by Greg Grant | Feb 8, 2023 | Greg's Ramblings
I’ve always said, despite the calendar, when the first sweet-smelling jonquil blooms, spring is here. My jonquils say it’s here. I didn’t grow up with access to nursery-purchased bulbs but did have a chance to see many a naturalized stand of them in my rural ancestral...
by Greg Grant | Feb 5, 2023 | Garden
Thanks to extensive ecosystem and habitat changes, the ever popular eastern bluebird (“the songbird of happiness”) was once considered doomed to extinction. Although their numbers are now stable in America, mostly thanks to artificial nest boxes, the devastating...
by Greg Grant | Jan 29, 2023 | Uncategorized
Here we go again, having to deal with another round of devastating freeze damage. Severe cold can cause all types of problems for susceptible plants not prepared for it, especially tropicals and zone 8 evergreens from Asia. Freezing temperatures can damage tender...
by Greg Grant | Jan 15, 2023 | Garden
And so, it begins: Crapemyrtle butchering season. The only pruning crapemyrtles ever need (if at all) is thinning the trunks as they are developing to the desired permanent number, removing suckers as they sprout at the base, and cutting out dead wood and crossing or...
by Greg Grant | Jan 3, 2023 | Greg's Ramblings
He who plants trees upon his paternal estate repays a debt to his posterity which he owes to his ancestors. Newcastle Weekly Courant, England, 1837. Years ago, while teaching at SFA and helping with what is now SFA Gardens, one of our supporters was quoted as saying...