Lawn live the King

By on Aug 10, 2018 in Lawn-gevity |

Lawns are a way of taming nature in an age when urban dwellers are distant from nature and live in developments with association rules where they cut the trees down and name the streets after them. Lawns are a means homeowners can map their territory. Now understand I said map and not mark. Some animals mark via bio evacuation or scent or auditory squawk which is unacceptable in the human urban neighborhood kingdom. Lawns are instead territorial mapping of a sociographical plot, habitual use becomes the home range, where horticultural prowess is put on display for all to see in the spirit of competition, borders established and instead of confrontational becomes more so an act of avoidance if you’re not into your neighbors. The lawn is an extension of themselves and will be defended if necessary. The call to arms is “get off my lawn” in the modern day colonist vernacular of each...

Adventures in Plant Sitting

By on Aug 2, 2018 in General, Kick in the Plants! |

 

I Just Wet My Plants Campaign Film (The Garden Party political endorsement)

By on Jul 26, 2018 in General |

Multi-deer-mentional and Bambi-dextrous (not tonight deer)

By on Jul 25, 2018 in Deer resistant plants |

It’s the animals with healthy diets that create problems for me. The ones that eat vegetation. As people we are told to have a healthy diet we should eat more plants. For some animals that’s all they eat, and our yards are one big delicious buffet. It’s the healthy vegetarians that drive me crazy…Deer, Rabbits, Woodchucks. Even the possums are a problem with their healthy diet choices as they munch on my grapes and terrorize my neighbor’s protein rich chickens. I live on the lakeshore and the animals with junk food trashy diets don’t cause me much trouble. The seagulls love French fries though their food of choice is Doritos. The raccoon’s entrée of choice is the garbage can and the skunks stick to lawn insects like grubs. Lately it seems the deer are numerous, emboldened and less picky about where and when they dine. It seems where ever you live now more than ever. Their only natural...

Garden Party Hangover

By on Jul 20, 2018 in Kick in the Plants! |

Check out this picture I took of the “Corpse Flower” or Titan Arum after done blooming. It gave me a chuckle as the bloom drew huge crowds to get a peek (and a whiff) but can only hold it’s bloom for 24 to 36 hours before it collapses. That’s exactly what this one did…..after the crowds left and the party ended it looked to me like it had a hangover with its tongue hanging out!

I’m feeling Bosky

By on Jul 10, 2018 in Summer |

I like feeling bosky. No not that unshaven feeling where you have the scruffy beard of a sailor at sea. That feeling when you are aware of the changing seasons because of deciduous shrubs and trees. bosky adjective \ˈbäs-kē\ having abundant trees or shrubs Landscape shrubs and trees are wonderful at marking the seasons of our lives. You might not realize it but deep down you like feeling bosky too. Plants help people celebrate the changing of the seasons. In the midwest and the north we have very distinct and identifiable changes to all four seasons every year. For some they face it, for others they embrace it. Deciduous plants embrace the change of seasons moving from dormancy, to spring and summer blooming, to fall color and back to dormancy again. Fortunately dormancy is a reversible condition. Deciduous shrubs and trees both face it and embrace it and we are the beneficiaries of...

I just wet my plants….watering tips and thoughts

By on Jun 18, 2018 in Wet your plants! |

Hot weather can be tough on both plants and people. Our bodies contain about 60 percent water and many plants are 85 to 90 percent water! With people hot weather raises your requirement for fluids whether you’re exercising or not. The same can be said for plants. And yes when they are putting out (flowering or fruiting) I consider that “plant exercise” for something planted in place. For you humans sitting on the deck put down that beer and caffeinated energy drink….they do not count as hydrating. I love words and specifically synonyms. So when writing, I work to paint a picture with words using a variety of descriptive alternatives…you could say I am on a “synonym roll”. I’m on such a roll when it comes to watering needs of plants. Attention is not a critical act like judgment is. It is an art and a discipline. Unless they are a celebrity, most people don’t receive a lot of attention...

You Rose to the Occasion

By on Jun 5, 2018 in Summer |

Invite some royalty to your garden party this summer. The rose has long been the queen of the summer time garden. Roses have been symbols of love, fame, beauty, war, and celebration and have quite a history. From use as confetti at celebrations to a source for perfume, they “rose” to the occasion in good times and bad. A lady with expensive taste and a love for gardening and roses, Napoleon’s wife Josephine established an extensive collection of roses at Chateau de Malmaison, an estate seven miles west of Paris in the 1800s. While Napoleon was out fighting his battles and making his conquests, Josephine was busy spending his money on the chateau and extensive gardens with a particular interest in roses. He was none too pleased with her floriferous spending habits but you can’t tell me he didn’t appreciate a stroll through the rose garden.  No one ever promised you a rose garden,...