‘Scarlet Fire’® This past winter punished many plants. Brutal and lengthy cold temperatures, in early January, coupled with our water deficit from last fall was the recipe for many broadleaf evergreens to succumb to nature’s wrath. Plants simply couldn’t pull in enough moisture to protect themselves...
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University “Founded in 1872 as North America’s first public arboretum, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a leading center for the study of biodiversity and a cherished 281-acre Boston landscape open free year round. One of the most comprehensive and...
Slow & Steady This past summer, standing in a field of deciduous trees in Pennsylvania, my friend John Stella and I had a conversation that was subjective, yet enlightening. Speaking about different trees and the parasitic problems which can arise on certain ones at...
A perfect sunny day in early November, last year, had me experience one of my life’s great moments. John Mohr, my Iseli Nursery salesperson, invited me to experience, first-hand, one of the finest gardens in the Garden State. Hold on… not just the...
It’s no secret that over the last decade the “Green Industry”, garden centers and growers, have had their fair share of botanical struggles. Hemlocks have woolly adelgid, oaks have bacterial leaf scorch (BLS) disease, elms have Dutch elm disease and elm bark beetle, impatiens have...
Recently back from our family vacation, this year we decided to visit a national park that is nearly 3,500 square miles. Mostly in Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park also runs through parts of Montana and Idaho. Dramatic canyons, alpine rivers, mudpots, fumaroles, geysers, more wildlife than...
Having been an avid runner for most of my life, my first footrace came when I was just five years old. On a beach, down the Jersey shore, I completed that 5K run, 3.1 miles, and really never looked back. Having had some national experience...
“What are young women made of? Sugar and spice and all things nice, And such are young women made of.” The first time I heard the name of the plant Calycanthus ‘Burgundy Spice’ I was immediately reminded of Robert Southey’s words, English poet and historian...
Perhaps the most common question I am asked when selling a new plant is, “how much water should I give it?” A quick and easy answer is 2 or 3 times a week. A better answer is, put your hand in the soil and feel...
A frustration of mine is customers who continually buy the same tree or shrub over and over again simply because they have heard the name. Dogwood, cherry, magnolia and redbud certainly have their place in the world, but what about a tree that can offer...