We all want eye-catching plants—but we also want (and need) plants with a purpose.Ken and I invite you to a free webinar showcasing the real standouts they recommend that combine both form and function in sometimes unexpected ways.To just
21.07.2023 - 22:50 / awaytogarden.com / Martha Stewart / Ken Druse
I SEEM TO HAVE ACHIEVED a new level of connection (resemblance?) to things that photosynthesize: I am finally one of the colorful faces on the cover of a plant catalog—the new Plant Delights catalog, specifically. But no, I have not been tissue-cultured or otherwise propagated, and am not for sale. (To see the image big, click over to the jump page.)The 2013 PDN catalog celebrates “a quarter century of delightful plants”—meaning proprietor Tony Avent and I got into the business at the same time. Happy silver anniversary to both of us (remember, I told you all about my 25th the other day?).
I love that Tony saw to it that I was clustered on the bottom right of his new cover with Ken Druse, who I think introduced me to Dan Hinkley decades ago, and nearby to Martha Stewart, whom I introduced to Dan when I went to work for her in 1994ish. The illustration makes me remember many good times with those three and various people pictured: particularly Neil Diboll of Prairie Nursery (Ken Druse and I first traveled to see him around 1992, I think, when we were working on “The Natural Habitat Garden” book together), and Roy Klehm of Klehm’s Song Sparrow, a master nurseryman and expert on so many things, including peonies and (like Plant Delights’ Tony Avent), hostas.
From those few names alone—Tony, Neil, Ken, Dan, Roy, Martha—I have learned, and seen, so much. Nice to all be together again in this cartoon moment! The full key to who’s who is here.
Did you miss my recent Q&A with Tony Avent about some great plants that could use better P.R.? Though the giveaway is over, it’s still a good read. As is his 2013 catalog.
Categoriesornamental plantsWe all want eye-catching plants—but we also want (and need) plants with a purpose.Ken and I invite you to a free webinar showcasing the real standouts they recommend that combine both form and function in sometimes unexpected ways.To just
Blue-flowered plants seem to always have that mystique. While still partly leafless in early spring, about mid-April here, Trachystemon sends up its showy blue flowers on stems perhaps 10 inches tall in my conditions, and gradually after that the big, heart-shaped leaves, about the same height, finally fill in, making a pleasing bold statement, if not a spectacular one.Good news, bad news: Trachystemon will do in sun or shade, and even in dry shade at the roots of trees (or in damp spots). This rhizomatous do-er seems to be happy with total neglect, almost anywhere (Zones 5 or 6-9). It outcompetes many weeds—a great trait in a groundcover, too. But this kind of cooperative nature also means it is a thug in climates like England’s, where it has been naturalized for as long as anyone can remember (so the Pacific Northwest, for instance, would be a potential romping grounds).I am about to move some of my little blue ocean to the hardest places i
Like all of Ken’s 18 books (!!!), “Making More Plants: The Science, Art and Joy of Propagation” is rich in instruction, but also visually arresting, since he’s an award-winning photographer, too. It covers the botany of propagation—the why’s behind how you can make more plants of a particular species sexually or asexually or both—because as Ken says:“It is not essential to learn about botany to garden well; it’s inevitable.”Then in words and intimate pictures he covers virtually every tactic for doing so, from seed-sowing to leaf and root cuttings, to layering, grafting, division and more. The photos are so beautiful, and Ken’s obvious enthusiasm so evident on every page, that I want to try everything. (Just what I nee
First, a disclaimer, since my old-style journalistic policy is not to accept samples of garden products or plants, even for my giveaways, and because I almost never write about a product:I got my first length of this particular hose when it was a prototype, in an inadvertent swap with the man developing it. Jeff Thomas of Water Right Inc. emailed me when I left my job and started A Way to Garden; he’d heard I was consulting, and wondered if I might be free to help with something. We met, and though we never did work together, that morning I swapped some of my ideas for a bagel, tea—and a piece of the most unusual-looking garden hose I’d ever seen.I know more than the av
There is also an Open Day in nearby Litchfield County, Connecticut that day and in Dutchess County, New York (the other adjacent area to me). Be sure to check for those listings, too, and make a day of it.Can’t make it? How about coming June 2, or August 18? (Or come back; always something different going on.) On the August date, Broken Arrow will be here again doing a sale in time for fall planting, and garden writer and old friend Ken Druse will deliver a morning lecture on plant combinations and do a smaller afternoon workshop on propagation.All the details on those other days, including links to follow for the Ken Druse events, are on my events page. Ken’s talk and workshop require prior
This is the 12th of our monthly Urgent Garden Question Q&A shows, and we thank you for your support—and for your questions most of all. You can keep them coming any time in comments or by email, using the contact form, or at Facebook.Read along as you listen to the Jan. 1, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Plus: Enter to win a copy of Ken’s n
Your Urgent Garden Questions have been arriving in blog comments, on Facebook, and in emails, and we’ve rounded up the most representative ones to tackle today, in the monthly Q&A episode of the program. (All past editions of our Q&As together are at this link.)Ken, an award-winning garden photographer and author of more books than I can count, including “The New Shade Garden” and “Making More Plants,” produced his own “Real Dirt” podcast for 10 years, all available on KenDruse dot com (and on iTunes, too).Let’s dig right in:Read along as you listen to the April 24, 2107 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Oh, an
GARDEN VISITING: Entry to the garden from 10 AM to 4 PM, as for all Garden Conservancy Open Days, will be a suggested $5 donation per adult, with all proceeds to be split by the Conservancy and Friends of Taconic State Park, a local charity. No reservations required for garden visiting.KEN DRUSE LECTURE: Ken Druse‘s 11 AM talk on creating exciting plant combinations will be held at the Church of St. John in the Wilderness, Copake Falls, about 2 minutes’ drive from my garden. Reservations suggested as space is limited; learn more and buy a $20 ticket, to benefit Friends of Taconic State Park.SHOP FOR PLANTS: Broken Arrow‘s plant sale will take place in my driveway from 10 AM to 4 PM. Want to know more about them? Read my recent Q&A about exceptional plants with Adam Wheeler of Broken Arrow of
KEN CALLS HIMSELF “a slob,” and I call myself a “spot cleaner,” meaning at cleanup time, neither one of us treats the garden like a living room that we’re vacuuming. We don’t go wall-to-wall, but rather pick it apart slowly, with a method to our madness:Leave especially ornamental or wildlife-friendly plants standing: “Some things are pretty,” says Ken, “and some provide cover for animals and insects—hopefully the animals and insects you want to encourage, but of course you can’t choose.” Save what looks good—to you or the birds—as long as you can, particularly seed-laden ones (assuming they are not the weeds you’re trying to combat—more on t
And like the Postal Service, we did so despite the weather, each of us snowed in at our respective homes, unable to reach the radio studio (where it was also likewise a whiteout) therefore recording via a less-than-ideal remote hookup. Forgive the audio hiccups; a consequence of our weather workaround.This episode is the second of Ken Druse’s and my promised monthly reader Q&A series. Submit a question for a future show on Facebook, in the comments on this post, or in the contact form here, too.I could best describe Ken as my kooky old friend from whom I have learned much about plants over the years…but here’s the formal version: Ken, an award-winning garden photographer and author of more books
That’s my rex begonia vine up top, Cissus discolor, one of my recent victories in last winter’s experiments in finding the right offseason storage spot for the right plant.Read along as you listen to the Sept. 24, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).begonia boliviensis and eucomisQ. We’ve have our first taste in the Northeast of fall in some recent days. So I thought it was a good time to sort of talk about bringing things in and getting ready, even if it’s not time urgently yet. We had a question from Amy, who wrote in
I’ve asked garden writer, photographer and longtime friend Ken Druse of KenDruse dot com to help me answer all your Urgent Garden Questions about overwintering tactics, which is the topic of this month’s Q&A on my public-radio show and podcast. In a regular segment plus an overtime bonus 15 minutes, we covered lots of plants, from figs and rosemary to cannas and callas and dahlias and elephant ears, to potted trees (including citrus) and shrubs and more. After each brief discussion of a plant, I’ve also included a link to more comprehensive how-to about caring for it in the offseason.Read along as you listen to the Oct. 2, 2017 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).overwintering tender plants: basic strategies(and fungus gnats)Q. You