As a creative person–a designer–I’ve come to learn that I see things differently than most people. As a gardener and plantsman and someone who appreciates, or at least tries to appreciate, the smallest details of the world around me I’ve learned that I see beauty and opportunity in places that most people just walk on…
Being a Kansas boy by birth, it seems only natural that I would have a strong affinity for sunflowers. Kansas is, after all, the sunflower state. The wild form of Helianthus annuus grows up and down the roadsides and throughout natural areas across the state. This is not the giant garden form of sunflower that…
On my recent trip to Philadelphia I was reminded, while at Longwood Gardens, just how much I miss having waterlilies in bloom. My grandmother had a “lily pond” when I was growing up–nothing more than an old bathtub that had been buried in the ground up to its rim with a few stones laid around…
Well, the past few weeks have truly been a whirlwind. I was in Philadelphia for a few days for the annual symposium of the Perennial Plant Association–something I do almost every summer. It was great to see old friends and make new acquaintances. I shot nearly 400 photos a day for four days, so I…
Can you believe it’s already August??? I keep promising to post more regularly and little things like packing hundreds of boxes and taking four truckloads of stuff (one entire truckload of nothing but plants!) to a new house keep getting in the way! The good news: It’s FINALLY done! Done! Well, almost done. I still…
It’s a bittersweet day in the garden today. The last blossom of the season has opened on Hemerocallis ‘Hyperion’ and today is the last day that I will get to enjoy its joyful beauty until next summer rolls around and we get to dance our dance all over again. ‘Hyperion’ is my favorite of all…
Well, here I am again, having promised to post more regularly and all of a sudden I look at the blog and realize that it has been over TWO WEEKS!!! Some promise. All I can do is apologize. I’ve been swamped. Between all of the design projects, a feature article for Fine Gardening, a perennials…
Hey all! Just a quick note before I head home from the office! There’s a new section on the website (http://www.troybmarden.com/, or click on the title of this blog entry) about a new venture in garden travel and tours that I am hoping to get off the ground in the next few months. We’re working…
Growing up on the Kansas prairie, butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) was a common and favorite sight along the roadsides and across the grassy plains. For those of us who were in tune with these kinds of things, the flowering of the butterfly weed was the official harbinger of summer. It’s brilliant orange flowers were impossible…
Okay, I’ve been a little remiss in posting lately. The 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. shift is beginning to wear on me just a little, so shoot me. This has been one of the craziest springs I can remember in quite some time and I’m STILL playing catch-up. Almost there, though. The work is not…