The Maidenhair and Mr. X

My March 2025 essay was entitled GARDENING INJURIES: OUCH or worse! Near the end of that piece I very briefly discussed allergic reactions. Mind you, one could do books on the topic as there are lots of unrelated plants that can cause some sort of immune response, as well as considerable individual susceptibility and various contributing factors. This month I will describe a specific example but need you to understand that I am doing so in the context of another topic -- c

Feb 1

THE LIST

Borrowing from the Monty Python Flying Circus intro, now for something a little different . I recently introduced and for this month's offering will direct you to the yellow home page bar entitled and linked to THE LIST. It is a self-explanatory 15-page read that those of you brave enough to peruse will find interesting, in part shocking, and certainly revealing -- brave because part of my intent was to overwhelm, cause you to think WOW or OH MY. The idea for THE LIST came

Jan 1

In Praise of Larch

I am fond of conifers. One of my favs is what we call larches ( Larix spp.). These coniferous trees produce 1-2-inch-long flat and delicate leaves that are pleasantly soft to the touch. The branches are dimorphic. The needle thin leaves are arranged individually on new shoots but in older stems they are located in brush-like clusters at the end of spur-like shoots. The emerging fascicle (10-40 leaves per, depending on species) looks something like a basally attached se

Dec 1, 2025

YIPPEE - AN ARRAY

Near the end of last month's piece I posed the following. A few Midwest hardy e vergreen plants change color in the cold months, can you name one/any other than junipers ( Juniperus )? My answer: some cultivars and species of arborvitae ( Thuja ), as well as Atlantic white cedar 'Heatherbun' ( Chamaecyparis thyoides ), Oregon grape holly ( Mahonia aquifolium ), PJM rhodo ( Rhododendron X), and boxwood ( Buxus ). The common boxwood is B. sempervirens -- the species means

Oct 31, 2025

PHENOLOGY & COLOR

I ended last month's essay with a reference to pretty colors of fall . I will expand on both (hue and season) shortly, but first want to...

Sep 30, 2025

MUSTERING INDUSIASM

The title is an instructive pun pointing out two common issues every gardener faces in late summer (1) heat aggravated fatigue/burnout...

Aug 31, 2025

Blue Mistflower, y muy occupado

First, the occupation. I have been very busy, especially with garden related work, and in miserable working conditions, so was unable to...

Aug 1, 2025

MOWING, with emphasis on Robotic Mower

[SORRY, I needed to go long again] Most homeowners have some lawn -- for many far too much, and often its a chemical dependent attempted...

Jun 30, 2025

ELDERBERRY

One of my favorite garden plants is elder or elderberry -- not to be confused with boxelder ( Acer negundo ) or groundelder/goutweed (...

May 31, 2025

Tulip Tree, BAD CHOICE FOR THE small YARD

NOTE: I am having trouble staying connected to the editor function on WIX which affected my ability to build the essay this month. I...

Apr 30, 2025

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Rant of the Month

Unfortunately, most people know very little about plants and gardening, this includes many "professionals" employed to design, choose, install and maintain landscapes. Nor should you assume a garden center owner or employee is a gardener or knows plants (i.e., have experiental {good} advice). This blog spotlights specific issues with commentary on remedy or recommendation for course of action. Examples are numerous and easy to find, rarely requiring me to travel far from home. Hopefully, these postings will make the task more difficult. I feature seasonally appropriate topics and focus on species and issues to help educate.

The new rant is scheduled to post at one minute after midnight on the first day of each month.

Finally, over the last decade or so, I have told many people that I lack a filter. NOT TRUE. While I am frequently direct, know that my written speech is moderated (i.e., given time to settle). I can hear all the, "Oh may goodness! Can you imagine the raw form?" Know this, it is sometime too much even for the mad botanist, thus the settling time.