While many gardeners have been sprinkling coffee grounds, brewing compost tea, and painting pruning cuts, Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has been busy destroying gardening myths like these. One by one, the fiery University of Washington Associate Professor and Extension Horticulturist has been debunking gardening beliefs and practices that don’t hold up to scientific scrutiny. Most recently, she has taken aim at… Read more →
I have killed so many plants. Since moving to Oregon from Cincinnati five years ago, I have slain more than my share of innocents by not giving them what they needed to survive. Many more I have ripped out and thrown on the compost heap for failing to perform as I’d hoped. You’d think I would have done better. I… Read more →
Mid-August meltdown It’s mid-August. Do you find yourself apologizing for your perennials right about now? Stems that can’t hold their flowers up? Foliage that’s become tattered and sad? Plants that have outgrown their space and are crowding their neighbors? Third time’s the charm All of these problems have clear solutions in the new third edition of Tracy DiSabato-Aust’s bestselling book, The… Read more →
Love Letters to My Garden by Barbara Blossom Ashmun is like homemade mac and cheese and apple pie—comfort food reading for a drizzly winter day. In this, her seventh book, Barbara details her 30-year love affair with her garden, sharing stories that all gardeners can relate to, paying tribute to people who have helped her along the way, and marveling… Read more →
“That’s my favorite tree in the garden,” said Roger Gossler, as we gazed at a dazzling katsura tree in peak fall color at Gossler Farms Nursery in Springfield, Oregon. He said it was a Cercidiphyllum magnificum, not a Cercidiphyllum japonicum, as I had thought. I asked him what the difference was, and he said that C. magnificum stays smaller and has a more arching,… Read more →
Early in her bestselling memoir, Lab Girl, geobiologist Hope Jahren reflects on the countless scientific papers she’s written. These reports, written in the sterile language of academia, don’t allow her the opportunity to express her passion for science or to share the thrilling feeling of discovering something new. She must conceal all feeling when using this professional prose, stifling emotions that… Read more →
Recently, I sat down to take a peek at The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant. It had been recommended to me, and I’d just gotten it from the library, but I had things to do, so I decided to just read a little bit to quell my curiosity. Five hours later, it was 11:30 p.m., and I was debating whether or… Read more →
I finally got around to reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. That’s right—yesterday was a beautiful rare sunny day in early November, and I was sitting on the couch reading a book about how people don’t go outside anymore. So I was inspired to go to nearby Powell Butte Nature Park and… Read more →
I write a lot of plant descriptions. It used to be a slow, tedious process, but over time I’ve learned exactly where to go to find the information I need, and that has made my job a lot easier. Allow me to share some of my favorite web sources for plant information: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant Finder If you do… Read more →
Maybe I shouldn’t review a book when I’m hungry, but I found Robert Kourik’s new book Understanding Roots to be one of those meaty kinds of books you can really sink your teeth into, with lots of delicious morsels along the way. For example, I learned: In loose soil, carrot roots can go down 7 ft. One cubic inch of soil can… Read more →
