It pains me to see customers spending hundreds of dollars on new plants and simultaneously refusing to spend a few more on a bag or two of compost and a box of starter fertilizer. These two items are not unnecessary “add-ons” that the retailer is just trying to add to the sale, they are critical components of a successful transplanting process - or as I like to refer to them as “plant insurance”. Unless you have phenomenal soil, you should always add compost and starter fertilizers when you are planting new plants. Here is why…
As we wind down the 2021 gardening season it seems prudent to have a discussion about what this winter might look like. It will be the second year in a row that La Nina is the major influence in our winter weather patterns. What that meant for us last year seems to be proving true for this year as well…
Now that we have passed our traditional “giving thanks” holiday, we might just as well keep the spirit flowing by showing our love and appreciation to our friends and relatives who have the passion (or perhaps some would say addiction) for gardening. Gardeners love gifts as much as the next person and what better place to find some stellar ideas than at your local garden center. Here are a few items that caught my eye recently…
The year was 1970 and I was just about to graduate from college with a degree in plant science. One of my job options was to go to work in Leucadia or Encinitas, California for one of the many foliage companies where plants like Spider Plants, Boston Ivy, Snake Plants, Aglaonema, and Prayer Plants, to name just a few, were propagated by the millions. These plants were sold all over the country to customers much like myself, young and idealistic and wanting to make the world a more loving place to inhabit…
I decided it would be fun to add a few varieties of bulbs to my garden… But instead of the packaged varieties that sit on our retail shelves, I elected to look at the “landscape” list which consists of varieties sold in units of 100’s and even a few of 250 each. By the time my wife and I narrowed down our choices, we had ordered no less than 2500 bulbs…
Speaking as a self-proclaimed “plantaholic” who likes just about all things with foliage, fronds, or needles, one plant I started to salivate over in the 1990’s was Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.). For us in northern latitudes, these mythical plants were uncommon and were perceived as…