The Case for Real Plants

The trouble with plants, and the great thing about plants, is that they’re living creatures.  Strangely enough people don’t often think about plants this way.  They totally miss the miracle before their eyes; that they’re respirating, growing, oxygen creating, living beings.  The down side, if we choose to see it as a down side, is  that living things are not plastic, they require care, they grow larger, they get sick, and as with all living things - they eventually die.

A Sky Mall ad for artificial plants

The Case for Real Plants and Gardening.

Growing plants can be very satisfying.  There is great satisfaction in nurturing a plant from a small seed or seedling, watching it mature into a plant that rewards us for our effort.  We get shade from trees.  We get fruit to eat.  We get the joy of seeing them make delicate, colorful, beautiful flowers as if by magic.  We are willed to breath deep and then smile when confronted with the sweet smell of a lilac or a mock orange.  What joy there is in watching monarch butterflies dance about a butterfly bush, or hummingbirds darting about a fuchsia drinking nectar!

Each day when I get home from work, I get great satisfaction from walking my garden to see what has changed, what’s in bloom, the magical appearance of fruit or fall foliage.  Each day is full of surprises and the tension that comes from a hard day's work dissipates into a feeling of relaxation and awe.  Sure it takes a bit of hard work and sweat equity to create a garden, but the best things in life require effort.  But don’t you value things more when you earn them and have a role in their creation?   

So tell me where is the joy in owning a plastic fish, a robotic dog (Remember when this was the craze in Japan?), or a plastic geranium.   I don’t get it.  But my guess is that someone reading this blog is addicted Tap-Fish, Farmville or a similar electronic game.  If so, here is a bit of free advice - I’m always grateful when someone shares the fruits of their garden, but if you play Farmville and send me a bushel of electronic corn I’ll delete you as Facebook friend, faster than the click of a mouse.  SO JUST STOP IT!  PLEASE.

Some might argue these games are a gateway drug that lead to real gardening or fish collecting, but I’m not so sure.  My wife played Tap-Fish for some time but has never moved on to a real fish tank.  Have any of you Farmville folks taken up farming yet?

So where do we go from here?  It seems quite simple to me.  The best thing we can do for a friend or a child is to give them a real, honest to goodness, living plant.  You’ll be doing them a great service.  It will get them out of their chair and away from their computer.  It will give them the change to taste a real pear or smell the sweet fragrance of a real lilac.  Until someone owns and grows a plant themselves, they’ll never understand the joy that comes from growing a plant or gardening.  Most people will find it more addicting than Farmville and a lot more satisfying.  Besides – no one will ever de-friend you for sharing a quart of real, honest to goodness raspberries.     

Felder Rushing - A Simple Dirt Gardener

I've known Felder Rushing for about eight or ten years. I see him at garden writer conferences. He's easy to notice and hard to forget with his beat up hat, scraggily goatee and his standout Southern accent. I knew he was a successful writer and that he wrote books and that his articles were published in fancy magazines that actually paid him money. I also knew he has a garden growing in the back of his F-150 pickup truck. But until Felder was booked to speak in my home town of Grand Haven, Michigan and I read an article in my hometown paper – I didn’t know how little I knew about Felder.

I did not know that Felder is a self-proclaimed dirt gardener. What's a dirt gardener you ask? Well this is how Felder describes himself:

"I garden for the love of it — not for the challenge of it. I have one basic gardening rule Green side up. Dirt gardeners don't do soil prep — we plant stuff in the dirt. We know a ceramic gnome is just as valuable as a life-size marble naked goddess statue, and that birds are just as interesting as anything out there and they don't ask much of us." He says, “... a plant shared with a friend is as valuable as one ordered from a glossy catalogue. We know where our plants came from — even the ones we stole."

Because Felder gardens in the heat of Mississippi, and I garden in the great white North, I assumed we had little in common. But I was wrong. It turns out we share the idea that gardening and growing plants is fun and simple. So simple that anyone can do it.

The big problem, in my opinion, is that there are way too many expert horticulturists out there telling you how complicated it is to garden. They would have you believe you need to match your flower colors using a color wheel. They say you have to sequence the bloom time of your flowers and to use grey as a foil between red and orange. They'll tell you to double dig your flower beds, do a soil test and to adjust your pH. (I’ve never done any of these things). And of course they'll tell you to “buy my book” to know how to garden.

This is all phooey.

You do not need the help of garden experts to garden. You just have to dig a hole and put a plant in it and water it a bit. Get over the idea that every plant you plant has to live 100 years. Plants are living by definition so of course they die. Just plant it - and don’t take it so personally if it dies. I’ve got a master's degree in horticulture and I've killed hundreds of plants. I'm ok with that. That’s how you learn!

It’s not about you!

When a plant grows well in our garden we say “Look what I did!” And when a plant dies we say “I have such a brown thumb.” Either way we give ourselves way too much credit. The fact is the plants is doing the growing – not us. So dig a hole, put a plant in it and enjoy it. If it struggles or gets too big for it's spot – dig it up and move to another location. If it dies - dig it out and plant something else. If it thrives - enjoy the miracle that plants are living creatures that hang out in our yard.

Growing plants is fun. It’s wondrous. It’s addicting. It’s good for the soul. It’s dirty, yet at the same time it brings us closer to God. It’s suppose to relaxing, so drop the guilt and stress that comes with doing it right or wrong – and just do it.

Felder Rushing is the author or co-author of 15 gardening books; and countless newspaper columns and articles for publications such as Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Better Homes & Gardens, Fine Gardening, and National Geographic. Felder has been featured three times in full-length articles in the New York Times. He has hosted a television program that was shown across the South, and appeared many times on other TV garden programs. Felder currently co-host’s a call-in garden program on NPR affiliate stations called The Gestalt Gardener.

Gardening Gone Wild - Takes 10 with Tim

Thank you to Fran Sorin at the blog "Gardening Gone Wild". Fran interviewed me for the blog she co-authors with five other bloggers and recently posted "Take 10: Q&A with Tim Wood. You can read Fran's interview by clicking in the link above. You'll get to see a rather good looking picture of me comparing the blooms of Increidball Hydrangea with an Annabelle Hydrangea. Fran asked me some crazy, and some not so crazy, questions. For example "What is the one thing that people would be suprised to learn about me?"

On a different note, I've been created a Proven Winners ColorChoice Fan Club on Facebook. If you're into Facebook, simply seach the term "Proven Winners" and you'll find us. Join the club and share your experiences! Connect with others that have the same passion! Invite your friends!

Initially, I could not understand Facebook, but after doing it for a few weeks I now understand its value. The fan club page allows me to post videos, files, links to articles, photo albums etc. and it gives everyone the opportunity to share their opinions and comments. If you're a Facebook fan check it out!

Gardening on TV with the Plant Hunter

I just completed a short trip to the East Coast with stops in Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The expedition was both interesting and entertaining. I started out in Rhode Island where I was interviewed for the television show Cultivating Life with Sean Conway. It was the first time I met Sean Conway in person so I was pleased to learn that he was more than just a television personality; he’s also an experienced horticulturist, garden designer and nurseryman. Just like me, Sean had a nursery that specialized in rare and hard to find plants. But unlike me, his nursery became a regular destination for magazine editors, authors and style conscious personalities. And unlike me, Sean became a repeat guest on Martha Stewart Living and NBC’s Today show. I, on the other hand, went on to became a guest on Cultivating Life with Sean Conway.

Being on TV is not new to me. I’ve done numerous television appearances, both locally and nationally. I’ve even appeared all of South Korea’s two television stations, so I can tell you from experience that Cultivating Life is first rate production. Sean and his entire production crew are skilled professionals and it was a pleasure to work with them. In TV Land this is not always the case. During a break, I told Sean about my most memorable television experience. It was a live, 30 minute television show and it did not take long to realize I was in big trouble. Five minutes prior to air the host asked me if I was a Master Gardener. When I responded "No", she touched my shoulder and replied in a low, sympathetic voice “I’m so sorry. Don’t you worry; I won’t mention that on the air.” And then, to make matters worse, about halfway into the show she started calling me Tim Cook. I couldn’t believe it. She continued on and on even while the producer frantically waved a big card board sign reading “His name is Tim Wood!!!” How embarrassing is that?

Anyway – if you want to see a first rate gardening show, check out Cultivating Life with Sean Conway. The show’s not live - it’s taped one year in advance - so you won’t get to see Tim Cook, but if you’re lucky you just might catch Tim Wood.

What's Your favorite Gardening Show? Tell me why.

Want to be GREEN? Promote Gardening

I recently read an annual report for a botanical garden entitled Hope for Healing the Planet. Among other things I learned that they were embarking on a new strategic plan. Over the last twenty years botanical gardens and arboreta have evolved to the point where they are faced with redefining their purpose. I recall a conversation with Peter Ashton, the Director of the Arnold Arboretum, in which he explained that his most daunting task was justifying the Arboretum to Harvard in an age of molecular biology. Since that conversation, I have watched with interest as public gardens have evolved to redefine their relevance.

What is botanical garden’s greatest asset? Why do people visit? Why do they become members? What do we do best? These are the questions to be asked during the strategic planning process. Do the visitors come to see the rose garden, the children’s garden, the home idea gardens, the prairie, or is it they’re intrigued by their conservation efforts?

You know the answer – they come because the botanic garden is an oasis of breathtaking beauty in an urban jungle. The garden inspires; it reveals the beauty of plant diversity, and give us ideas and hope that plants and people can coexist, and shows us that life is enhanced when we are surrounded by a diversity of plants.

And now in this time of Sustainability and Green, the clear need, the necessary message, and the great opportunity being neglected is that plants and gardens need to be at the core of the Green movement. But why plant tree seedlings in a distant forest as carbon offsets when we need to be planting trees, shrubs, perennials in our cities and yards; close to the sources of carbon and pollution, and where people can actually be healed by the power of plants?

I would encourage everyone to champion gardening as a green lifestyle. A year ago, standing on top of a hotel in Nagoya, Japan I was saddened by the prospect of concrete to the distant horizon. What a contrast to Chicago which is a beacon of green to all other cities in its devotion to plants and gardens. What a unique time and place we are in to promote the healing power of plants by planting our own yards and neighborhoods! Change happens locally.

What can we do to promote the healing power of plants and plant diversity at a local level? Encourage people to grow plants in their yard then expand to their neighborhoods and city. I know a man that loves to collect trees and shrubs, but he quickly ran out of yard space. He asked his neighbor if he could plant some of his trees and shrubs on his property and the neighbor agreed. Soon this yard was filled with new species of plants so the man went to another neighbor and did the same. Today his entire neighborhood is a beautiful, mapped and labeled botanical garden accessible to all. While in Korea a man told me the native species of White Forsythia, Abeliophyllum distichum was endangered, and that as a conservation effort the government made is illegal to grow or sell. He was in awe when I told him we sell about 5,000 a year and that people actually plant it in their yards.

While I commend botanical gardens and garden writers for picking up the banner of global warming, invasive plants, habitat conservation, etc., I question whether this should be our main role. If it is Conservation that makes a botanic Garden relevant and defines its purpose (as the annual report I read suggested) then why do they waste the time and money maintaining a garden?

Many of you reading this blog have the knowledge and voice to promote gardening as way for everyone to heal the planet. I urge that you keep this at the center of your personal mission statement. Something to consider as you revise your personal strategic plan. Share this with a friend and ask them to comment.

Shrubs with Unique Architecture

Some years back, I received a call from Gary Koller, a well-respected garden designer in the Boston area. Gary urged me to find and offer more shrubs with narrow, columnar growth habits. In his opinion, we needed plants with a smaller footprint that took up less space in the landscape. He also felt these shrubs added interesting architecture to gardens. The trend toward smaller home lots dictates the need for smaller and/or narrower shrubs. After all, who has the space for a Spiraea x ‘Vanhouttei’ in their garden anymore?

Narrower shrubs have another great benefit; they require less care and maintenance. Growers spend less time spacing and pruning them which saves them money. Homeowners also benefit from these shrubs as they save them both time and effort. Berberis t. ‘Helmond Pillar’, Sunjoy™ Gold Pillar (Berberis t. ‘Maria’), Buxus sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’, Sky Pointer™ (Ilex crenata ‘Farrowone’), Castle Wall™ (Ilex x meserveae ‘Hechenstar’) and Fine Line® (Rhamnus frangula ‘Ron Williams’) are a few narrow plants that have seen increased popularity over the last few years. I suspect this trend will continue.

Fine Line Rhamnus

What Are Your Favorite New Plants?

I was recently asked to give a talk at the GLTE - Great Lakes Trade Exposition and I was asked to speak on my 10 favor shrubs. I don't know about you but this is nearly an impossible task. Every day I have a new list of favorites - depending upon what's going on in the garden.

Any way it got me thinking - and I added some pics of a few of my current favorites to the bottom right hand side of my blog page. I also thought it would be interesting to hear about your favorite plants - especially any new plants that you think are exciting and would like to share with everyone.

So Tell Me - What are your favorite plants? And tell us why.

Post your list as a comment and tell us your favorites.

Guest Author - The Perennial Diva

Once upon a time several years ago, Sinclair Adam Jr of Dunvegan Nursery of West Chester, Pa. He had a whole field of Phlox 'David', and lo and behold a pink mildew phlox appeared. We know 'David' is the father and we suspect 'Eva Collum' is the mother, but only the pollinators know for sure.

I trialed the plant and he called it 'Shortwood, in honor of my garden. 'Shortwood' is not short, but a medium sized phlox in bright pink. The combination produced one of the most mildew resistant phloxes on the market.

Phlox 'David' is a studly plant. In my garden'David' crossed with 'Shortwood' to producea beautiful bi-color phlox. It will be released in'08. Since I found it I named it 'Blushing Shortwood'. It's dramatic and fragrant. The end of my story unless 'David' finds a new conquest.

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PHLOX paniculata SHORTWOOD - PP#10379 - Tall 42" - Plant 20 " apart. Zone 4-8. The mildew resistance of P. David with the bright pink blossoms of P. Eva Cullum. Strong, sturdy stems are excellent for cutting. Forms a broad clump. A Blooms of Bressingham selection. Shortwood can be purchased on line at Bluestone Perennials.

The guest author of this post of the Plant Hunter is ...

Stephanie Cohen is "The Perennial Diva"

Known by many names throughout the horticultural world -- the "Vertically Challenged Gardener" and the "Dr. Root of Perennials," among others -- Stephanie Cohen has much to offer your club or institution.

She specializes in giving unique garden lectures, writing attention-getting, informative articles and designing award-winning garden spaces. Stephanie Cohen has taught herbaceous plants and perennial design at Temple University for more than 20 years. She is the former director of the Landscape Arboretum at Temple University, Ambler. Stephanie is a contributing editor for "Fine Gardening" and The HGTV Newsletter; sits on the advisory board for "Green Profit" and is on the advisory board of "Green Scene"; and she is a regional writer for the Blooms of Bressingham Plant Program. She also writes for "Country Living Gardener" and "American Nurseryman" magazines.

She has received four awards from the Perennial Plant Association for design, and received the group's Service and Academic Award. She has received awards from Temple University, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and The American Nursery & Landscape Association for Garden Communicator of the Year 2000.

Stephanie has written a book on design called "The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer," which is published by Storey Press. It was the publisher's best-selling book for 2005. In 2006 she and co-author Nancy Ondra, along with photographer Rob Cardillo, were awarded Storey Publishing's Garden Media Award for the year's Best Overall Product: Book. Stephanie has started on her second book in 2006.

Stephanie has lectured coast to coast, including in Alaska. She has been on QVC TV as the "Perennial Diva." In April 2005 she became a Temple University Alumni Fellow, the most distinguished award that can be given to an alumna. She does a monthly show for CNN TV.
For more information, or to arrange a speaking engagement or consultation, please contact Stephanie at (610) 409-8232 or e-mail to info@perennialdiva.com.

The Gift: a passion for plants

While I spend most of my time looking for new plants, today I discovered some plants that were old but personally significant. My father sent me an email with a link to a website called Penny Postcards. On this site you can view old postcards arranged geographically by state and county. My father directed me to the cards for Linn County, Iowa. Here I discovered beautiful postcards of gardens designed by my late grandfather William Wood, the former manager of parks for Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

I’ve never met my grandfather. I am sad to say he died before I was born, but I do feel a closeness to William for like my father and me, he was a plantsman. He was trained in England as a true master gardener before he immigrated to the town made famous by Quaker Oats. I have visited the parks of Cedar Rapids many times and with each visit I was warmly greeted with the smell of cooked oats and the lasting remnants of William’s handy work; the Ellis Park golf course, the ruins of an old Shakespeare garden and trees planted by his caring hands. No, I have never met my grandfather, but still, I have come to know him. He loved plants and gardens, and he had a desire to share his passion with others, and that is the gift he gave to me.

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