tulip image via Shutterstock Hey, good news! Pesticide use on California-grown cut flowers is way down over the last decade, according to this report from UC. California has required farms to file monthly pesticide use reports since 1990, and since 2001 those reports have been more crop-specific, making it possible to track pesticide use [...]
Posted by Amy Stewart on June 19, 2013 at 6:00 am. This post has 2 responses.
Body: Posted by Bert CreggLots of coverage in the mainstream media these days over various initiatives to label GMO foods. I think GMO foods shoul. […]
Body: posted by Holly Scoggins Mosses are soft, green, and tough as nails, as shown in a recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of. […]
Things have been rough at work lately. Test scores have plummetted, students are troubled, many teachers are talking mutiny or early retirement. . […]
Interesting how some years are perfect for roses. That is what I’m hearing about 2013. We had a “normal” winter, with no premature heat wave, and we’re having a fairly wet late spring. That equals rose success, apparently. Here (above) is a red climber that came with the house....
Read more in: It's the Plants, Darling
My recent post about Anne Raver loving to hate Impatiens got me wondering what plants I’d put in that category – not just hating but loving to hate. And what’s the difference? Does loving to hate mean you seek out examples, then Facebook them to share the hate? Help...
Read more in: It's the Plants, Darling
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual fundraiser is happening online this year, with all kinds of delightful things up for auction. I’m donating a Drunken Botanist Book Club in a Box, which includes the following: Ten personally inscribed copies of The Drunken Botanist, for you and your BFFs A...
Read more in: Drink This, Feed Me, Garden Rant Cocktail Hour
I was stumped. I had been hacking and levering at a small stump for about a paragraph of swearwords. I would have sat down to rest and ponder upon the stump stumping me but the miserable relic was too small and had numerable jutting sawed-off points. I think the...
Read more in: Guest Rants
This is the time when the newly emerged hostas look their freshest (“June Frost,” below)—no slug damage, leaves torn by the sprinkler, or other signs of wear yet. It’s also the weekend of our annual art festival, which brings “sunshine artists” from far and wide into my neighborhood. You’d...
Read more in: But is it Art?
On my way to David Culp’s garden I naturally stopped at Longwood Gardens, which I somehow hadn’t visited in at least a decade. So, what’s new? Treehouses! Three of them, and they’re grand like this one or smaller and funky. Love ‘em! Above and below are the much newer...
Read more in: Green the Grounds
There is a friendly dispute going on about who has the smallest…umm…park. That’s a big deal. In the U.S., Portland’s Mill Ends Park lays claim to the Lilliputian prize (2’ in diameter), but a challenge has come from Prince’s Park (15’ x 30’) in Burntwood, England. “Wait a minute,”...
Read more in: Guest Rants, What's Happening
Holy Brandywine, did you know that over a million grafted tomatoes have been sold in the United States? It’s true! So says Anne Raver in the NYT’s latest dip into the grafted veggie thing. So. Massive, disease-resistant, hardy rootstock pumping out more tomatoes than ever before. Have you tried...
Read more in: Eat This
Take it from a gardener whose entire front “yard” is 100% dry shade for the entire summer; you don’t relinquish a reliable source of continuous color without a fight. So when the local botanical gardens offered some old-fashioned semi-double impatiens through their annual plant sale, I ordered a few...
Read more in: It's the Plants, Darling
I’m not thoroughly anti-lawn, unlike some of my Lawn Reform comrades, especially the ones who live in desert climates. My beefs with turfgrass here on the Wet Coast are that it does virtually nothing for wildlife and that when it’s cared for in a certain way – the Scotts ideal...
Read more in: Everybody's a Critic, Real Gardens
Earlier this year at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, I was hanging out with Jessi Bloom of NW Bloom (and author of Free-Range Chicken Gardens) in her exhibit booth. She had brought a selection of edible landscaping plants — reliable, hardworking shrubs, vines, trees and the like that...
Read more in: Drink This, Eat This, Feed Me
Please listen to ProfessorRoush: you must plan your garden carefully rather than submit to the whims of spontaneous plant purchases and spectacular momentary blooms! Science suggests that in an infinite number of parallel universes, almost anything can happen. I’m sure, therefore, that somewhere out in the gardening universe, there exists a gardener who plans...
Read more in: Guest Rants, It's the Plants, Darling
Not long ago I confessed that I was scheming to see David Culp’s Pennsylvania garden, made glorious in his book The Layered Garden. And yesterday that blogger pushiness paid off when I attended his book (re)launch in the very same garden, which did not disappoint. David’s makes his living...
Read more in: Real Gardens
A great ad goes viral. For some reason it won’t embed, so click here to watch. Via Jane Milliman.
Read more in: Grab Bag
…and Buffalo. And Brooklyn. See you there? As always, please check with the venue before heading out to confirm details. Also, there are lots more events coming up around the country–go here to see the complete list. June 06 2013 06:30 PM — The Horticultural Society of New York,...
Read more in: Drink This
Cat-loving readers will no doubt remember our recent dust-up over the issue of cats in the garden. That post was prompted by a cat-in-garden photo illustrating a magazine piece about wildlife-friendly gardens – a strange juxtaposition, at least to my eyes. Well, I was happy to notice Horticulture Magazine...
Read more in: Ministry of Controversy
Veganism has been creeping into my consciousness for a while now, but it was the recent vegan festival in my town that makes me wonder if it’s now mainstream. The festival, modeled after the successful Garlic Festival in California (now in its 35th year), and billing itself as the...
Read more in: Eat This
My struggles with roses have entered their final phase: reconciliation. After getting rid of all the boring Meidiland shrubs that came with the house (though for their kind, they were nice enough), I experimented with a few old rose cultivars as well as some Carefree varieties. Nothing really thrived...
Read more in: It's the Plants, Darling
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...
Read more in: Guest Rants, Lawn Reform
Commented on Plants we Love to Hate { Love this topic! I'll throw in star jasmine (aka confederate jasmine). Its everywhere! ground cover, trained up in ugly board fences. Customers always ask if... } – Jun 19, 2:12 PM
Commented on Plants we Love to Hate { In the back beds of a forested yard, these different colors stand out especially when designed to be viewed from one or two spots only.... } – Jun 19, 12:20 PM
Commented on Plants we Love to Hate { I'm open to trying any plant that isn't listed on the invasive species list for my state. I've learned that it is all about context... } – Jun 19, 11:51 AM
Commented on I Wish They All Could Be California Flowers { To your list of "To what do we owe this change", you should add scientific research (ie., there are better, more reliable methods of bug... } – Jun 19, 11:12 AM
Commented on I Wish They All Could Be California Flowers { what kind of sulfur product are they using against powdery mildew? The link doesn't specify. If it is copper sulfate, I wouldn't be cheering it... } – Jun 19, 10:58 AMWe are:
perfect
magazine
gardens.
Gardening
our
asses
off.
Having a
hell of a lot
of fun.
