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
While reading the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens, I stumbled upon a new (to me) trend in outdoor living: Outdoor Televisions! Phew! It’s. […]
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.. […]
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
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
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...
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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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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
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....
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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
Guest Rant by Billy Goodnick Come with me to the imaginary hearing called by the Senate Subcommittee on Crimes Against Horticulture. The hallowed chamber shudders as my gavel slams down, calling the room to order. I delight as the company reps and industry lobbyists squirm in dread anticipation of...
Read more in: CRRRITIC, Guest Rants
I’m not much of a pack rat, but I have saved old letters from the past thirty-five years. Gardeners, who it seems seldom had a boring day, dominate the files. Among them are letters from Christopher Lloyd and Elizabeth Lawrence, but I especially enjoyed rereading my letters from David...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Unusually Clever People
Susan asked in a post whether we should blame Frederick Law Olmsted for the popularity of lawn in the U.S., and we have an answer by guest ranter Thomas Mickey. Recent posts have appeared on this site that blasted the American obsession with the lawn. I have no problem...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Lawn Reform
Too many times over the decades, even knowing that it won’t end well, I have herded party captives into a corner, hoping for a mad gardener conversion. The compliant lambs sip Sauvignon Blanc, and chat about their boxwoods, then turn deaf when I start in on the wonders of...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
As near as I can tell, the gardening industry has overlooked a vast area of marketing that has the potential to start a gardening revolution among young folk and thus grow a new generation of gardeners in this country. Following in the footsteps of a current wildly successful television series, The Walking Dead, and...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Taking Your Gardening Dollar
“Why do you love what you do?” This was a question posed last month at the annual conference of the Eastern Region of the International Plant Propagators Societyin the Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania. The joyful reply came from Joe LaMent (a fellow whose name in no way fits his personality)...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Unusually Clever People
Commented on OG Mag on Wildlife-Friendly Gardens: What's Wrong with this Picture? { Hello There. I discovered your blog using msn. This is a very well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back... } – May 23, 1:31 AM
Commented on Got Gnomes? { It is very funny, and also a bit of an inside joke. There is a very funny book "Yew and Non-Yew" by James Bartholomew that... } – May 22, 11:44 PM
Commented on In Defense of Plant Critics { It's not worth going back to quote it exactly, but the crack in the article about the man who loved his impatiens, but didn't know... } – May 22, 11:03 PM
Commented on OG Mag on Wildlife-Friendly Gardens: What's Wrong with this Picture? { Wait - you think a domestic cat is not "part of the ecosystem"? I suppose we humans aren't "part of the ecosystem" either? How exactly... } – May 22, 8:58 PM Commented on OG Mag on Wildlife-Friendly Gardens: What's Wrong with this Picture? { Oh I TOTALLY agree with you! And thank goodness they didn't publish that photo that had a CHILD in the wildlife-friendly garden! Imagine the destruction... } – May 22, 8:54 PMWe are:
perfect
magazine
gardens.
Gardening
our
asses
off.
Having a
hell of a lot
of fun.
