Hydrangea Time

I am somewhat embarrassed about how many posts I have devoted to hydrangeas over the past 8 years. Probably too many. The varieties, the care, the pruning-I have covered this shrub as if I were a preteen age groupie. I am embarrassed about my love for the whole lot of them, but so be it.  [...]

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The Pin Oak vs. Statues of Dead White Men by Allen Bush

Mike Hayman photo

Since the tragic weekend in Charlottesville, I have wondered why so few people have paid so little attention to trees. Much attention has been given to the argument about whether statues of Confederate soldiers should remain, be removed or re-located. A fallen tree here, another tree removed there. So what?

We at least were not burdened with statues of British generals.

Does anyone know of any American statues of British General Charles Cornwallis? Great Britain had its colonial supporters. Was there no desire to hearken back to the halcyon days of early British settlement in the New World?

An old oak tree was removed in Louisville a few weeks before the Charlottesville protests. It stood adjacent to St. Matthews Hardware. The small, independent hardware store was beloved, but the owner was ready to retire. The future odds were stacked in favor of big box stores for nuts and bolts. The property was sold. The store and the oak were taken down to make room for a bank.

The pin oak was somewhere between 75 and 100 years old. It looks older, but pin oaks are fast growers. A lot of pin oaks in Louisville were in decline, due to stress and disease, but this one had the makings of a survivor. Strong, resilient and adaptable to passing traffic spewing toxins into the Ohio Valley.

Louisville needs more trees, not fewer. It’s hard to plant them fast enough. The city has small cadres of tree activists, city employees and committed non-profits—plus nursery folks, neighborhood associations, developers and homeowners—who plant an estimated 10,000 trees a year. Their work is noble and good.

The effort puts a small dent in the overall need. (The city is losing an estimated 50,000 trees per year.) Tree planting goes unnoticed. There is little fanfare for trees or sorrow when they are lost. Louisville’s mayor could change that direction, but it’s a hard sell. Trees offer little political cover.

European settlers in North America pursued a cut and burn approach to trees. The frontier needed to be shaped for early white settlements. Crops had to be planted. Great Britain needed ship masts and timber from the new world.

Anyone interested in pursuing tree planting on a large scale today might be thrown into a marginalized Johnny Appleseed category—a spectrum from why-bother to crackpot.

Only in the last few weeks has it become curious to me—why there is there so little interest in living trees and so much interest in trying to save statues to preserve a culture of dead, white men?

Why not replace every Confederate with 3 trees?

The Pin Oak vs. Statues of Dead White Men originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 30, 2017.

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Monty Don’s 80 Plant Cultures of the World by Susan Harris

Monty Don has been getting an unusual amount of attention lately in the U.S., thanks to his provocative article “There’s no point trying to convince millennials to garden. Nobody wants to hear that but I suspect he’s right.

So who IS this guy? Here’s a quick bio on BBC 2’s website for their show “Gardener’s World.” 

Interesting guy, right? Here’s more.

He loves hedges, woodland, topiary, vegetables, fruit and all plants that capture a season, mood or spirit of place. He loathes houseplants, begonias and horticultural pedantry. His favourite gardeners are Derek Jarman, Juan Grimm, Jacques Wirtz, Fernando Caruncho and his wife Sarah. His favourite garden jobs are planting and cutting anything from grass to logs.

Just reading that, I want to look up all those gardeners his loves and then find out where I can watch Monty in action, which coincidentally I did a couple of months ago while browsing YouTube.

I discovered his 10-episode show “Around the World in 80 Gardens,” which is MUCH more interesting than that title had me expecting. Instead of seeing 80 famous gardens, viewers see and hear his interesting takes on plant cultures around the world, both ancient and present-day.

Episode 1 here covers Mexico – its wide range of flora, marigolds in the Day of the Dead festivals, how Aztecs gardened, floating gardens, planting in mud, plus spectacular gardens there today. In Monty’s words, the show is about people’s relationships to plants and it’s “challenging my idea of what a garden is.”

Contrasting Mexican gardens

Monty’s a terrific guide, thoughtful and enthusiastic but not afraid to criticize occasionally. (In one garden he’s upset by the “kitsch”).

I also watched Episode 5 here about the U.S., as I was dying to see how he tackled it. Curiously, I’d say. He visits a grand garden on Long Island, a New York City community garden, Central Park, a park in Queens, the Maryland garden of James van Sweden, Monticello, the Kansas prairie, California’s Huntington Garden and some over-the-top private gardens in Hollywood.

Beyond North America there’s lots more of the world – and Monty – available online. I’m saving these episodes for a cold night in January.

2: Australia and New Zealand.

3: India.

4: South America.

6: Japan and China.

7: The Mediterranean region

8: South Africa.

9: Northern Europe.

10: Southeast Asia.

Monty Don’s 80 Plant Cultures of the World originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 23, 2017.

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Hands off the hydrangeas by Elizabeth Licata

Arborescens (Annabelle?) hedge in Lake Placid

Thanks to plentiful rain and other friendly conditions, this is the summer of the Hydrangea in the Northeast, at least as far as I’ve observed. Huge stands of paniculata, macrophylla, and arborescens varieties are blooming profusely. My neighbor’s pink macrophylla blooms are easily a foot in circumference; it’s amazing they’re not pulling down the whole shrub. My macrophylla ‘Alpenglow’ doesn’t have huge blooms, but they are profuse and a rich, deep pink (changing now to deep rose-brown).

Macrophylla ‘Alpenglow’

Inevitably, during Garden Walk, this hydrangea attracts attention and questions. Many visitors seem to think there’s some kind of secret potion I’m pouring into the soil. Gardeners are routinely told by many nurseries that they must adjust the pH of the soil in order to achieve the hydrangea colors they desire. This is something I’ve never done, and all my surviving hydrangeas have remained exactly the same color promised on their labels when I bought them. Either I have the perfect soil for each shrub (seems unlikely) or the predisposition of the hybrids is maintaining consistent bloom color (seems likely).

Paniculata ‘Limelight’ earlier this season

It’s not color that people should worry about, especially with bigleafs. Many of the gardeners who visit me also complain that they never get blooms. I think this probably has to do more with weather and the natural urge of neatnik gardeners to cut back shrubs every chance they get. With macrophyllas, the buds form in late summer and must survive the winter and—even more dangerous—spring clean-up efforts. Basically, the first rule is do no harm. Some winter protection is often necessary, but that’s all I ever do. (I do prune my  paniculata and arborescens in very early spring.)

I went to my favorite source to learn about color change in hydrangeas, the Garden Professors Facebook page, and I found this statement by Linda Chalker-Scott: Genetics plays a large role in color and it’s not necessarily overcome by soil pH. In her article here, it’s clear how complex hydrangea coloration can be. What I got from it is that it might be best to leave such manipulation to the scientists, and buy strong, reliably colored hybrids.

And hope we get another year like this one.

Hands off the hydrangeas originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 22, 2017.

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The Garden In August

I have a hot mess of a perennial garden at home. I have tinkered with it for 20 years, and it still is a hot mess. Not that I mind the mess. Minding a garden is an ongoing experience like no other. The moves I have made towards a reasonably good design are as follows. [...]

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GWA/Buffalo Take-Aways by Susan Harris

Buffalo!

Time for a debrief after attending the Garden Writers annual shindig held in Buffalo this year – to the delight of anyone who’s been there in the last decade or so and the apprehension of anyone who hasn’t. Yeah, Buffalo had lots of doubters, but boy did that city shut them up!

As a Buffalo booster myself, I’m was not surprised but so pleased to hear the raves for the city’s beauty, architecture, liveliness, private gardens and wild enthusiasm for gardening. For pure garden-viewing, everyone’s favorite seemed to be Buffalo’s famous Cottage District. Attendees are now flooding the Internet with images like these from one of my earlier visits.

But I heard at least as many raves for the Darwin Martin House Complex by Frank Lloyd Wright, possibly the best Prairie House of his in the U.S. One Facebook commenter called it “jaw-dropping” and that it was. So thanks to the organizers for including it our otherwise garden-focused visits around town. Its Tree of Life windows alone quality it for any garden tour. (We couldn’t take photos inside but this video includes the interior.)

 

 

Another attraction for us and something new since my last visit to Buffalo in 2010 is the lively Canalside development, where I played hooky one morning to stroll the boardwalk and be awed by the confluence of so many bodies of water in one spot. (Lake Erie, the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers and the canal itself.)

Awards Night!

The highlight of the symposium for me was the awards banquet, for which we all dressed up – somewhat, given that gardeners are a decidedly wardrobe-challenged cohort.

I got to see my Seattle pal Linda Chalker-Scott receive GWA’s first award for science-writing, an award suggested by Carol Michel, who’s shown here with Linda. (Go, science!!) Another first-ever award was for sustainability, which went to Paul Tukey. Both are great additions to the awards roster because they promote important values for us as a profession.

And that’s me in hot pink with out-going GWA president Kirk Brown and the head of a buffalo. I was included in the photo line-up because my video-curating campaign won an award and boy, did that make the evening fun for me! I’d never felt so included or so enthusiastic about GWA. (Go, awards!)

How to Survive a Conference

After years of gardening conferences I think I’ve finally figured out how to get the most out of one while being me – an introvert with short bursts of sociability.

• The just-right duration for me is four days/three nights.
• It’s okay to go rogue and wander off alone to see the city.
• It’s also okay to sit alone on a bus, which frees you up to talk to everyone around you or, as the day wears on, no one.
• Having no dinner plans one night, I cruised the hotel lobby for dinner companions and the result was seven new acquaintances, at least. It just took getting over the social awkwardness of saying “Can I join you?” to strangers.
• And carefully studying the agenda paid off for me. I heard the smartest people on topics of most interest to me and learned a lot. (Shout-out to Debra Prinzing and Nan Sterman, proven geniuses at creating communities online.)

Kudos!

The reviews are in and confirm my own impression that GWA/Buffalo was fabulous! Credit goes to too many people to name but at the top of the list are these folks.

Sally Cunningham, Buffalo’s gardening maven and simply wonderful person, headed up the local organizing team. Kirk Brown’s stewardship of GWA this past year has been outstanding. And the pink ladies now managing GWA are great at their jobs. Indeed, GWA’s new management team has more than lived up to my hopes for them when I wrote “Why I Rejoined Garden Writers” back in January of 2016.

GWA’s on a roll, folks, and with leadership like this for the coming year, I have no doubt the roll will continue. We got a hint of it when incoming president Becky Heath spoke, sang, and energized the crowd at the end of the awards banquet.

And next year, Chicago! I’ll be there.

GWA/Buffalo Take-Aways originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 18, 2017.

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Rant from the road: resort horticulture by Elizabeth Licata

Mirbeau

Vacations are always busmens’ holidays for gardeners. Whether it’s a tropical paradise, a stateside resort, or a European capital, gardeners can’t help but notice what’s planted, where it’s planted, and how well it’s designed. We don’t actually work on the gardens where we stay, but we’re doing it in our heads.

Over the past week, I’ve been on holiday in New York state: Skaneateles, Clayton (1000 Islands), Lake Placid, Saratoga Springs, and Geneva, on a more-or-less circular itinerary. And what a beautiful set of localities they are. We’ve visited a few of these places before, and I have to say the plantings (and other amenities) just get better and better.

Number #1 is the Mirbeau property in Skaneateles. The buildings (meant to resemble French country architecture and succeeding remarkably well) surround a large lily pond, filled with koi. All of the areas between the buildings and the pond are thickly planted. Though the inspiration is (loosely) Monet’s gardens, hence all the waterlilies, the surrounding perennials are mostly native plants, including Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Eutrochium, and (my favorite) magnificent stands of Vernonia (ironweed). There were other natives, as well as hosta, hellebore, and hemerocallis. The thing I love most is that very little effort seems to have been made to maintain the ordered beds one usually sees at resorts, such as those found at a later stop in Lake Placid, the Inn at Mirror Lake. At Mirbeau, the plants run riot, as one of the gardeners we spoke to readily admitted, with some compunction. (There are about 4 maintaining the roughly 2.5 acre property.)

Ironweed

Elsewhere we saw goofy heart-shaped beds of annuals (at the creepy but magnificent) Boldt Castle, wild native lilies (along the roadside) and everywhere, gigantic hydrangea. This is the biggest hydrangea season I’ve seen in many years. And I don’t want to diss ordered beds: Mirror Lake does a great job on theirs. With a gorgeous lake right there, surrounded by mountains, it’s not necessary to compete too strenuously.

Inn at Mirror Lake

New York state has been looking pretty good to me these days.

Rant from the road: resort horticulture originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 17, 2017.

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5 Best Options for Fall Lawn Renovation

When is the ideal time for lawn renovation and seeding? If you answered Fall, you are correct! Although we may get more excited than most about this topic, getting your lawn in tip-top shape for next season starts in the fall. Proper seeding and a soil test now will pay dividends next year. Without further ado, here are 5 options and proper expectations for Fall Lawn Renovations:

1. Aeration & Seeding

One of the most popular services in the fall is aeration and over seeding for your lawn. Aeration alone is a beneficial practice that can be done every year but adding newer and stronger seed to the project can only benefit your lawn. While there is no grass type resistant to every insect or disease, many lawn and landscape companies have started to introduce varieties of turf type tall fescue that can better withstand our harsh PA summers. Other grass types that are still popular in the area for fall seeding are perennial ryegrass and kentucky bluegrass.

Aeration involves pulling small cores of soil out of the lawn to help relieve compaction and allow more oxygen to the root zone of the plant. Lawns become compacted with normal traffic and if less air space is available in the plants root system, more stress is put on the lawn. A healthy root system requires oxygen for respiration to support the plant above. Aeration helps create more air space in the soil and in return promotes deeper rooting.

Aeration & Seeding Expectations

We often get the question, “What should I expect to see after you aerate and seed my lawn?” If the lawn is properly irrigated, you can expect about 30% seed germination with an aeration/over-seeding project. Seed germination cannot be guaranteed so watering is an essential part of a successful lawn. Aeration and seeding is for fairly established lawns that need minor improvement. Don’t expect those softball size or larger bare areas to fill in completely; if your lawn is in need of more help than aeration and over-seeding can provide, slice seeding might be the next best option.

2. Slice Seeding

Slice seeding is often recommended to improve areas of the lawn that are damaged or have many bare areas. Often times we spray to kill a very weak lawn and start over by slice seeding it entirely. A slice seeder machine cuts grooves into the soil while inserting seed below the surface. At Tomlinson Bomberger, a double pass slice seeding is completed to help increase germination in the lawn (more grooves + more seedlings = more germination)! Slice seeding, unlike aeration and seeding, is a very good option for lawns that have a lot of bare areas or have cultivars of grass that are not doing well. Many times, slice seeding is combined with aeration for better results.

Slice Seeding Expectations

With proper irrigation, slice seeding will warrant much better results than aeration and seeding but again, no seeding can be guaranteed. If slice seeding is not for you, or you are impatient like me, maybe one of the next two options will suffice.

3. Sodding

Installing sod will warrant immediate results for a lawn. Unlike aeration and slice seeding, new sod allows for a new lawn right from the start. However, installing it will always be more costly than any other option you choose. Preparation is needed before a sod job such as proper grading of the lawn area, tilling of the existing soil and potential addition of new soil. The best thing about sod is it can be installed anytime during the year especially in early to late winter which is not necessarily the best time for seeding.

Sodding Expectations

The best benefit of sodding is you can enjoy an immediate lawn! Because the lawn is fully mature from the start, it does not mean less irrigation is needed. In fact, sod will need more watering efforts to keep it alive. Often times watering between 2-4 hours, twice a day about 4-5 times per week is the recommendation. Remember, the water must not only keep the sod wet, but needs to soak into the soil about 2 inches below. Lastly, aeration is a good practice about a year after sod is installed.

4. Grading & Seeding

If a lawn needs a complete overhaul and sod installation is too costly, grading & seeding is the best option. Usually the cost of grading & seeding is less than sod installation, but if a lot of soil needs to be added, it could be just as costly. This method of lawn renovation usually includes a non-selective herbicide treatment to the entire lawn or lawn area to kill the existing grass before work can begin. A mini-excavator is typically used to break up the lawn areas and rake off the debris. Then soil is added to the lawn — which can range from a few yards to several truck loads depending on the situation — and the property is regraded. A seed mixture and starter fertilizer are then applied, along with a limestone application. Finally, straw, penn-mulch, or futerra matting are installed to cover areas to reduce erosion and promote better germination.

Grading & Seeding Expectations

With this method of lawn renovation, watering the new seed is of utmost importance. This will keep the top ½” – 1” of soil moist. Two key things to remember about seeding and watering:

• Before Germination = Less Water/Lots of Time (approximately 25 minutes, twice a day). The goal is to keep the top ½” – 1” of soil moist.
• After Germination = Lots of Water/Less Time (approximately 60 minutes, 3 times a week), and getting the moisture down 2”-3” is the goal.

With any seeding job, there is no guarantee of growth but with proper irrigation, you will typically see 80% or more germination. Finally, expect to need spot seeding after a total lawn renovation, which can run from $300 and up. Or simply ask for seed at the time of the job and your service technician will gladly leave some behind for you to spot seed at a later date.

5. Topdressing

Topdressing has been a staple for athletic fields and golf courses for decades; it’s one of the secrets to their year-round success. This process involves applying a soil and compost mixture to the surface of the lawn to help improve soil conditions and lawn health.

Here are our top 4 reasons to have topdressing done to your lawn:

• Improve soil conditions – an ideal lawn will have between 6”-12” of soil rich in organic matter. Topdressing for multiple years will accomplish this.
• Increasing Microbial Activity – these micro-organisms help with nutrient uptake and to break down thatch layers in the lawn.
• Improving Lawn Color – organic matter in the soil and compost mix will add nitrogen to the lawn and allow for a better green up.
• Enhancing Seed Germination – add topdressing following a core aeration and over seeding and you will help germination be enhanced. It helps to retain moisture in the soil and provides great soil to seed contact for the new grass seedlings to root.

 

Topdressing Expectations

Topdressing will initially cause the lawn to appear “dirty” as you will see the thin layer of soil and compost over the lawn. Eventually it will settle into the lawn with irrigation. Although you may not see immediate results, topdressing over a few years will drastically improve the soil condition and allow for a healthier lawn for years to come.

Schedule a Fall Lawn Renovation

If you are struggling with your lawn, consider contacting us about how one of these options might be the best solution for your property this fall. Meeting with one of our skilled Account Managers is always at no cost to you.

About the Author – Greg Tomlinson
Marketing Coordinator & Account Manager

ISA Certified Arborist, Landscape Industry Certified Landscape Technician, Landscape Industry Certified Lawn Care Technician, NPMA QualityPro Certified, Certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator

Since 1999, Greg has been involved in the family-owned business when he began working part-time as a Lawn Care Technician and Landscape Crew Leader. After graduating from the University of Scranton with a degree in Human Resource Management and a minor in Business, Greg began working full-time with the Landscape team. He then moved into the Pest Control side of the business where he spent several years. More recently Greg served as a Residential Account Manager and is now the Marketing Coordinator. As he learns more about the business, what he enjoys most is interacting and serving both clients and coworkers alike. Greg appreciates all of the great relationships he has established with his clients and is grateful to the many people who have helped him grow personally and professionally. Greg resides in Manheim Township with his wife Juliana and their dog Arthur.

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John Oliver Discovers the One and Only Ciscoe Morris by Susan Harris

I love this! So does the Seattle Times.

John Oliver Discovers the One and Only Ciscoe Morris originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 15, 2017.

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Welcome Home, Boxwood

My last two posts about this project might make you suspect that my primary interest in this landscape has to do with hard structures. Not so. The hard structures just need to be installed first, as they set the grade and determine the location of all of the plantings to come. I can move a [...]

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Corner Makeover: Before and One Year Later by Susan Harris

Readers may have noticed I’m an obsessive-compulsive garden-maker, not happy with making and tending just the townhouse garden I now own.  I showed you one example recently – the town center garden I adopted in May of this year. Boy, did it need some love.

Next up, another highly visible bit of city-owned land that looked even worse. So bad, in fact, that I couldn’t resist the temptation to transform it, with donated plants and at least a year of hard labor. I went to sleep dreaming about before/after photo montages, and now I have some!

Above, a streetside view of the jungle as it looked last summer. Less visible in this shot are the fallen branches being covered by an assortment of thuggish vines. Poison ivy was rampant throughout.

But voila! This year it’s starting to look like a garden, and seen from a distance or from moving cars, gardens had better have color, right? For that I planted daffodils and Rudbeckia, our state flower, and left some of the existing Daylilies. Large sedges and ornamental grasses are filling out nicely.

Not looking like much yet but destined for greatness here are some flowering shrubs, a central feature in this Low-Maintenance Demonstration Garden. In the shot above you see an ‘Ogon’ Spirea, perhaps my favorite of all the Spireas, its chartreuse leaves creating a focal point from very early to very late season. Smaller and less noticeable this year are a Weigela and a Ninebark, and I’ll be adding more of them this fall, thanks to give-aways from a trial-garden visit.

Far left in this pano shot you see the weed shrubs that used to impede driver visibility.

See, better!

Another perennials I planted here en masse is this unidentified Sedum. Its blooms are now transitioning from a cream to a pinkish cream, and either way, they’re almost invisible to the eye. Especially if the eye is passing by in a car.

I’ll be replacing them with more Rudbeckias and maybe some Garden Phlox – anything that’s more colorful than these insipid-looking things and that I can find for free in sufficient quantity.

Anyone know which Sedum it is?

The Dangers of Clearing Brush 

Last October, as I was clearing the bulk of the mess, I disturbed a ground nest of some tiny insects that I never did see but that collectively stung me eight times. Particularly painful stings, I might add. Since that traumatic event I’m still nervous about digging and yanking in the area, though gradually less so.

Of course I also contracted poison ivy a couple of times, since my efforts at prevention weren’t exactly stringent. But I’ll take PI any day over swarms of angry bees and the poison they inject into my bare skin and through two layers of clothes, no less. Horrors!

Corner Makeover: Before and One Year Later originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 11, 2017.

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An annual philosophy by Elizabeth Licata

Some of my elephant ear stands alone; some is planted in dense container groupings.

Certain plants exude a message of “Don’t worry, be happy.” Others continually whine, “Maintain me!” In my garden, the easiest plants I grow are the tropical or semitropicals. They require virtually nothing, much like their brethren in my office. Once in a while, I’ll cut down a dead leaf from one of the colocasia or alocasia, but other than that, given the same watering schedule as the rest of the garden, my tropical plants (mainly elephant ear, but some bananas and others) provide wow-factor from the time I plant them/bring them outdoors to the time I compost them/bring them indoors.

Given their long seasons (all year if they’re happy inside), I’m amazed that more gardeners don’t use these plants. During the GWA conference a few days ago, reps from a Florida-based tropical plant nursery (sorry, names are escaping me) told me their conference presentation would largely focus on using tropical as annuals if necessary, in order to enjoy their long seasons of interest even if the means to store them over the winter were not available.

I couldn’t agree with this advice more. In the north, we hear a lot of talk about banana plants that will overwinter, but I’ve never tried it. I just drag the pot inside where it does fine until the following May, with minimal watering. I have a big alocasia that I bring into the same room, where it continues growing, albeit more slowly. But I also compost a lot of my tropicals at the end of the season. Given what they provide, the cost of replacement is reasonable. Nonetheless, the question I am most asked about these during Garden Walk is “Do you bring this in?” In fact, that’s a question I get about many annuals, including coleus and strobilanthes (Persian Shield). Do I cut off branches and root them over the winter. Uh, no. These plants are pretty cheap and I’d rather just buy new ones in the spring than fuss about with windowsill rooting. Is this wasteful? I suppose it is, though if the plants go into the compost, they’re still contributing. But I’m also supporting my local nurseries and the mail order houses I order from, many of which are modest, family-run businesses. I feel fine about it.

What is this urge to save everything? I guess gardeners just can’t bear to see a plant die or be discarded. I get that. But I’ve learned to see every loss as an opportunity.

An annual philosophy originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 10, 2017.

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The Stonework

Once the pool construction detailed in my last post was in a reasonably finished state, a substantial amount of stonework would be required to finish terracing this steeply sloping yard. The drop from the pool terrace to the lower terrace is about 5.5 feet, meaning stairs would be necessary to access the lower level. A [...]

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Perennially Yours: Steve Still by Allen Bush

A young Steve Still works a push hoe on the 80 acre family farm in Carlinville, Illinois. Steve sold his vegetables in town.

Garden Rant contributor Bob Hill came to my 60th surprise birthday party some years ago. After a few glasses of wine, he said, “Look around. All of these friends will be at your funeral.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or pray.

I have thought about Bob’s prophetic words since the day of my party. I figured out a plan a few weeks ago. It’s simple. I’ll always love my family and friends. And I will keep gardening with conviction until loved ones gather at my funeral and sing: “He Walks With Me (In the Garden).”

Until the singing commences, I want to take more trips with Steve Still.

College sweethearts at the University of Illinois in 1966.

Steve and his wife, Carolyn, showed up at my surprise party, too. They’re my great friends. I’ve been on more trips with Steve and the Ratzeputz Gang—our peculiarly plant obsessed group—than with anyone else besides my wife Rose. Steve is a co-founder and Executive Director of the Perennial Plant Association (PPA). He never toots his horn, but I will. Steve is a scientist, botanist, teacher and author. Carolyn Still retired as a social worker in the early 1990s to help run the PPA and persuade their four children, and their in-laws, to stuff envelopes and fill tote bags each year at the annual symposium.

Many former students at Kansas State and Ohio State Universities remember Steve’s horticulture classes. Tracy DiSabato-Aust, Deb Knapke, Denise Williams, Laura Deeter, Laura Burchfield and Joseph Tychonievich were all his students. Steve’s Manual of Herbaceous Ornamental Plants was their primer. Steve made his mark in perennials but has cast his net far and wide. Besides his teaching career, he is a past president of the Eastern Region of the International Plant Propagators Society as well as a recipient of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award, the highest distinction in American horticulture. Steve is the only one I know who has a perennial garden named in his honor. The Steven M. Still Garden, at Ohio State University, designed by Adrian Bloom, was dedicated in 2007.

Dedication of the Steven M. Still Garden in 2007.

Their son Shannon Still, Director of Plant Conservation and Curator of the UC Davis Arboretum, discovered a new California poppy species, in the southern part of the Mojave National Preserve, and named it in honor of his dad: Eschscholzia papastillii.

Eschscholzia papastillii

I first met Steve in 1983 at a gathering in Columbus, OH, for what soon became the Perennial Plant Association. There were more folks there for this first meeting than all the people combined who attended the Obama and Trump inaugurations. It was HUGE!

Never mind my alternative memory.

The meeting was huge, though in its way. I left Columbus feeling that something transformative had taken place. The next few years revealed a renaissance for perennial plants. American gardening surged.

Steve told me a few weeks ago that he had hoped for 50-75 people and needed 100 to break even at that 1983 meeting. 250 showed up. A few months later, four board members of the newly hatched Perennial Plant Association put up $ 250.00 each to get the ball rolling.

The Ratzeputz Gang at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley in early April 2014. Front Row (L-R): Kurt Bluemel, Georg Uebelhart, Shannon Still. Back Row: Dave Schultz, Kirk Alexander, Steve Still, Allen Bush and Pierre Bennerup.

In 1987, elder statesmen Klaus Jelitto and Kurt Bluemel, both of whom had been attending the PPA symposia, recruited six additional trip members for a tour of German gardens and nurseries. I was honored to be asked along. Steve Still, Klaus Jelitto, Kurt Bluemel, Dave Schultz, Pierre Bennerup and I had run into one another over the previous four years but were little more than acquaintances before that trip.

Ratzeputz, our gang name, honors the ginger-based schnapps that we were introduced to one night at the Heide-Kröpke Hotel, near Celle, Germany. By the end of the week we had become close friends, seduced by the peculiar taste of Ratzeputz. We have resumed trips every few years to see nurseries, gardens and wildflowers in Europe, South America and the United States.

(L-R): Shannon Still, Steve Newall, Ed Snodgrass, Steven Still, Steve Still, Allen Bush, Pierre Bennerup, Thilo Uebelhart and Georg Uebelhart.

This year the Ratzeputz Gang was blessed, during the third week of July, with five days of beautiful weather in Wyoming and Montana. Steve Still was on board with his two talented horticulturist sons—Steven and Shannon. Ed Snodgrass, the author and green roof expert, was along for the first time. The great New Zealand horticulturist and nurseryman Steve Newall joined us, too.  Ratzeputz veterans—Pierre Bennerup from Sunny Border Nurseries and Georg Uebelhart, my Jelitto Perennial Seeds colleague—were there, as well. Georg brought along a bottle of Ratzeputz and his 14-year-old son Thilo. Thilo patiently put up with a lot of stops so we could photograph tiny, alpine cushion plants. I see a gardener in the making.

Panayoti points the way on the sagebrush steppe near Cody, Wyoming.

Panayoti Kelaidis, the brilliant and fun-loving Senior Curator and Director of Outreach at the Denver Botanic Gardens, led us to the Big Horn Mountains and Yellowstone. He’d been there the month before but the lingering snow pack from the winter’s heavy snowfall had deprived him of spotting any alpine flowers. We hit bloom time perfectly. We drove up and down, back and forth between dry-land steppe, forest montane and alpine meadows—past sagebrush, lodgepole pines, Douglas firs and Engeleman spruce to the tree line. Panayoti knew the good spots. We saw Calochortus gunnisonii on our first day.

Gunnison’s mariposa lily, Calochortus gunnisonii.

I shall not covet, I shall not covet…

We must have looked like an odd group to other tourists who were steering big RVs and motorcycles. While everyone stopped for mountain goats and bison, few paid attention to marsh marigolds. We did. We poked around at every stop, often crawling on our hands and knees for a good photo.

Poking along the Beartooth Highway. (L-R): Thilo Uebelhart, Ed Snodgrass, Panayoti Kelaidis, Steven Still, Pierre, Bennerup and Steve Newall.

 

Marsh marigold, Caltha leptosepala.

 

Alpine blooms along the Bear Tooth Highway.

Above the tree line, around 11,000 feet, a day later, the alpine meadows were in spectacular bloom along the Beartooth Highway. I’ve never seen so many different plants in flower. I counted a dozen species in a space the size of a big screen TV. Phlox condensata, Mertensia alpina, Trifolium alpinum, Eritrichium nanum, Polemonium viscosum and Erigeron leiomerus took my breath away—literally. When I stood up, the thin air, and the sheer volume of blooms, overwhelmed me.

Erigeron leiomerus

We returned to Denver for the Perennial Plant Association’s 35th symposium the next week. It was good to see old friends and to meet students and young professionals.

Chasmophyte was the PPA word of the week. Mike Bone, from the Denver Botanic Gardens, in an engaging and insightful lecture, told us that a chasmophyte is a crevice dweller. Mike should know. He’s directing the progress of the most interesting crevice garden in the U.S.

Stunning rock work on the new crevice garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

 

The PPA tours were terrific. If you get close, don’t miss the Denver Botanic Gardens (DBG). I’ve never seen the gardens look better. My hat’s off to Panayoti Kelaidis, Mike Bone and the DBG staff. They’ve got it going on. The new steppe and crevice gardens drew me back twice during the week. Nor should the children’s garden be missed. (It’s always a pleasure to see kids splashing water and getting their hands muddy.) I never pass up Mike Kintjen’s rock garden.

Larry Vickerman has also got some exciting projects going at the DBG’s Chatfield Farms, a short distance from Denver. I didn’t know that you could make blueberry colored dye from the fresh, or dried, blooms of a black-flowering hollyhock. Lauren Springer Ogden and Scott Ogden have designed several beautiful habitat gardens, around the Sinnamon Visitor’s Center. These gardens were planted with over 100 different native species to the delight of butterflies and bees.

PPA Board Chair, Jennifer Brennan, asked me a few months ago to pay tribute to Steve and Carolyn Still at this year’s symposium, for they will be retiring soon.

Steven Still, Sara Still Crawford, Shannon Still, Carolyn Still, Steve Still and Stephanie Still Stockton.

Steve’s daughter Sara shared the stage with me. (All four of the Still children, from Steven, then aged nine, down to baby Sara were at the first PPA meeting in 1983. They have grown up with the PPA. They were all here, 34 years later.)

I choked up trying to size up my friend’s life— his family and career. He means that much to me. Steve Still is loyal, smart, hard working, unassuming, funny, charitable and kind.

The world is a lot better for having Steve Still in it. In the beginning we gardeners paid attention to orderly English gardens. And then the imagination of German and Dutch gardens caught our eye. We matured. The wilder American garden evolved, and still evolves, with regional native plants and sustainability playing a bigger role.

Everyone is welcome inside the PPA Big Tent that Steve Still helped create. I love the PPA and the wild mix of creative people—artists, plantspeople, nursery folks, academics and students—who show up each year. The PPA feels like a carnival. The three-ring circus never bores me. I’m always a little sad when we pack up at week’s end. I take comfort knowing that the Big Tent will be set up again next year.

The bar will always be open in the evening and busy until they dim the lights.

Steve Still, let me buy you a drink.

Let’s plan another Ratzeputz trip.

 

 

 

 

Perennially Yours: Steve Still originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 9, 2017.

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A Botanical Translator by Thomas Christopher

Botanists speak a special language, one that is frequently unintelligible to outsiders like me.  This has frustrated me at times, for instance when I’ve tried to use a botanical key or field manual to identify an unfamiliar plant.  Now, though, I’ve got expert help.

A week ago I picked up a book published last year, A Botanist’s Vocabulary written by Susan K. Pell and, crucially, illustrated by the very talented Bobbi Angell.  Angell is a botanical illustrator whose beautifully detailed and fastidiously accurate pen and ink drawings I first came across some 20 years ago at the New York Botanical Garden.

Circinate Coiled like watch springs, as with the arrangement of fern fronds in bud

Her partnership with Pell is a fortunate one.  Pell has a talent for translating botanical terms into simple, layman’s language.  When combined with Angell’s elegantly clear drawings, it is easy to understand what a botanist means by such otherwise opaque words such as “circinate”.

I intend to keep this book on my desk.  I won’t use it every day, or even every week.  But when I am baffled by some plant description, it will be there to make clear what the author meant, and what that means to me and my garden.   There are very few books that I believe are truly essential to good gardening.  I suspect, though, that this may turn out to be one of the select few.

A Botanical Translator originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 7, 2017.

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A Schematic Plan

Some landscapes not only require drawings, they require multiple drawings. My initial meeting with these clients was in March of this past year. They had had a mind to renovate or remake every inch of their home and landscape. My initial visit revealed little in the way of landscape, beyond a random collection of neglected [...]

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Yellow Jackets – The Uninvited Guests

Do you plan on having an August or September cookout this year? When you are looking over your guest list, be aware that you will likely have uninvited, non-sociable, and unwanted visitors show up unannounced: yellow jackets.

Yellow jackets are not very sociable or skilled conversationalists, but they are a social insect, meaning that they live in colonies numbering in the thousands. Unfortunately, they do not ask permission to establish their nests and often decide to build in areas that people tend to congregate. They may take up residence in a hole in the ground in the middle of your lawn, under the siding near the sliding glass door or in the landscape timber that borders your flower bed. Before I go any further in enlightening you about the wonders of the yellow jacket world, let me stress this:

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TREAT A YELLOW JACKET NEST YOURSELF! YOU WILL GET STUNG!

Okay, now that we are past that awkward moment let me further explain. You can try to be a hero by using over-the-counter wasp spray that promises to kill these “buggers” on contact. Even if by some miracle you do not get stung, you will simply irritate the other 98% of the colony, making the job more volatile when the professional exterminator comes to save the day.

The Journey of the Yellow Jacket

It all starts in the spring, when overwintering queens — having spent the cold months hidden away in attics, stone walls, or even under tree bark — emerge and begin to build their nest. They seek out exposed wood surfaces and chew away wood fibers, which they mix with salivary secretions to form a paper-like nesting material. The nest structure begins with a small number of cells or chambers, and the queen places an egg in each cell. The larvae develops from hatched eggs, and are completely dependent on the queen for survival. The initial sterile female workers emerge, and start taking over the responsibility of building the nest and caring for the eggs, larvae, and pupae. As of this point the queen never leaves the nest, and the workers continue their laboring in protecting the nest, searching for food and water.

Food for the larvae is protein, usually in the form of insects, while the adult workers feed on liquids such as nectar, honeydew, and juices from the bodies of insects. However, they also enjoy the bountiful feast they can find at your family gathering — including sweet drinks, fruits, and that burger you just pulled off the grill. These provide a great source of protein for the maturing larvae in the colony, and will be a quick end to your gathering.

Handling Yellow Jackets

Yellow jackets are slow to sting unless they are provoked. If the entrance to the nest is disturbed then they become quite aggressive. Each individual worker can sting multiple times, causing much pain. Some people over time can become hypersensitive to their stings and then future stings can be life threatening. These hard working members of the wasp family are out and about doing what they were created to do, and there is no way to keep them from flying around and landing anywhere they choose surrounding your home.

Yellow jackets are very beneficial to the environment, as they feed on various arthropods that are considered pest species. Having them visit your property is not so much of a safety concern, but when they adopt your mailing address and your home sweet home becomes theirs, action is required. Your local pest control professional has the state certification and training, EPA-approved materials, correct application equipment and the experience to confidently treat the active nest on your property. Let your friendly neighborhood “bug guy” be the hero!

About the Author: Barry Bradley

Barry Bradley is a Master Pest Control Technician for Tomlinson Bomberger, having been caring for residential and commercial pest control needs since 1993. He is licensed through the State of PA and also holds an Associate Certified Entomologist accreditation.

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Sunflowers Rivaling Cherry Blossoms as Top Plant Attraction by Susan Harris

Here’s why I’m going out on a cherry blossom limb to assert that the humble sunflower is gaining on DC’s most overhyped flowers.

Just outside DC, Maryland’s McKee Beshers Wildlife Management Area is just now seeing its sunflower fields cleared of photographers from near and far.

There’s a special Guide for Photographing the Sunflower Fields. A Virginia camera club has a meet-up there. Washingtonian Magazine calls it “Instagram Gold,” using these two and 10 more shots to prove the point.

But there’s LOTS more here on Instagram itself.

From the Department of Natural Resources we learn that

The sunflowers are planted in nine different fields in spring as a food source for wildlife, particularly Mourning Doves…People come from miles away and plan vacations well in advance to try and catch the view. You can regularly see the fields full of amateur and professional photographers, along with painters. It is quite the sight.

Photo credit: Forsaken Fotos on Flickr

There’s More There

The whole 2,000-acre wildlife manager area is a “mixture of woodlands, fields, wooded bottomland and managed wetland impoundments (green-tree reservoirs).” Never heard of them! But now I know that greentree reservoirs are where “biologists deliberately flood forests during the fall and winter…These attract colorful wood ducks as well as other waterfowl which migrate through or spend the winter here.”

All told, the place “provides habitat for a great diversity of wildlife species including deer, wild turkey, waterfowl, over 200 species of songbirds, and numerous reptiles and amphibians.”

But this bit surprised me: “The McKee-Beshers WMA is a public hunting property and Maryland has a hunting season on Mourning Doves that opens September 1 every year.” People really hunt these guys?

What I Saw

The photos I took this week show signs of heavy pollinator action on the big, happy blooms.

And in a blogger cheat, I took these shots at my local garden center. Who cares that it’s not an official wildlife management area?

Forsaken Fotos has more sunflower photo here.   Dove photo credit.

Sunflowers Rivaling Cherry Blossoms as Top Plant Attraction originally appeared on Garden Rant on August 4, 2017.

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