Ken Druse/Real Dirt

Ken Druse REAL DIRT 7-10-09

Who Does Your Garden Grow?

Doug Brenner, co-author of A Rose By Any Name, is my guest this week. Doug is the former editor of Martha Stewart Living and Garden Design magazines. His new book, written with America’s favorite rosarian, and next week’s guest Stephen Scanniello, delves into the fabulous names of America’s favorite flower. We hear about some of the stories behind these varieties, and I also ask him about publishing and garden book publishing. So, we get two behind-the-scenes looks – at roses and publishing.

      Here are a few examples of roses (people) in the book: Barbra Streisand, Constance Spry (left), Empress Josephine, Helen Keller, President Herbert Hoover, Queen Elizabeth (below), to drop a few. And other intriguing monikers that might be found in your garden include: Chrysler Imperial, Cherokee Rose, Eglantine, The Fairy, Fashion, Gourmet Popcorn, Green Rose, Shipwreck Rose and the Yellow Rose of Texas.

     In all, 48 roses are featured in detail, and nearly 1500 more mentioned. By the way, do you know about a holy rose, or a cut flower that fetched a price equal to a full day’s pay?

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Ken Druse REAL DIRT 7-3-09

Take a Bee to Lunch

    National pollinator week was June 22 to 28. A symposium was held at the Smithsonian Institution featuring the NAPPC – the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, which represents more than one hundred agencies, government and non-government institutions, garden and grower groups, scientists, and other concerned citizens from Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
    The goal is to encourage the health of resident and migratory pollinating animals in North America. This is  important for people, too, in numerous ways, including for food, over 30% of which depends directly on pollinators. The NAPPC not only cares about insects like honeybees, but butterflies, bats, birds, flies, beetles and most of all – native species of these animals. We’ve all heard about problems with European honeybees, but several of our native bumblebees are also in trouble – mostly due to habitat loss.

    Check out this week’s show. You’ll hear about things you can do for local pollinators right in your own garden, but you’ll also learn of a rather insidious plan to import European bumblebees for hothouse tomato production – a scary idea, if you ask me.

ABOVE: Native bumblebee and buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

ALSO: dividing tall bearded iris.

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Ken Druse REAL DIRT 6-26-09

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Tall Tales

   I participated in the North Hill symposium, last week, in Vermont. The theme was art in the garden, and it was a great event with speakers including: Bill Thomas of Chanticleer, the public garden in Wayne, PA; sculptor Marcia Donahue, Tennessee extension service expert Carol Reese, and me.
   North Hill is a magnificent private garden, and people who come to the annual symposium get to tour it and see plants like hardy orchids, blue poppies and much more. Bill talked about the cutting edge design at Chanticleer, and Marcia showed a lot of her work. Carol is just about the funniest gardening speaker of all.
   While Marcia visited me in NJ, we took on the challenge of dealing with an embarrassment of riches -- 20 three-foot-tall ‘Graham Blandy’ columnar boxwoods.
   I like columnar plants because you can fit so many more into smaller spaces, and also make visual punctuation marks in the garden’s design.
   See pictures below of North Hill plants, Marcia’s work and some very-narrow-growing plants in my garden, as well as the beginning of our new “grove” of boxwoods.

 

Ken Druse REAL DIRT 6-19-09

Another Typical Day in the Neighborhood

    Jill Hagler, who lives across the river, lost a huge oak tree that stood perched on a cliff above her family’s house. (See photos, below.) She was inside at the time, and now she shares her scary experience with us.
     When big things happen to our gardens, like the loss of a tree, some folks instantly try to comfort us by saying “well, you have space for something new,” or “now you have sun.” Though true, these words do not compensate for the loss (or calm the fright). But one thing helps, I’ve found, as did Jill, husband Chris and daughter Jody – getting out there and cleaning up. Having an impact on the landscape -- recycling what you can and hauling bits to the compost pile -- has a positive psychological affect. It makes you feel part of the garden, the experience, nature, and begins the heeling process.
     Who knows, in time perhaps Jill will be able to have the lilac collection she’s always wanted in her new sunny spot?

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