What are your numbers? From garden bloggers to your 15-year-old niece, one’s social media following has become a statement of self. At a recent trade show, I was introduced to a colleague not with his name and profession, but his name and impressive follower count on Youtube, a proclamation that probably had the opposite effect…
Gardening is a noble profession. It probably won’t make you rich unless you get one of the handful of ‘top jobs’ that pay very well; ironically these are jobs where you’re paid to not actually do any gardening. Even if you go into ‘horticultural media’ you won’t earn the big bucks compared to others doing…
Oakleaf Hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) is my favorite hydrangea, and this one in my back garden seriously bowls me over in every season. But it’s more than a beauty pageant winner – the fragrance is fabulous and the blooms are buzzing with bees! Here’s one now! But check out the shape of the petals and compare…
Readers of the Washington Post, including me, have followed Dana Milbank’s thoughtful, left-leaning political commentary for years. So what a surprise to read a recent column chastising himself – and really all of us – for growing nonnative plants. The title is “I’m no genius about genuses, but your garden is killing the Earth.” Not…
Well, look who’s thrown his famous hat in the ring of the often-contentious discussion around pollinators and native plants. It’s Friend of Rant Allan Armitage, the author of Herbacious Perennial Plants, who has often contributed guest opinions here – actually, it’s been too long since we’ve hosted one. In a recent column for Greenhouse Grower,…
Nandina ‘Burgundy Wine’ along the front of my house – in January. Other evergreens are Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’ and Carex ‘Ice Dance’. I recently welcomed visitors to my townhouse garden, happily at first, until I was asked – more than once – to defend the Nandinas shrubs I’d planted along the foundation. The visitors had heard…
“You must visit my friend Mary; she’s a plantswoman.” I’m a fairly placid sort of chap really. I do what I do and I’m largely happy for the world around me to just happen. The word ‘plantsman’ or ‘plantswoman’, however, elicits a strong response from me; I’m never rude I hope, but if someone introduces…
Smithsonian, you’ve done it again. I usually find the best articles about plants and gardening in publications that do not restrict themselves to gardening content. This one is from September, 2015 – but I hadn’t seen it and it was kind of mind-blowing. The title gives that much away: “The True Story of Kudzu, the…
Who will replace Monty Don as presenter on Gardener’s World? Well, it’s likely that you don’t care much in America, but perhaps you should. It’s one of those ‘has to be diverse’ appointments. Monty Don Monty Don has announced that he will retire in the next couple of years and that his replacement must be…
There are far too many garden words and expressions which annoy me. So I thought I’d give myself the pleasure of ranting about some of them. And I’ll start with one that crops up a lot at this time of year = Interest. This appears at this time of year under the guise of ‘winter…
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