(Via hort.net top stories)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-25, 22:59:03

Lawmakers are busy drafting plans to ease Georgia's water restrictions, but Georgia's top environmental official isn't ready to sign off on the idea yet. The record-setting drought forced the state to ban outdoor watering in North Georgia and order public water providers in the region to cut their water withdrawals by 10 percent. But recent rain and snowfall has inspired some lawmakers to discuss relaxing the restrictions as spring approaches.

(Via Gardening Question of the Day (from the Old Farmer's Almanac))

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-25, 20:00:00

How do peas differ from beans? (answer).

From The Old Farmer's Almanac.

(Via Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas)

Posted by admin to Flowers on 2008-01-25, 17:37:42

It's Australia Day here in the land down-under. And while people are lighting up the BBQ, donning the esky with ice and beer or heading down the beach for a spot of family cricket, I'm about to embark on a debate of epic proportions. I'm about to challenge ...(drum roll)...the instituted national flower - as you would!

Prior to the colonisation of Australia in 1788, Capt. James Cook's Endeavour arrived in Botany Bay, Sydney with one very special botanist onboard. He was, of course, none other than Joseph Banks. Banks was the one attributed to discovering one genus of the Protaceae family, the Banksia (which is my favourite Aussie plant BTW).

Yet, Australia recognises the Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha as our floral emblem - a severe injustice upon our Banksia's.

Sure, A. pycnantha doesn't grow naturally anywhere else in the world yet acacias, as a genus, are found all through Africa and South America. Good luck trying to find an indigenous Banksia growing in another continent. And it's for this reason that we should re-examine whether this genus should be adopted as our floral icon.

So, why was the Banksia overlooked? See it all has to do with how the rest of Australia views Western Australia. While the US sorted out their problems early on with a Civil War, Australia still festers with a Cold War between the East and the West - and the East have some serious issues. As a state we've often thought about seceding but felt sorry for the rest of Oz losing half their economy, half their country and obviously more than half their intelligence.

Where does the Banksia fit into all this? Well...of the nearly 80 species that grow in Australia, about 90% are only found in WA. Therefore, if Australia were to recognise the Banksia as our national flower they would be admitting that WA is responsible for most of the good things this country has to offer. Sure, it's a giant leap of a statement to make but one that I'm willing to be quoted on.

So, in my most Australian attitude of brazeness and willingness to challenge all adopted norms, I'm about to embark on a plea to our National Leaders to have the current floral emblem scrapped. However, I need your help and so am conducting this very objective survey. The answers will be collated and presented as the world's view of the best plant to be Australia's national flower.

(Via The Blogging Nurseryman - The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery)

Posted by admin to The Big Boys, lifestyle, retail on 2008-01-25, 15:57:49

This is interesting yet not un-expected. Langeveld Bulb Co has filed for bankruptcy protection. Check out this quote, “many insiders are speculating that the closing is mostly the result of declining sales of bulbs, which are less popular with younger consumers, who want instant results in the garden.”

Yep, it’s those dang generation X and Y folks that are to blame. It appears that these two generational demographics are almost entirely responsible for the decline in our industry. It’s becoming fashionable for closing businesses to blame the younger generation. After all the older generations still support the garden industry, NOT!

I have noticed a decline in interest in bulbs for a number of years and it’s not just the younger generation. It’s also “Baby Boomers” who have other things to do with their time. It also explains the decline in bare root sales that I have been noticing over the years. Both bulbs and bare root are available in the winter when lots of folks just don’t get out in the garden anymore. Hey, if they want bulbs or fruit trees they figure we should have them in spring when they are doing their shopping.

I think the industry is so caught up in trying to appeal to Gen X and Y they are missing the big picture. Generation X and Y want to garden just as much or little as the other generations. They are the up and coming home owners who with a patch of ground want to see what they can grow on it. Most of the boomer generation is just as fickle with its gardening and would just as soon be skiing or traveling to warmer climates.

I think we need to quit trying to appeal to particular generations. Try instead appealing to people who are interested in gardening regardless of age. What with Urban Outfitters entering the gardening market we are all standing around just waiting to see the magic that they posses with these younger generations. It’s like we have to completely rethink gardening to appeal to these people. I like what the comments at the end of this post said. Don said this, “I read a lot of analysis about what “Gen X” and “Gen Y” wants, and I find a lot of it pretty patronizing.” I think a lot of generation X and Y think it’s a bit patronizing.

When all is said and done I think the decline in bulb sales is a result of all generations having a lot more that they can do with their time. It’s the big companies that have the most to loose since so much of their sales depend on a larger percentage of each generation buying their products. Let Home Depot, Hines Nurseries, and Scotts’ worry about this stuff. They pay people to worry. The smaller nursery can fine tune its message to gardeners of all ages. I only need 10% of each generation to find gardening interesting and jump in. Yes, it’s good to be small.

(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-25, 14:28:32

Bonsai gardening can be a very pleasurable pastime and hobby. Although not considered difficult, it does require dedication and attention to detail. A few bits of advice will get you off to a good start.

(Via An Iowa Garden)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-25, 12:58:00

When taking guests on tours of our garden, there's nothing like a round of "Guess The Genus". I've stumped more than one experienced gardener with this one... if you guessed the genus rheum, a decorative rhubarb, give yourself five points!
In the second picture, it's just unfolding its leaves. It gets to be borderline huge, looking almost like a gunnera.

(Via An Iowa Garden)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-25, 12:58:00

When taking guests on tours of our garden, there's nothing like a round of "Guess The Genus". I've stumped more than one experienced gardener with this one... if you guessed the genus rheum, a decorative rhubarb, give yourself five points!
In the second picture, it's just unfolding its leaves. It gets to be borderline huge, looking almost like a gunnera.

(Via grow this)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-25, 11:25:00

“It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world.”
Aristotle "On The Heavens”

So, was Aristotle the first guy to recognize that nobody is the first guy?

Today we’re between winter storms: more rain, and harder, and longer is promised for the weekend. From the high spot in my back yard I can see the Laguna mountains to the north, and this morning their tops are dusted with white.

When I think I’m thinking original thoughts, I’m probably just recycling stuff my long gone maiden aunt once thought. Possibly we both puzzled over the same mysteries our ancestors worried about as they hunted mastodons. The more I read and learn, the less original and creative I sometimes feel.

My ideas and thoughts are as circular as the crude illustrations I recall from elementary school books showing photosynthesis with clockwise arrows from the sun, to the cow in the field, to the roots and microscopic organisms beneath her hoofs, and back into the growing plants she munched. Remember the wiggly lines from the plants to the sun overhead? Or, remember the illustrations of weather that show water tumbling from the skies and puddles evaporating back into the sky? The snow on the mountain is just part of the cycle, parked temporarily like frosting on a mountainous cake, until the wheel turns again, and the snow melts, and the rivers flow down to the seas.

I’m just the latest copy of an ancient strand of DNA making it’s current appearance in the world. Some of my code is so deep it verges on instinct: the sense of wanting to hibernate in winter, for example, or the primal joy of seeing rainbows after a storm.

Some of my code may permit me to “discover” new ideas, and if I’m lucky, to advance collective knowledge a few small steps before I am planted beneath the earth for the roots of plants to digest, and I become wiggly lines of misty water evaporating up into the sky. Next time the wheel turns, I might be the snow on the mountains, visible on a clear and sunny morning from my garden in the valley. I might be the rainbow, or I might be the rainbow’s faint shadow, rewarding the early risers on a cold January morning between winter storms.

I’m probably not the first person to see the rainbow as the promise that the cycle continues even after we’re gone.

(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-25, 11:22:32

The tree is such an imposing, massive thing that some people see it as impregnable. Despite its size and splendor it would be more advisable to look on your garden tree as a big baby. Precious, delicate and vulnerable!

(Via Snappy's Gardens Blog)

Posted by admin to hellebore niger, seeds on 2008-01-25, 11:22:00

The Wind was blowing hard again today. My fence rattled like it was going to blow down. My running repairs to the hole were blown into next doors garden.
I have just spent an hour turning the kitchen into a mini greenhouse. Seed trays and pots now fill the side by the window.
Evening Primrose, Poppy Bracteatum, Alternathera Purple Knight, Viola Midnight Runner, Agastache Lavender Haze, Heliotrope Marine Cherry Pie, and more pots of Genovese Basil, and Parsley were sown.
I need to invest in a couple of Grow Houses to house my many plants if they germinate and develop.
The Walton plant stall will get my excess so I have a reason (if i needed any) to grow millions of plants. It helps the community groups who benefit from the plant sales. It will be Hil's Tenth year running doing it. She liked the extra help me and Fran gave her last year.
I am working all weekend.
The pretty Hellebore Niger is photographed. I love the starry pollen grains. What a flower.It was worth waiting for!