Here's a quotation from the most recent collection of Wendell Berry's essays:

"As our economy has been showing us for the past year or so, we have become a nation of fantasists. With a kind of abject credulity, we have come to believe in the power of money alone to bring forth goods, to believe that money itself is a good, to believe that consumption is as vital an economic activity as production. We think that shopping is a patriotic act and a public service. We tolerate fabulous capitalists who think a bet on a debt is an asset." (my emphasis)

"Simple Solutions, Package Deals and a 50-Year Farm Bill"
in What Matters?
Wendell Berry

That last sentence resonates when we look at Wall Street and the casino climate it has grown.

This is a reprint of the hilarious glossary of terms in our Fall 1999-Spring 2000 catalog. If you like wordplay, read on!

APIARIST: Someone who plays the bee (See Tetradium danielli).

BISEXUALITY: Said after having children.

BUD SCALE: A measurement of "man"-hood by watery beer consumption.

BURGANDY: Horticultural spelling of "burgundy."

CATKIN: Lions, tigers, and...

CHEZE-BALL: Someone who steals somebody else's plant and patents it under a ludicrous, unpronounceable "name". (See Buddleia globosa).

CONDITIONAL UNGUARANTEE: A guarantee that applies to nothing, esp. under certain conditions.

CORM: Delicious with butter.(See EMARGINATE.)

DECIDUOUS: Vacillation with a tendency toward making a decision this century.

EMARGINATE: A poor substitute for butter.

ENTIRE: All there. (See OBTUSE.)

EXFOLIATING: Of or pertaining to a bark tease-show.

FLORIFEROUS: A hard word to say without teeth.

FRUCTAL: Pertaining to prurient fruit-bearing; e.g., "full fructal nudity" as in Pinus.

GNOZAM: Flotsam or jetsam; we don't gno which.

GYMNOSPERM: Well, actually, Gym's a woman.

HABIT: That annoying thing you keep doing over and over. QUIT!

HIRSUTE: A coarse animal shirt worn as a penance (pronounced "hairsuit"; see Rhododendron viscosum).

INFLORESCENCE: The place where all your skin color is removed and coffee is your only hope. (See Dilbert.)

LAVENDAR: Horticultural spelling of "lavender".

LENTICELS: Brown legumes used in thimble-sized portions of soup or rice.

MAUVE: A color that is usually absent from male brains, although often used horticulturally as interchangeable with lilac and lavender. (See LAVENDAR.)

NATIVE: a) Ecology: an organism born in one's immediate surroundings b) Politics: an organism born in the U.S., including Hawaii

NEEDLETS: Small needs but of great consequence, you heartless oaf. (See Cedrus libani var. brevifolia).

NOMENCLATURE: The systematic approach to screwing up all previous plant knowledge you had going into last weekend.

NOSEGAY: Don't ask, don't tell. (See Sarcococca orientalis).

NOSE-WATERING: A term used to describe a plant that is fragrant and delectable, or if allergic, to describe those who likely need a dose of Nasalcrom. (See Daphne x burwoodii 'Carol Mackie'.)

NUGGETARIAN: The smallest unit of measurement of attractive shrubs. Also the zodiacal sign of those born on Leap Day. (See Pieris j. 'Sarabande'.)

OBTUSE: Not all there; not getting it. (See ENTIRE.)

PAPPUS: Latin for "daddy".

PARTHENOCARPIC: Of or pertaining to a Greek fish.

POLYGAMO-DIOECIOUS: Not specific to Utah, this approach to fruit-bearing involves the following tactic: the female plant will cross-pollinate with any male plant within bee or wind distance. If that doesn't work then who needs men, anyway? By Jove, she'll just pollinate herself. (See Morus australis 'Unryu'.)

PUBESCENT: Smothered in soft hairs and wanting the car, Mom.

SECATEURS: Hand-held pruning tool (pronounced "snips").

SHRUBBERY: See Monty Python and the Holy Grail

SPECIFIC EPITHET: Grandma's term for people who rub her raw; e.g., "Well, that specific epithet raised his porkchop prices again!"

TAXONOMY: The fifth book of the Old Testament.

TUBER: One o' them tops that Thelma-Bob where's out to the bar.

UNDULATE: Not on time for what was not the deadline.

VERBURNUM: AVibena. (See NOMENCLATURE.)

The American Hydrangea Society's 16th annual garden tour is less than a month away! Featuring 6 of Atlanta's most beautiful and bountiful  hydrangea-filled gardens, the tour is a gardening mega-event and an exclusive chance to meet and greet some of the most creative minds in garden design. We are excited to see some well-deserving friends on the route this year, and some intriguing new faces as well.

Founded in 1994 "for people who love hydrangeas and want to study and learn about the genus Hydrangea, its species and cultivars, as well as its culture, habits, hardiness, and performance"; the AHS has become a foundation in Hydrangea circles (and yes, there are hydrangea circles). While there are members worldwide, the largest concentration by far is here in the Southeast, centered around Atlanta, where the Society's founder, Penny McHenry, lived and fell in love with hydrangeas. She's even got a couple named after her. I can only hope to one day gain such esteem! Until then though, the best any of us can do is continue to promote and appreciate the vigor and diversity of our beloved genus. The AHS's yearly tour is a fantastic way to do just that, and a brilliant way to spend a Saturday to boot.

If you don't have any plans -or even if you do- clear your calendars, grab your cameras, and set out Saturday, June 12 for a peek into the wonder Mother Nature provides, and the splendor she can achieve with some helping hands (and green thumbs). Don't wait a year to see gardens like these- this season's weather has been the best in a decade for hydrangeas. It's worth the trip! 

You can get tickets at the nursery on any regular retail day, and get a floriferous taste of the wonders the tour holds in store;

Or, for the first time ever, you can purchase tickets online year here on Hydrangea.com:

http://www.hydrangea.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=2025&=SID#MOREINFO

Every ticket comes with a one-year membership to the American Hydrangea Society, and all the year-round benefits that entails.
For even more info on the AHS, you can visit their website at:

http://www.americanhydrangeasociety.org/Home.aspx

We got word yesterday that our friends at Plant Introductions, Inc. in Watkinsville have licensed a pink, mophead-form Hydrangea arborescens to Bailey Nurseries, owners of the Endless Summer Hydrangea franchise. Hot on the tails of Proven Winners' much-hyped release of "Invincibelle Spirit" last year, the breeders at Plant Introductions have named their pink Annabelle "Bella Anna ", and it purportedly features dark green foliage to go alog with its "rich magenta-pink mophead inflorescences".

Scheduled to be released next year, 'Bella Anna' will put two of the world's largest patent-plant marketers head-to-head in the hydrangea market. Great news for hydrangea fanatics everywhere! Competition means lower prices, and monopolies are just no fun, anyway. We are planning a trip to Plant Introductions to see what else they've got in store, and to get the scoop on getting some of these pink wonders as soon as possible. We will of course offer them to the public as soon as we've got our hands on them. 

Photos of 'Bella Anna' and more information about Plant Introductions can be found here:

http://www.plantintroductions.com/hydrangeabellaanna.html

This week kicks off Wilkerson Mill's Garden Spotlight!

The Spotlight will be an occasional series highlighting a particular plant, or plant family, bringing you a wealth of information and pictures, tips on care and pruning, some of our personal experiences and recommendations and much more. We hope the Spotlight will introduce you to wonderful new trees, teach you things you never knew about your favorite shrubs, and help you choose that perfect perennial!

Spotlight On: Fringe Tree

Our first Spotlight takes a look at a family of small trees that is absolutely unmistakable this time of year- fringe trees. Also known by their latin name Chionanthus, fringe trees are an exceptionally hardy genus with both native and non-native varieties. Capable of handling near any landscape condition; from all but the densest shade (with fewer blooms) to full sun, and respectably cold hardy tolerant, fringe trees are hard to kill, and easy to fall in love with. They will also tolerate almost any soil type, from sand to clay, acidic to sweet, often-wet to well-drained, making them an extremely rugged genus. For our birdwatching friends, the females of the species produce purple-blue fruit yearly that is highly prized by birds and other fauna.

Native Fringetree:  

In the Americas, the common fringe tree (or fringetree), Chionanthus virginicus, is also known by the names Old Man's Beard and Grancy Greybeard; and is a showy, small tree to about 15 feet (25 feet in the wild) completely enveloped with clouds of white strap-petal blooms on second-year growth in mid-to late spring. Though it will naturally sprout multiple trunks and take a rounded form, the native fringe tree takes well to pruning and can be easily trained to maintain a single trunk, giving it a more tree-like appearance. It is cold hardy to -30 degrees F, making it a great choice for those as far north as zone 4. The native variety of fringe tree is delicately (and pleasantly) fragrant, making it a wonderful spring alternative to the more pungent pear trees often used in similar settings.

 Chinese Fringetree:

The Chinese fringe tree (Chionanthus retusus) is the rarer cousin of the Old Man's Beard- noted for its evenly spread, abundant blooms, and smaller, lustrous, foliage. This fantastic small tree is as tough, but a bit less cold hardy than its native counterpart, and blooms slightly later (by no more than a week) in mid-to-late spring. Like virginicus, retusus also produces a light fragrance, and will grow to about 25 feet in the wild, and about 15 feet in a landscape setting. Chinese cultivars, like "China Snow," on offer here at Hydrangea.com, also tend toward a more natural tree form, though they too may require some pruning to maintain a single, central trunk.

Whether you prefer the dense, stunning flowers of our native Grancy Greybeard, or the elegant petal clusters of its Chinese cousin, you are sure to make an impact in your garden, yard, or greenspace with one of these hard-to-kill Spotlight trees.

Find Chionanthus virginicus (Grancy Greybeard) here:

 http://www.hydrangea.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=183&=SID#MOREINFO

And our favorite selection of Chionanthus retusus (China Snow) here: 

http://www.hydrangea.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=533&=SID#MOREINFO

Angkor

by Porter Griffith

This strange red earth like wine

It was asleep springtime

What will my mother have?

How will my father feast?

Three years ago when I wrote this short poem, Georgia was in the midst of a seemingly unending drought. I found it today, and would like to lay it to rest here, at the outset of the spring season which promises to finally break that curse.

by Gene Griffith

     ...And it's only March!  I love spring nearly as much as I love autumn, and March usually gives us a good taste of forthcoming spring. It can also give us topsy-turvy weather; stretches of warm days followed by frost or freeze.  This is a treacherous time for Hydrangea macrophylla. It's the reason for the recent popularity of re-blooming hydrangeas, and the reason for half of my grey hairs (my kids account for the other half).  Should they get nipped in the bud by a late freeze, hydrangeas will often still bloom the same year, albeit somewhat later than normal.

     Note that most native plants (whatever that means -- see an earlier blog) are not generally fooled by the vagaries of winter. I assume this is because they have dealt with such weather for eons in their locale. I don't suggest you grow only "natives", because that will leave a large palette of wonderful plants out of your garden. Rather, I hope that you will watch and learn from the weather's variations year by year, and take note of the changes in your garden's health and happiness. Though nurseries (ours included) will often recommend plants based on USDA hardiness zones, don't be afraid to step outside these guidelines- you know your garden better than any of us do.  With a little luck, and some elbow grease, you might make a brilliant discovery or two by coloring outside the lines.  

      That said, if you don't like surprises, you might try plastic.  It comes in a wide range of colors and sizes to fit any garden.

You can have evergreen, ever-blooming, low-maintenance, sun or shade tolerant visuals year-round. The scratch-n-sniff varieties can even provide fragrance, but I confess I prefer the challenges Mother Nature provides. This year's unrelenting and prolonged winter may in fact hide a blessing- the consistent cold could keep new growth in hiding until warmer temperatures arrive for good.  The jury is still out on 2010, but we think it will be glorious, cruel months or no.

by Gene Griffith

We don't often get snow at the nursery and when we do it's often cause for celebration, a bit of Mardi Gras, because it lasts just a day or two. An inch of snow around Atlanta is enough to strip the grocery stores of milk, bread, beer and firewood. A week ago we got nearly 3 inches. Certainly nothing like the winter for much of the country. In PA where my best friend lives, they'd recently had over a foot of snow and last week another foot was on the way with no chance to dig out. So I'm sure they don't see snow as Mardi Gras.

by Gene Griffith

  

by Elizabeth Dean

There is no accounting for taste, but there are some color combinations that one doesn’t love. Although I can remember a time with crayons when I loved yellow and pink side by side, one on top of the other, strong orange and pastel pink sets my teeth on edge.

What calls this to mind is the Jelena witchhazel now in full bloom out front. It is gloriously coppery orange and glows in harmony with the Hillside Winter Gold pine sited a bit farther out. This is a pine that you never notice until the temperature starts to drop and then it shines a brilliant yellow through the winter. It’s a satisfying combination and I wish I could claim credit for having understood just that 15 years ago. But as with much in our plantings it is happenstance.

by Gene Griffith

Lots of gardeners want to know if a plant is "native."  Within the genus "Hydrangea" there are two species that were found within the boundaries of the U.S. --H. arborescens and H. quercifolia -- so they would qualify as native if your concept of native is tied to our nation's boundary.  But if you draw a tighter ring, say New England or the South, you get a slightly different answer: the arborescent species was found growing in the wild in both regions, while the oakleaf was only found in the South. It will grow in certain areas of New England (the warmer parts), but was not "found" there. (If you define native by state -- California or Nebraska -- then neither is native.) The other Hydrangea species are from various parts of the globe: Japan, China, Mexico, Chile, the Philippines, etc.

by Gene Griffith 

A new year arrives and as Hal Clements had well marked in his Bible Psalm 118:

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

I struggle to understand the peace contained in that prayer, to act everyday with such rejoice. I needn't list all the troubles we can find around us for they are manifest. We act, we vote, we hope for a better day.

Our New Year's Eve came with dense fog and no desire on our part to join any hoopla.

I used to be a voracious reader but that was 20 or 30 years ago. I quit and only read newspapers or People while waiting in the dentist's office. No excuses: I just did other things. I'm happy to say I'm reading again. When I read it's always been multiple books at the same time, in piles by the bed.  We were given Taylor Branch's Parting the Waters for Christmas 1991 by one of Elizabeth's brothers.  I finally picked it up and have found it captivating. Keillor's collection Good Poems is just that, to be enjoyed by those who don't know a poem from an electric bill.

Winter can allow both the appreciation of the earth which the Lord hath made as well as time to read and reflect.  I hope that is true of winter for you.  Here's a poem "Lost" by David Wagoner:
  
"Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you."

By Porter Griffith

Yoo-hoooo! Over here, hot stuff!

 By now, we all know about the birds and the bees.  And thanks to Jewel Akens' 1964 pop classic, we also know about the flowers and the trees.  Or at least, we thought we did.  According to a BBC report , Welsh scientists have discovered that flowers "wave" at nearby insects to attract their attention.

While watching flowers swaying with the breeze at his daughter's birthday party, scientist John Warren began to wonder what purpose their long stems might serve.  "I wondered why they have stalks and risked getting damaged in such an exposed habitat."  Warren, a professor at Aberystwyth University, searched for any previous research into the subject, and found very little.  Prior inquiries had concluded that motion was likely unimportant in attracting pollinators, because "insects are not good at detecting movement", which, according to Warren, "is clearly rubbish."

So, curiosity piqued, he and colleague Penri James measured and tested 300 specially-grown sea campion flowers of varied height, and determined that bees and other pollinating insects prefer their flowers tall, dark, and handsome.  Or at least, tall, skinny, and waving.  The evidence showed that flowers on long, thin stalks waved more in the wind, and attracted significantly more visitors.  However, height is only beneficial up to a point.  The tallest and skinniest blossoms were simply not stable enough for pollinators to land on, and were passed over as well.

As evidenced by the popularity of dancing competitions on reality television, the right moves can attract serious attention.  But it's a fine line- overenthusiastic showoffs are never well received.  Indeed, "only flowers that wobble the right amount are successful in setting seeds."

Sounds like an ancient Chinese proverb. Or at least, a confusing fortune cookie.

Do hats really sell plants?

by Gene Griffith

   Branding is all the rage in marketing replacing the slogans of my youth: "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should"; "Busch Beer: Head for the Mountains"; "See the USA in your Chevrolet." (Not all at once, of course, smoking, drinking and driving was frowned upon then just like texting while driving is today.)
 But now it's branding and today's question is why do so many gardening gurus wear hats?  Are they bald (like I am)?  Their dermatologist told them to?  Or, is life for them a constant "bad hair day?"  Is Nike making hats and I just missed it?
   Consider:  Allan Armitage with his large white slouch hat, or Michael Dirr with his UGA visor, HGTV's Erika Glasener with her Amish-style straw hat; Roger Swain formerly of The Victory Garden in his topper and red suspenders!  Now there's style. Holmes would have made a good gardening marketer in his deerstalker if he gave a damn about plants.
   Of course, those blessed with a full, fine and stylish coiffure forgo the lid -- P Allen Smith or Martha Stewart come to mind -- and still sell boatloads of plants.
   Rather than brand recognition connected to a certain name, face or hat, how about choosing plants based on actual comparitive trials as are conducted by the Royal Horticultural Society in the U.K. in its assessment of plants worthy of their AGM (Award of Garden Merit).  These are awarded (and rescinded!) after rigorous testing.  To learn more go to http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/Plant-trials-and-awards/Plant-trials/2009-trials.  Meanwhile look for me in a knit red-pullover because there's snow on the ground and cold on my pate.