Making the Case for Species Natives
Throughout all of the preceding month, I’ve been mulling over a symposium I attended at the University of Connecticut on October 3rd. Titled the “UConn Native Plants and Pollinators Conference,” [...]
Thomas Christopher, Ranter Emeritus
Planting a Butterfly Meadow from Seed, then Finding Sawdust
I haven’t spent so much per ounce for plant material since I was a miscreant teenager decades ago. These three bags of seeds from Prairie Nursery in Westfield, Wisconsin, however, [...]
Synthetic Turf is Even Worse than Real Lawn
A reader of Susan Harris’ recent post about the display of Synlawn synthetic grass at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. asked about the relative environmental merits of synthetic [...]
How do we garden sustainably in a time of climate change?
You can’t be a gardener these days, not a serious gardener, and not notice some shifts in the climate. These vary with the region, but it’s safe to say that in [...]
My New Radio Program: “Growing Greener”
What was it that F. Scott Fitzgerald said? That there are no second acts in American lives? He was clearly no gardener. We get a new act every spring. I [...]
David Fairchild’s Plant and Pest Introductions
I’ve been reading book from 2018 that just recently appeared as a paperback, The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone. It’s a best-selling biography of one of the great plant explorers [...]
Blight-resistant American chestnuts and genetics as tool for forest renewal
If you have ever donated money to a cause or even just signed an on-line petition, I’m sure that your inbox, like mine, is flooded with email solicitations. Mine mainly [...]
Smarter Lawns DO Exist
Few things in gardening are as polarizing as opinions about lawns. On the one hand, the position of the mainstream turf and landscaping industry is to continue America’s enormous investment [...]
A Greener Way to Mow, Blow, and Go
As proprietor of “Indigenous Ingenuities,” a landscape design, install, and maintenance firm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Matthew Benzie pursues a multi-pronged program for greening his community. He uses organic products for [...]
At Mount Cuba Center: Native Plants in Containers
I visited a fascinating native plants garden this past week, the Mount Cuba Center in Hockessin, Delaware. A botanical garden devoted to the native plants of Delaware’s Piedmont plateau, Mt. [...]
Conspicuous consumption from our own garden
I was raised as a careful Yankee -- my father’s people were from small town and rural New England. I turn off the lights as I leave a room; take [...]
Cemetaries I’ve Known and Loved
I’ve been haunting cemeteries ever since my teenaged years. Not literally – I leave that to the dear departed. But I’ve always liked the peaceful and nostalgic aspect of old [...]