Dr. Allan Armitage’s plant-buying theory is that most people don’t show up at the garden center looking for certain plants. They’re there looking to carry out a gardening project or to solve a yard problem. My post last week looked at this idea and Armitage’s intriguing suggestion that maybe plant-sellers should start […]
When people head to the garden center to buy plants, most of the time they’re not there looking for a certain plant. They’re generally looking to carry out a goal or solve a problem. A disconnect happens when would-be plant-buyers find that the gazillion plants available aren’t grouped by goals or problems […]
It was nice to do something normal for a change. Last week marked the first time in more than a year that Lowee’s Group Tours and I ran a garden trip – a day trip to a pair of Lancaster County gardens and a pair of Pa. Dutch country plant nurseries with a […]
If you live in an urban setting or other more-populated/less-tree’d area, you may be wondering what all the hubbub is over Brood X cicadas, that bug that emerges en masse only once every 17 years. It’s entirely possible you may not see (or hear) a one. However, if you’re in an area […]
Pennsylvania keeps getting hotter and hotter in summer, with 90-degree days more common than ever. Climate forecasters say this is no fluke, that the Harrisburg area is on the road to a climate more akin to Arkansas than past norms. If that’s the case, it makes sense when picking our annual flowers […]
Most people know tulips and daffodils. So it’s no wonder those two spring bulbs show up in a lot of yards, even though tulips are leading snack targets of deer, rabbits, and rodents and tend to go downhill after a stirring debut performance or two. A fair number of people also know and […]
Our climate isn’t like it was just a generation ago, and our plants are showing it – especially trees. Many of Pennsylvania’s recent tree demises – from diseases on spruce and firs to branch diebacks on Japanese maples to “mysterious” deaths of sugar maples – are directly or indirectly related to climate changes. […]
A fellow commented on a profile I wrote about the majestic white oak that “maybe you’ll be able to enjoy a tree like the one in the photo when you’re 125 or so.” I hope I’m still planting daisies rather than pushing them up then, but assuming not, that over-used adage doesn’t discourage […]
The lawn-care pros who care for so many of our yards have no magic secrets on how to grow a nice lawn. They just know what conditions and measures lawns need to thrive – and when and how to deliver them. Any of us can do the same thing… if we learn […]
The horrors of World War II were still fresh as Japanese botanist Dr. Toichi Itoh focused on an apparent pipe dream that had long eluded plant breeders. Itoh was determined to cross herbaceous peonies with tree peonies to come up with a hybrid that offered the best traits – and none of the […]