Archive for July, 2011

Tick Talk: Guest Blog by Nick Rhodehamel

High above the Wabash River with night falling, it was still almost as hot and humid as it had been all the way across Missouri and Illinois. Now with the flat tire, it seemed unlikely that I’d make it the remaining 330 odd miles home that night. As I removed the jack and straightened up, […]

New Fordhook Trees, Part 3

Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’ Weeping Beech Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’ Weeping Beech Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Fir) ‘Graceful Grace’ Pseudotsuga menziesii on the left and at front right is Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress) ‘Cascade Falls’ Taxodium distichum ‘Cascade Falls’ with Seed House roof Another view ‘Graceful Grace’ again Pinus parviflora ‘Glauca Nana’, a rare cultivar of Japanese White […]

Nature’s Garbage Collectors: Guest Blog by Nick Rhodehamel

For a long time, I used to say that crows like nothing better than pizza crust. But that’s not strictly true; crows seem to eat and to enjoy most table scraps. They don’t obviously roost near our house, but they must watch us because when we put out stale bread, old pasta, or anything else […]

Turning Over the Political Soil

Recent history books such as ‘Founding Gardeners’ by Andrea Wulf have revealed the botanical, horticultural and agricultural enthusiasms of the Founding Fathers and signatories to the Declaration of Independence, who recognized the most valuable assets of the colonies were diverse economic plants. In time, their experiments became passions. For Washington, Madison and Jefferson they became […]