Armitage on stepping into the native plant controversy
By Allan Armitage I work with the ornamental plant industry. These are the people who produce petunias, astilbes, impatiens and mums. These people live and die by new plants, especially [...]
At the White House, it’s time to Green the View!
Kudos to the Eat the View project that’s petitioning the Obamas to grow a Victory Garden at the White House. Led by Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International and including Michael Pollan and the [...]
Gilman, Tallamy and Armitage – authors whose books I really USE
Three men I'd never leave on the shelf This year, I’ve found myself giving things like feeders, solar lighting, and other backyard accessories that promote sustainability in the [...]
Tomlinson on loving the ugly landscape of West Texas
By Guest Ranter Susan Leigh Tomlinson. In this excerpt from "Pentimento", published in the literary journal Isotope, Susan describes her complicated relationship with the land around Lubbock, Texas, known locally [...]
Jeff Gillman explains how he decides what to research
by Guest Author Jeff Gillman of the University of Minnesota. Noticing that his current research subjects range from root slicing to gravel beds and mycorrhizae, I asked Jeff how he [...]
Gardening easy in the South? Not so much.
By Allan Armitage I wrote these thoughts after I had been in the South for nearly 10 years, but particularly after I heard for about the 10th time from people [...]
Get yer hot trends here!
In July, I asked you all to help me imagine what next year’s garden trends might be. I was prompted by a questionnaire that wound up in my mailbox from [...]
Top five reasons houseplants die (again, according to me)
In my previous post, I deliberately included some plants that have high tolerance to hostile conditions like the following: 5. Dry heat For the same reasons your skin gets dry [...]
DC’s Greenest School Wins Obama Girls
Breaking: the Obama girls will attend Sidwell Friends School in D.C. With a name like that you know it's rooted in good Quaker values, but did you know it also [...]
The nasty issue of leaf-blowers
It seems that I've joined the band of eco-activists in my town in asking our City Council to look into the banning of all gas-powered leaf-blowers, as evidenced by my [...]
Hope for Niagara Falls?
A green mayor? Of Niagara Falls, N.Y.? For those who know the history of mob wars, political corruption, industrial decline, and chemical pollution associated with this city, such a phrase [...]
The great wood chip debate goes on
My local gardening Yahoo group is debating the often-repeated warning that "wood chips will tie up all the nitrogen in the soil and will lead to an irreversible manganese build-up," [...]