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Distracted By Joy
On Tuesday morning – the last of 2024 – I had a phone conversation with Scott Beuerlein, one of my co-editors here at GardenRant, checking in on his mobility after hip surgery this month. With his schedule, I just couldn’t wait for a letter. Somewhere in a conversation that ranged from the... -
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The hatchet job
I once ran with a posse of boys who scoured scrawny woods at the end of a suburban street with cowboy hats and hatchets. We were determined to carve out a tiny settlement of our own. The crew of six-year-olds chopped small trees until fatigue set in minutes later. Building a makeshift eight-foot... -
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What the Hell is Horticulture and Why Does it Matter?
I am a horticulturist who works at a zoo, and this is often terribly humbling. Although the zoo where I work is also a botanical garden, and a damned good one (great plant collection, a beautiful tree canopy, colorful gardens, research, community work, conservation and Arbnet level IV... -
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Pollinator Partnership’s Stewardship Training – a Disappointment
Examples like this would make Pollinator Partnership’s training more translatable to home gardens. UPDATE: I received this email from Pollinator Partnership:My apologies that the Pollinator Steward Certification program did not meet your expectations. We are always trying to improve our... -
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Roundup isn’t what you think it is anymore
None of these products contain glyphosate. Like all reasonably knowledgeable gardeners, I thought I knew what’s in the most commonly used herbicide in history, but not anymore. Take a look at the ingredient list for the “Roundup” products at your local box store. Since the 1973 launch of the... -
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Green businesses will feel the pain of tariffs
Last time I wrote about local florists and the Slow Flowers movement, I got a comment from a reader, Sheena, who said, “I did smile when you described Canada as ‘local.’” She was right to smile. Canada goes well beyond what I think of “local” when it comes to its garden and floral-related... -
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When the need for tree cover is questioned
Trees and forests are always subject to political winds of change, whether they’re blowing from the left or from the right. This time, efforts to improve urban tree cover are the ecological pawns in a backlash against any policy that admits to America’s history of racism. Susan recently posted... -
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In Defense of The Daffodil
Many years ago, my young daughter and two friends made three little shelters at the edge of the woods with fallen branches, and in front of each entryway they planted a daffodil bulb to signify planting a garden and to mark where they had spent a long, gentle summer in play. It is not too much... -
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Return of the No-Mow-Month Meme
UPDATE: More assessments on the no-mow-month campaign since publication of this post: A spokesperson for the National Wildlife Federation said, on in April 2024 “A Way To Garden” podcast, “We’ve really been leaning into and pushing what we call “grow beyond No-Mow May. The reason is in certain... -
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Horticulture in Harmony? Here’s Hoping
“When will the tulips be at peak bloom?” We sure hear that question at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. A lot! Best guess up until a month out, mid-April. But every year is different. Weather. In Cincinnati. But today is April 12th, and, this year, 2023, they came in right on time. The... -
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Getting a bad name
Before embarking on this post, I did a quick search to see how many times the name “Audubon” comes up in Garden Rant posts and comments. The answer: many, many times, though – interestingly – not always in a complimentary manner. We’ve taken the National Audubon Society to task for buying into... -
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Love the weeds you’re with
I have taken liberty with Stephen Stills’s 1970 song Love the One You’re With. The singer-songwriter, deep in the weeds of love, was working through an anguished relationship and attempting to let go. “Concentration slips away. Because your baby is so far away.” Well there’s a rose in a fisted... -
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Set a Weed to catch a Weed.
Readers in America will have to forgive me some of this. I understand you have many ‘invasives’ and many people only wish to grow native plants. And I think many of you have local rules which also inform what you are allowed to plant. Though it does seems some Ranters like to indulge a weed. In... -
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Loving Gardens Elsewhere
Anyone who follows me on Instagram (@bensbotanics) will probably have come to the conclusion that I’m a bit of a ‘plant nerd’. I’m writing this article in the spare bedroom of my little house in Devon, UK, surrounded by my gardening books. I love plants. I love seeing them, finding out about... -
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It’s A New Growing Season! Cue The Paid Partnerships.
What are your numbers? From garden bloggers to your 15-year-old niece, one’s social media following has become a statement of self. At a recent trade show, I was introduced to a colleague not with his name and profession, but his name and impressive follower count on Youtube, a proclamation that... -
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Garden Volunteers
Gardening is a noble profession. It probably won’t make you rich unless you get one of the handful of ‘top jobs’ that pay very well; ironically these are jobs where you’re paid to not actually do any gardening. Even if you go into ‘horticultural media’ you won’t earn the big bucks compared to... -
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‘Snowflake’ Oakleaf Hydrangea has No Fragrance and No Bees. A Cultivar Fail?
Oakleaf Hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) is my favorite hydrangea, and this one in my back garden seriously bowls me over in every season. But it’s more than a beauty pageant winner – the fragrance is fabulous and the blooms are buzzing with bees! Here’s one now! But check out the shape of... -
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WaPo columnist says nonnative plants are “killing the Earth.” Experts respond.
Readers of the Washington Post, including me, have followed Dana Milbank’s thoughtful, left-leaning political commentary for years. So what a surprise to read a recent column chastising himself – and really all of us – for growing nonnative plants. The title is “I’m no genius about genuses, but... -
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A familiar voice speaks out on natives and pollinators
Well, look who’s thrown his famous hat in the ring of the often-contentious discussion around pollinators and native plants. It’s Friend of Rant Allan Armitage, the author of Herbacious Perennial Plants, who has often contributed guest opinions here – actually, it’s been too long since we’ve... -
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The Truth about Nandinas Killing Birds
Nandina ‘Burgundy Wine’ along the front of my house – in January. Other evergreens are Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’ and Carex ‘Ice Dance’. I recently welcomed visitors to my townhouse garden, happily at first, until I was asked – more than once – to defend the Nandinas shrubs I’d planted along the...