Last December I received a most curious and exciting gift from the executive editor and publisher of this newspaper. A book titled, The Gardener’s Botanical, An Encyclopedia of Latin Plant Names, this horticultural gem has more than 5,000 entries and 350 botanical illustrations....
Every year, for the holidays, I come up with a custom made Ginkgo-themed gift and share it with friends and colleagues in the industry. A gift that has so much meaning, passion and thought behind it, I often say, “it’s only the worthy.”...
All too often I see people using trees that are too big for their allotted space. I have always suspected that their decision was predicated on one of two things. Either they were swayed by the fact that they could buy a larger tree that...
One of the first trips I took to Oregon, some thirty years ago, to acquire nursery stock for our garden center; I found myself smitten with a certain tree. Determined to see and know everything I could, as if that’s possible in one outing, I...
Most of us have heard the story of Socrates and his untimely death at age 70. Standing before a jury and fellow Athenians, Socrates was sentenced to death in 339 BC. His anti-democratic views and impious acts lead to a guilty decision, a vote of...
Energetic, resourceful, tenacious, headstrong and capable are all strong adjectives that can define one’s character. Adversity, struggle and hardship are words used in more strenuous times. One discipline that has helped maintain a sense of “routine” is gardening. Victory gardens, also called “food gardens for defense”, were gardens...
Cajun French for “Let the good times roll”, Mardi Gras 2020 ended not too long ago, in late February, and we were there! The origins of Mardi Gras can be traced to medieval Europe eventually making its way to the French House of the Bourbons....
January is trade show month and there is no better trade show in the country, in my opinion, than MANTS. The Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show, this year, was January 8-10. Celebrating its 50th year, MANTS was conceived as a “vehicle to stimulate commerce for the...
Picking up on where I left off last month, the spring equinox is now 48 days and counting from the time this publication “hits the shelves”. And that means more plants to get excited about! February 2020 has 29 days, a leap year...
“In 2020, the spring equinox (also called the March equinox or vernal equinox) falls on Thursday, March 19,” 78 days from the publication of this issue of the Gardener News. “This event marks the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere” (almanac.com). In other words, gardening...