Gardening Mistakes, Misconceptions & (Mis)guidance

(top) fall (L) and late spring; (2) back patio summer; (3) partial front mid summer, (4) front after every heavy rain; (5) view back towards house (summer) from area that floods; (bottom) out front view during window replacement (24 Oct 2024) All from my place and all contrary to the title. Included to give you an idea of the look I prefer since I refer to "my style" several times below, although it is impossible to give a true feel since only 2D visual and there are litera

Sep 1

IT AIN'T NECESSARILY SO

The title of this rant is from Gershwin's stupendous 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. I will use it to build upon the concept I brought forward in last month's rant, namely that being native does not mean a species is a good ornamental choice. Yes, that "native" might be pretty but if used in the wrong way or place perhaps not and behavior is every bit as important as looks, I dare say almost always more so. I will profile four Midwest native plants to drive home my point. I lik

Aug 1

IDEAS & REALITY: Carex, Hosta and me

I like and utilize many sedges (Carex spp.) at my place, most of them naturally occurring. I recognize and encourage them. One can sometimes purchase Carex sedges, although rarely at your local garden center. Two of the best mail order options are Prairie Moon Nursery (MN) and Hoffman Nursery (NC) although the latter is wholesale. I also sometimes transplant from the wild. Carex is by far the largest plant genus in the Midwest flora, each state with well over 150 species

Jul 1

THE WALKING KIND

PROLOGUE: I first want to do a shout-out regarding the excellent Angel Wings (Caladium) display at the Habig Cottage Garden Shop in N Indianapolis. I like and use Caladiums as an annual foliar embellishment at my place every year. The display Rick and his associates have at Habig's (Nora location) is by far the best I have seen. We should thank him/them and consider a purchase. In the attached pic the white forms (my fav) have been picked. ___ The rant this month will be

Jun 1

Swamped

My plate is more than full. Haven't even had time to enjoy my irises. I'll be back next month.

May 1

GARDENING HOLIDAY

I last took a break from this monthly posting almost a decade ago. This month I will be doing so again. My plate is full. I need the pause and to reassess. In place of my absent fresh message, I recommend you read or reread one or two of my previous posts. Permit me to suggest PHYTOFASCISM (Apr, 2023) and/or an appropriate title . Also enjoy the spring and consider doing something special, something different in your garden. Before I take off, the idea of a serious gard

Apr 1

THREE A+ RECENT INTRODUCTIONS

Having concluded that I need to do more species assessments, I shall. The essays will feature plants I have no problem recommending. Some of those upcoming posts will be monospecific. Others, like this one, will be polyspecific. -- Again, I have not asked for nor have I received any compensation for the advocacy, although the financial burden of this website is getting to the point where I may need to consider doing so. We gardeners get to know each species and specimen by

Mar 1

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

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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.