my open-garden day august 18: lecture by ken druse, plant sale by broken arrow nursery

The fourth annual Copake Falls Day—a hamlet in Columbia County, New York, that includes a substantial tract of Taconic State Park land, part of the New York State park system—includes a lineup of events from antique tractors and cars to an art show tours of the former Iron Works (this was an iron-ore mining town back in the day). Other local gardens will also be open for visiting. My contributions to the goings-on:Garden LectureTo register for my 8:30 AM slide lecture at Church of St. John in the Wilderness, follow this link. The topic: “Nonstop Plants: The 365-Day Garden,” on my four-season philosophy, favorite plants, and a history of the garden here. The $20 donation includes a $5 coupon redeemable toward a signed copy of my recent book, “And I Shall Have Some Peace There,” for those interested. Proceeds from tickets and book sales will benefit Friends of Taconic State Park, an important charitable group within my community and one close to my heart, since my garden is surrounded by park

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

WHAT EDGING MACHINE do you use? one visitor asked, and as my physical therapist will confirm, that would mostly be my right leg and arm, guiding the low-tech iron tool (below) that I’ve relied on for more than 20 years that’s now as well-worn as my shoulder and wrist joints.“You have a lot of plants,” dozens of people said to sum up their visits (while looking positively exhausted at the very thought of weeding among them all).Many others inquired about an oddball little perennial with brush-like white blooms doing its thing under a big old magnolia (it’s the Asian rarity Chloranthus japonicus, above). Across the yard, a low, hot-pink primula with fuzzy blue-green leaves (Primula kisoana, below) piqued interest, too.The most-asked question, though, was a side-effect of the prolonged cool weather: the peek-a-boo view into the usually hidden world beneath the trees and shrubs, none of which had any leaves yet.The garden’s woody architecture on May 10 was still see-through, and the carpet below (such as beneath the magnolia, above) looked more like it “normally” does on maybe April 25…lots of gold, and hellebores still colorful (typically by now they are fading, and preparing to set seed).

Like a carefully crafted sentence, the garden needs proper punctuation to read well, and clearly convey what’s going on. On the November 28, 2016 edition of my public-radio show and podcast, Ken and I discussed design challenges that these tall and narrow things answer; the technical difference between the columnar and fastigiate plants; and some of his favorites.Read along as you listen to the Nov. 28, 2016 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).columnar tree and shrub q&a with ken druseQ. You got me thinking on our phone call the other morning—we were talking about earthworms and all these other crazy things…A. [Laughter.]Q. …and then you started talking abo

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

In Part 2 (transcript at this link coming shortly) we tackled powdery mildew prevention and aftercare, and what to do when an abundance of roly-poly or sowbugs and pillbugs has descended on the garden. Should you use copper-based fungicides against tomato blight—and what to do after an infestation by the garlic bloat nematode?Ken, of Ken Druse dot com, is a longtime garden writer, author and photographer and all-around great gardener—and great friend. If you have a question for a future show, you can submit it in the comments on either of our websites, or use the contact form to send us an email from either site, or ask us on

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 still available on iTunes, too).Read along as you listen to the Sept. 4, 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). Want to just browse past Q&A shows with Ken and me? They’re at this link.the september urgent garden question q&awhen to take in the houseplants?Q. So I’ll get right to the point: I’m thinking about those houseplants, because

WHO AMONG US doesn’t have at least one Urgent Garden Question? This month on my public radio show and podcast, Ken Druse and I answered a diverse list:

My longtime friend Ken, an award-winning garden photographer and author of many books, including “The New Shade Garden” and “Making More Plants,” produced his own “Real Dirt” podcast for 10 years, all available on KenDruse dot com.Read along as you listen to the May 15, 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).The May show is a doubleheader; this transcript is the “overtime” segment, starting at about 24 minutes into the audio file, and Part 1’s transcript is at this other link, including how to work around wet spring so

This month on our Q&A segment we crammed in as many as we could by taking a shortcut, and instead of having live callers, we gathered more questions than ever and I just shouted them out. Call it our Lightning Round.Important note: Got a question for a future show? Ask it in the comments or contact form on A Way to Garden dot com or KenDruse dot com, or on Facebook dot com/A Way to Garden and we’ll scoop them up as we plan for next time.Read along as you listen to the June 12, 2107 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on

I’ve rounded up some of the best to tackle in the monthly Q&A segment with help from my friend Ken Druse. 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 still available on iTunes, too).Read along as you listen to the March 6, 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). This is the second segment of the March Q&A program—find the first