their very best poses. It's hilarious and I see potential here for a spin-off for David – anybody else? It's here on Shirley's Garden World Report.
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Posted by
Susan Harris on November 16, 2009 at 12:37 pm This post has 6 responses.
UPDATE: Our winner is John, who grows all these plants from seed, among other feats of plant-geekdom. Congrats! Great news! The folks at the National Geographic have teamed up with world-famous Missouri Botanic Garden and published a treasure for plant lovers of all types. It's Flora Mirabilis: An Illustrated...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on November 2, 2009 at 5:13 am This post has 34 responses.
Definitely a sign of the times, Urban Farm is on the stands and it's incredibly well done. Using my time-tested dog-ear test for magazines, let's see what what pages I turned down in hopes that I'll remember to go back and read the article: "Sustainable living". Chicks and goats...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on October 3, 2009 at 5:14 am This post has 7 responses.
We all know that great gardening information is regional, except when it's not. For example, one of my favorite blogs is Sunset Magazine's Fresh Dirt, and I totally GET its Hard Truths of Gardening, despite living nowhere near the climate they write about. First, Sharon Cohoon's list of Hard...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on August 22, 2009 at 5:19 am This post has 8 responses.
A nice dune planting on Topsail Island How could I do it? How could I leave trumpet lilies ready to unfold, an amazingly early second budding of roses, the unknown promise of dark purple hosta blossoms, and the unfailingly brazen flowers of Mme. Julia Correvon? The necessity...
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Posted by
Elizabeth Licata on July 14, 2009 at 5:00 am This post has 21 responses.
You may remember the No Impact Man blog, by a Manhattan-dwelling writer taking on the daunting task of living, with his reluctant wife and happy 2-year-old, as close to off-the-grid as possible for a year. That means giving up toilet paper, air conditioning and the refrigerator, among other horrors. ...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on June 22, 2009 at 4:38 am This post has 13 responses.
THANKS FOR PLAYING, EVERYONE: Claire Splan is the randomly chosen winner Proxies come in handy sometimes. At first I loved the idea of receiving equipment to test from companies like Troy-Bilt. I’d never done it before and, besides, it was free stuff. But while I know just what to...
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Posted by
Elizabeth Licata on June 9, 2009 at 5:00 am This post has 51 responses.
"Who says organic gardens can't be beautiful?" No one. No one has ever said that. Don't create a false sense of defiance to make your piece seem more innovative. Any others you'd like to nominate?
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Posted by
Amy Stewart on June 5, 2009 at 7:14 am This post has 33 responses.
Like so many Americans, I'm tightening my belt, cutting expenses where I can, and wondering if I really need all the magazines I subscribe to. Garden Design is surely a good candidate for dropping, since it takes me 5-10 minutes to "read" it, but unfortunately I fell for their...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on May 23, 2009 at 6:52 pm This post has 11 responses.
Did y'all see the feature "5 Easy Tips to Save Money – and Energy" in yesterday's Parade? (It's America's largest circulation magazine, ya know, or I wouldn't be picking on them.) The first tip is titled "Be Wise With Your Water" and begins: "Reduce your lawn area by planting...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on April 27, 2009 at 11:27 am This post has 11 responses.
In this post we are featuring guest ranter Patricia Craft, managing editor of Horticulture magazine. Her rant strikes a familiar chord with me; as a fellow magazine editor, I struggle with balancing online and print priorities—especially since my heart—and our revenues—are still located in the printed page.—Elizabeth Take your...
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Posted by
Elizabeth Licata on April 23, 2009 at 6:38 am This post has 30 responses.
Veg-gardening coach Jean Ann Van Krevelen wanted to spread the word, but rather than shopping for a publisher decided to take matters into her own hands. She's well positioned to do so, what with her other coaching duties – in online communications, social networking, all the new media stuff...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on April 18, 2009 at 2:20 pm This post has 5 responses.
I'm more of a library-goer than a book-buyer and it's a rare gardening book that I'd buy, but 30 bucks for this hunk of inspiration and design how-to seems like a bargain to me. That's because Julie Moir Messervy is a top residential designer with 30 years experience and...
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Posted by
Susan Harris on April 6, 2009 at 4:34 am This post has 12 responses.
This just in from Publishers Weekly: garden books are actually doing well this year. A few highlights from their report: What might be termed the “old variety” of gardening books hurt the category's sales, argues Plain White Press publisher Julie Trelstad. “The flood of coffee-table gardening books imported from...
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Posted by
Amy Stewart on April 3, 2009 at 6:27 am This post has 17 responses.
