Exploring the world of gardening. Observations, gardens to visit, thoughts on ecology, gardener interviews, and commentary.
Every botanical garden has their forte, their special something that sets them apart from the others. Prior to any trip that includes a stop at a botanical garden, I tend to scour websites in anticipation of the sort of plantings I will see. However, before my trip to speak at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens last …
Towards the end of our Thailand excursion, we flew to Chiang Mai, a northern city that is situated in the mountains. It was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to and turned out to be the city (next to Bangkok) that I would be most interested in revisiting to explore further. …
This cluster of hanging baskets photographed in the Tropical High Elevation House at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens harbours a secret. It took three trips to the room before we spotted them.
Update: The winner is Manju. Congrats! Another post was intended for today, but in light of a recent (and disturbing) disparately located online thread that suggests that garden writers should stick to sunshine and roses and leave out the “negative” stuff, I have decided to switch gears and reintroduce a book I have discussed at …
The large inflorescence in the background of this photo belongs to Agave parryi, an agave that can be hardy to -18C (according to “High and Dry: Gardening with Cold-Hardy Dryland Plants” by Robert Nold), depending on the growing conditions. Recently, I have been learning about some of the hardier agaves and was pleased to see …
As promised, a follow-up post of closeup shots taken at the Mount Goliath alpine garden. While I had to exclude hundreds of shots to keep this post within reason, I still managed to go overboard with over 30 images. As a result, I have embedded a slideshow so that those of you with a slow …
How cool to be so high I could actually see where the trees stopped. Just like that. No more trees. While in Denver, a friend of ours (thanks Ross!) generously offered to take us up to Mt. Goliath, an alpine area that is managed by the Denver Botanic Gardens. As an alpine plant fan this …
This image functions as a good demonstration of just how dry gardening is in Denver without the benefit of a hose. This landscape is nothing more than a random scattering of common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) with a few hot pink-flowered hollyhocks and dry land grasses thrown in. I’m not even sure it qualifies as a …
Davin and I were taken with this flowering cactus (Echinocereus viridiflorus) in the Alpine Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Here’s an in context shot so that you can see how the plant was growing in a stone trough. I looked the genus up on the United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database and was …
Yesterday we drove to Nebraska to see some fields. That was not a difficult task to achieve and is in keeping with what I expected. But what has surprised me on this trip is just how dry it is here. Take this picture, shot in Colorado on the way back from Nebraska. This is High …
This one is a little taste for my friend Barry who really wants to make it to see the alpine garden at the Denver Botanic Garden, someday. I have no idea, but WHAT? The aliens are here. This last shot is of the “Ponderosa Garden” near the entrance. Denver is incredible. I am loving it …
Hello. How are you? It’s been quiet here for a bit. Deadlines and such. I will probably be a little light on posting for a while longer, but I am just over the hump. I’m gonna make it after-all! Perhaps when this is all said and done I should make a trip to Minnesota just …