First off, Happy New Year and congratulations on surviving all that 2022 threw at us. Despite a soggy spring, long dry summer, and a killer freeze in December, I consider the year a success. I made considerable progress in my new garden, planting a ton of new plants and…
A Few Tips For A Better Garden In 2023
I know a few of you might find it incredibly hard to believe, but I actually spend a considerable amount of time researching my columns rather than just making s#%t up. In truth, it is probably a combination of both. We live in the information age where knowledge is all around us, literally at our finger tips. The challenge of course is…
Do You Suffer From "Hortitostrogenitis"?
I have this theory (I know, some of you are thinking, “OMG, what is he going to say next”), that gardeners possess a special “horticultural hormone” that I have dubbed “hortitostrogen”. This is a non-gender specific hormone that kicks in about this time of the year and causes my fingers to start twitching with an intense desire to go dig in the dirt. I wonder if any of you can relate…
During the months of May and June one of the all-time favorite plants of local gardeners, the peony, is bursting into bloom. There are many excellent peonies available to utilize in our landscapes; including herbaceous cottage types in all sorts of colors (and varying fragrances) and larger growing tree peonies too. I would never scold anyone for growing either of these types (since I do as well), but I want to bring attention to another fabulous peony option… what is known as the intersectional or Itoh Peony.