I have a lot of friends who are plant hybridizers–good hybridizers–and for the most part, I love their plants. But there is one group of plants where my preference runs toward the wild species–untouched, unmanipulated, unmarred beauty. Species lilies. These are lilies as they appear in the wild, untouched by human hand, and they are…
…..the new redbuds coming to market in the very near future. Some friends and I took a trip to Winchester on Friday and stopped to see Harold and Alex Neubauer (all I can say about their nursery is WOW!) before heading on over to see our good friend and horticulture guru, Don Shadow. Don took…
Being a Kansas boy by birth, one of my favorite of all wildflowers is the sunflower. “Wildflowers?”, you may be asking yourself. Sure enough. Across the hills and plains of Kansas, at about this time of year, the wild sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) begin flowering. If you know where to look, you can find entire fields…
While I’m doing a bit of shameless self promotion, in case anyone did not get to see the short article I did for Horticulture magazine’s May 2009 issue about Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’, it is now available online. You can find it here: http://www.hortmag.com/article/yuccasapphireskies/ With the publishing of my newest article in Fine Gardening, that…
Hey everyone! Just a quick note to let everyone know that if you subscribe to Fine Gardening magazine you’ll find me in the newest issue, October 2009, which hit the newsstands this week. (And mailboxes within the past 2 weeks.) So… hope you’ll take a minute to check out my article, “Big Bloomers”, and be…
What crazy weather we’re having for this time of year! I’m not complaining, because it sure is wonderful here, but my friends in the Pacific Northwest are having a recordbreaking heatwave. My real reason for posting is to remind everyone in the middle Tennessee area that my interview with Barbara Mandrell about the new Nashville…
Gladiolus are another of those plants that hold a nostalgic place in my heart. The next door neighbors used to grow rows and rows of them at the far end of the vegetable garden, carefully lifting and storing the corms each autumn and replanting them the following spring for tall spires of summer blooms to…
I’m a big fan of public green spaces. I always have been. That’s especially true when good horticulture is involved and that is exactly what’s going on at the Nashville Music Garden in downtown Nashville. Located just a block off of lower Broadway and directly across the street from both the Country Music Hall of…
Many posts ago I wrote about the world’s largest waterlilies, the Victorias https://troybmarden.blogspot.com/2008/03/aquatic-giants.html, whose giant floating leaves may reach 8 feet in diameter in a well grown plant and whose night-time flowers approach nearly a foot in diameter. At the far opposite end of the spectrum is the diminutive Nymphaea ‘Helvola’ or ‘Pygmaea Helvola’ which,…
The best day of summer has come early this year! No, no… not the first day of summer. The best day of summer! The day when you sink your teeth into the juicy, sweet, ruby red flesh of summer’s most perfect fruit…..the first tomato! Oh yes, I picked the first tomato today and I just…