Gardening
Below are links to articles posted in Gardening.
Double Coneflowers
I find myself lately really enjoying double coneflowers (echinacea). Often in gardening we must make choices, do we want big, complex, showy blossoms, or do we want blossoms for a long period of time. Stella de Oro daylily blooms for a long time with relatively small plain yellow blooms, but there are other daylilies with […]
The World’s Largest Flowers
I had a chance to experience two of the worlds biggest flowers recently, only mere weeks apart. The first was the infamous corpse flower, amorphophallus titanum (which means giant misshapen phallus). There is a specimen at MSU near my house that was flowering for the first time in years, and I dragged my kids there […]
Taking Your Garden With You When You Move
In about a year I am moving to Tennessee as I’ve mentioned on this blog previously, and it is starting to feel closer and closer. I’m sure this last year will go quickly, and I’m starting to make plans for how to move my garden. One of the benefits of moving, in addition to the […]
The Health Risks of Gardening
Say what? You hear all the time about the health benefits of gardening, usually amounting to moderate activity for otherwise sedentary adults, but what about the health risks? Believe me, they exist. Sporotrichosis Recently I encountered one. I was dealing with old roses, the polar vortex killed every last one I had down to the […]
Dealing with Scale Insects on Pear, Apple, and Other Fruit Trees
There doesn’t seem to be a crop out there that doesn’t have a perfectly adapted insect pest (or score thereof) to attack it. Last year I my pear tree did not produce well. Overall it looked sickly, with yellowish leaves, smaller fruits, and black spots (sooty mold) on the leaves. I noticed small bumps on […]
Damage from a Polar Vortex Winter
The coldest winter in decades, what damage did it do to the garden? Well, so far, I don’t know I lost any plants, nothing actually died, though a few I’m wondering about. I’m not sure if it was the cold or something else, but my pear tree barely flowered, my honeycrisp apple tree didn’t flower […]
First Flower of Spring 2014
Today it was 61 degrees out, woohoo, finally, after such a cold cold Winter & Spring. Of course, tommorow it starts getting cold again, but today was nice, and I spied my first flower. I was out in the garden doing what you should do this time of year, which is prune trees if they […]
Optimism in the Garden
Spring is a time of optimism, of renewal, of growth, well, normally. Unless you live in Michigan under the specter of the polar vortex. This winter has been horrible, absolutely horrible. I normally am not one to get worn down spiritually by the winter, but I have this time. I hate it here, I absolutely […]
Aftermath of an Ice Storm in the Garden
In December, right before Christmas we were hit by a major ice storm, the worst in decades. People at the power company said it was the worst they could remember. We didn’t lose power, luckily, but people all over our town did, some for as long as 10 days (into January). Major commercial areas lost […]
Landscaping for Home Security
Your landscape can be beautiful, your landscape can feed you, but your landscape can also protect you. Much like a well trained dog can be both a friend and a security system, your yard and garden can serve double duty too. First Do No Harm The first step to deterring burglars and other miscreants with […]