Dear Penthouse Letters: I never thought it could happen to me. I mean, me? S&M? NO WAY. Then I realized… Gardening, for me, was masochism. It’s true. For years, I was a virtual slave to plants I lusted after but couldn’t grow. How voluptuous were lilacs and peonies when I was but a lad gardening [...]
Read more in: Books, Guest Rants
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.. […]
The Osage orange tree doesn’t have a large following but I have become a big fan. I love its beautiful, glossy green foliage and its yellow stained wood. And there’s something even more irresistibly loveable about the misshapen, softball-sized pale green fruit that looks like an alien’s brain. The...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
Dear friends, just as there is no hiding the fact that Professor Roush is a rose nut, there is also no suspense to the revelation that I am an entrenched bibliophile. My love of printed and bound material stretches far back into my childhood, to that happy time when I was still an only child and...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Ministry of Controversy
Back in April I reported on the surprising blooms on a pair of semi-dwarf apple trees I’d given up for dead after a freak October snowstorm had ripped their roots out the ground, leaving the trees on their sides. I left the trees in the ground, not really expecting...
Read more in: Eat This, Feed Me, Guest Rants
I owe my love of pink flowers to Wilson Pickett. The rhythm and blues singer was my high school cosmic everything. Teenage boys often feel they are irrelevant. Or at least they once did. In the mid-60s, I played a white soul man to prove the point. When I...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
The ample rain two weeks ago was enough to green up the buffalo grass and provide some much needed relief to the perennials here in Kansas. It also brought some relief to area gardeners, not from the sweltering heat, which continues to stress my garden and its gardener daily, but it...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Taking Your Gardening Dollar
Guest Post by Allen Bush Willie Nelson warns, in his song of the same name, “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys…” Then he offers a way out: “Make ‘em lawyers and doctors and such.” Willie, I have a better idea. Make ‘em gardeners and...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
Please welcome Bobby Ward, author of Chlorophyll in His Veins: J. C. Raulston, Horticultural Ambassador. Recently Amy Stewart commented on Clyde Phillip Wachsberger’s book Into the Garden With Charles, a gardening memoir of Wachsberger and his partner, Charles Dean. The late J. C. Raulston would have greatly appreciated Wachsberger’s...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Unusually Clever People
Guest Rant by Billy Goodnick It was a dark and foggy summer night. Biff the Wonder Spaniel and I set out for our last neighborhood stroll, green poopy bag at the ready. It’s a good thing I didn’t have my nose buried in my iPhone, catching up on the...
Read more in: Designs, Tricks, and Schemes, Guest Rants
A miracle has occurred on the Kansas prairie. I have, at long last, grown sweet corn in the Flint Hills. Praise God, and pass the butter and salt! This may not be an earth-shattering accomplishment to many of you from other climes, and perhaps not to any farmer in this area, but...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
Guest Rant by Phil Nauta, author of Building Soils Naturally: Innovative Methods for Organic Gardeners Soil pH is talked about a lot in the gardening world, but most people don’t understand it, so it’s generally misused. I’m here to rant about it. To simplify what pH is, it’s basically...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Science Says
Guest Rant by Lajos Szabo, London-based seed-seller, blogger and allotment gardener While one heat wave hits the USA after the other, here in the UK (you know that small place somewhere in Europe) the summer is a complete washout. We had the wettest June on record and looks like...
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Guest Rant by Mary McAllister When I retired, a daily walk in the park became the high point of every day. Soon I began to notice that trees in my local park in the San Francisco Bay Area were “disappearing.” For the first time in my adult life I...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Ministry of Controversy
Here’s another guest post from veterinary surgeon and master gardener James Roush/Garden Musings This morning, on a trip out of town, I innocently stopped at a large regional nursery about 60 miles east of Manhattan, Kansas. This nursery sells each spring, among other plants, the largest variety of potted roses...
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Guest Post by Ginny Stibolt When we write online, who’s actually reading and what are we trying to accomplish? Articles for magazines (and maybe even newspapers) are easier to target, because we know the demographics of the readers. When we write in cyberspace, we have no idea who’s reading,...
Read more in: Guest RantsGardenRant welcomes “guest ranters” who want to take over our little piece of cyberspace for the day. Whether you’re in the plant industry or just an ordinary gardener with an axe to grind, you’re invited. Because GardenRant is read by garden writers, editors, publishers, and other garden bloggers, it’s...
Read more in: Guest RantsY’all welcome Friend of Rant William Alexander, with this interesting horticultural report: It seems like I’d just barely picked the apples from my 4-tree orchard at my home in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley last fall when a freak October snowstorm come through, the foot of wet, heavy snow clinging...
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Guest post by Allen Bush Catalpas are seldom planted anymore. Mike Dirr notes these relics in his Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs: “Ever ask the local nursery for a catalpa? Chances are it has none to offer. Southern catalpa and related species nearly qualify for dinosaur status in the landscape world.”...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, DarlingHere's another guest post from Friend of Rant, professor of veterinary medicine, and master gardener James K. Roush, who blogs at Garden Musings. Hark to his tale of frustration with QR codes and questionable, albeit tempting, spring bulbs.—Elizabeth I was out running errands around town yesterday and, entering a...
Read more in: Guest RantsI am so pleased to present Friend of Rant Joseph Tychonievich. Joseph has a new position at rare plant nursery Arrowhead Alpines and wants to share his enthusiasm about alpines, as well as share some alpines!—Elizabeth The winner will be announced Friday (tomorrow) at 10 a.m. EST. The great...
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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 PM
Commented on Please Stop Liming your Soil Based on the pH! { I'm a big fan of coffee grounds. They are gentle enough that you can sprinkle them liberally around plants, and worms love them! Just be... } – May 22, 8:09 PM
Commented on Cats in the Garden - Solutions Only { I should not have to mesh my entire garden because you refuse to control your pet. I have a fence for just that reason. Cats... } – May 22, 5:26 PM
Commented on Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? { Hi Heather, most of the soy is grown for animal feed, not for vegans or vegetarians- if we grew the grains directly for human consumption... } – May 22, 5:20 PMWe are:
perfect
magazine
gardens.
Gardening
our
asses
off.
Having a
hell of a lot
of fun.
