Tag Archives: medicinal medicine plants

Who Called a Cop-tis?

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We love the miniature Coptis japonica var. dissecta in full seed now. This dwarf, evergreen, woodland-growing member of the Ranunculus family (Clematis, Helleborus), has small white flowers in the winter, but we adore the seriously cute seeds heads that are adorned in March and April. Not only is this Japanese endemic a cool garden plant, but it’s highly prized as a medicinal plant, thanks to chemicals harvested from its roots, which are used to treat an array of ailments, from infections to pain, dysentery, fevers, and much more. Hardiness Zone 5a-8b.

Coptis japonica var. dissecta

Hacking Characias

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If you’ve driven through the any of the Mediterranean countries in spring, you are undoubtedly familiar with the common Mediterranean spurge, Euphorbia characias (ker-ack-iss). For years, I admired this in virtually every English garden book, but always failed in my attempts to keep it alive in our garden.

Years later, it finally hit me what I was doing wrong. Euphorbia characias is a short-lived perennial – think 3-4 years max. I was purchasing clonal selections and expecting them to last, while not providing an environment where they would be prone to reseeding, which ensures that you actually keep the plant around. Despite needing to reseed to survive, it’s not a plant that’s prone to getting out of hand.

Euphorbia characias like dry, well-drained soils, especially those that are gravelly. We have also discovered that rich, amended beds also allow for reseeding as long as aren’t heavily irrigated. Now, we allow the seed heads to remain until the seed have dropped, at which time they are cut back to the blue foliage. We have found that leaving the seed heads on the plant too long actually shortens the plants already short lifespan.

Euphorbia characias

Not only is Euphorbia characias an incredible ornamental, but it also has the longest duration of use in Western medicine. Recent research has found the plant to have a wide array of medicinal compounds. These compounds have activity as antioxidants, as pesticides (both anti-viral and anti-microbial), as wound healers, to treat hypoglycemia, as an anti-aging agent (preventing free radical chain reactions), and as a disease (HIV) enzyme inhibitor. I’d say, that’s a pretty impressive resume. Hardiness is Zone 7a-10b.

High on Loquats

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We truly love loquats…both to grow and consume. I first met Eriobotrya japonica in 1976 on a walk around the NC State campus with the late Dr. JC Raulston. I was amazed to see a mature 30’+ specimen growing against one of the campus buildings. I was determined to grow one of our own, so in the mid 1990s, we planted our first specimen here at JLBG.

Loquats, a Chinese native member of the rose family, makes a lovely small tree with large, evergreen foliage that resembles a corrugated Magnolia grandiflora. Another exceptional feature is the fragrant white flowers that start to open around Christmas. These are followed by delicious orange fruit in early spring, when winter temperatures don’t drop below the mid-teens F. Loquat foliage is also brewed as a tea, in addition to its numerous medicinal benefits. We have always found loquats to be much more winter hardy than most of the literature indicates. Our oldest specimen planted in 1997, has never experienced any winter damage. Hardiness is Zone 7b and warmer.

Four favorites flowering today in the garden

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Epimedium Pink Champagne clump in flower

 

Epimedium ‘Pink Champagne’ is dazzling today in the garden, both for the great foliage and floral show.

Euphorbia x martinii Ascot Rainbow in full flower

 

Euphorbia x martinii ‘Ascot Rainbow’…WOW.  Variegated foliage and very cool flowers.  The key to growing this well is good drainage and immediately after flower, cut it back to near the ground.

Clematis ochroleuca Penny's Bend in flower

 

Clematis ochroleuca is an amazing dwarf bush clematis native to North Carolina and Virginia, yet winter hardy in Minnesota.  This is one of our favorite late winter plants.

Paeonia ostii clump in garden in flower

 

The first peony of the season is the Chinese tree peony, Paeonia ostii.  Untouched by late frosts, this gem is just wrapping up its floral show.  This is one peony that’s as thrilled with summer heat and humidity as it is with polar vortexes.  Yes, we are currently sold out…sorry.

Epimediums on Parade in the Garden

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Epimedium Songbirds3

What an incredible week for epimediums here at Juniper Level.  The first photo is our introduction, Epimedium ‘Songbirds‘…an insanely heavily flowered yellow selection.Epimedium wushanense Starlite flower closeup

Epimedium wushanense ‘Starlite‘ is our selection of the amazing Chinese species, which boasts large terminal inflorescences on a plant that approaches 2’ tall.Epimedium zhushanense3

 

 

Epimedium zhushanense is another incredible Chinese species with large bicolor, spider-like flowers.  We think these are truly stunning in the woodland garden.

Epimedium zhushanense

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Epimedium zhushanense4

At the end of the epimedium alphabet, but no less wonderful is the little-known, but stunning Chinese Epimedium zhushanense….what a superb garden presence!

2012 Plant Delights Nursery October Newsletter

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Dear PDN’ers

Early fall greetings from Plant Delights, where the spring 2013 catalog writing heads into the home stretch. As always, there are lots of exciting new plants for 2013, which is really what makes the whole effort worthwhile for us.

We’ve had many requests to make more of the hardy cypripedium ladyslipper orchids available for fall since some gardeners prefer to plant them now. For this fall, we’ve been able to acquire a large number of many different hard-to-find hybrids and species in very limited quantities, so we have just added them to the website. Inventory for most of these ranges from 3 to 8 plants each, so they won’t last long. Check out our cypripediums!

If you haven’t purchased cypripediums before, a little explanation is in order. First, our offerings are 8 years old from seed, hence, what seems like insanely high prices are really not so high compared with most faster to propagate plants. With orchids, a cultivar name is established for a similar batch of seedlings from a particular cross, so each plant is genetically unique. Second, please keep in mind hardy ladyslipper orchids should be planted differently from most other plants…the roots should be spread out laterally in a well-prepared, compost rich bed and covered with a layer of compost followed by a good mulch. Cypripedium roots should not be allowed to dry out and prefer an average to slightly moist, but well-drained soil for best performance.

After being told by all the experts that the hardy ladyslippers wouldn’t grow in our climate, we have now had many years of excellent successes and consequently feel more comfortable that these can be grown by more gardeners. We still stress, however, that these are not plants for beginners nor gardeners who are not willing to spend time preparing the soil for success. If you feel inclined to give these a try, a more detailed article on our website may be of help.

It’s been an amazing fall so far in the garden, with the fall salvias hitting their peak this month. For us, the giant Salvia madrensis is just coming into full flower while the Salvia greggii and Salvia microphylla selections are just glorious in full bloom. Other fall blooming plants are running late this fall. We are just now seeing flowers on Rabdosia longituba, which often starts in mid-September, and have yet to see flower buds on the fall blooming giant tree dahlias. Flower buds on the giant Verbesina microptera are developing nicely and hopefully we’ll get to enjoy them this year since last year the frost hit just as they were opening.

If you missed our mention on Facebook, Timber Press has just published their latest book, “The Roots of My Obsession – Thirty Great Gardeners Reveal Why they Garden.” In this unusual small book, thirty of us were asked to write a short essay on why we are gardeners. Authors include Dan Hinkley (founder of Heronswood), Ken Druse (NY garden writer), Margaret Roach (former VP of Martha Stewart Living), Doug Tallamy (professor/UDEL), Roger Swain (long-time “Victory Garden” host), Fergus Garrett (Head Gardener at Great Dixter), and many more. As I mentioned to Timber Press when they first floated the idea…I can’t imagine who would want to read such a book, but it’s out and I guess we’ll find out together why we all garden.

We also mentioned last month on Facebook, the delightful article about our plants by NY gardener and former Martha Stewart Editor, Margaret Roach. Check out Margaret’s Blog Article!

It’s been a rough month in the horticulture world with three significant losses. First, Ned Jacquith, 73, of Oregon’s Bamboo Garden Nursery passed away on September 26. Ned was a charter member of the American Bamboo Society and folks in the bamboo industry considered Ned the world’s bamboo ambassador, spreading the word about bamboo and working tirelessly to introduce new bamboos to cultivation. Many of the clumping bamboos we now offer were introduced to this country thanks to Ned’s efforts. After a career with the railroad, Ned and his wife, Nancy started the nursery in 1988. In July, Ned was diagnosed with acute leukemia but continued to be active in his bamboo work until the end. Ned’s staff will continue to operate the nursery. A memorial service will be held on Ned’s birthday, July 14, 2013, at Bamboo Garden Nursery near Portland Oregon. Our thoughts go out to Ned’s family and friends, and as one who has been is a beneficiary of Ned’s work…job well done!

The second loss was the untimely death of Nebraska plantsman, Harlan Hamernik, 76, who was killed in an explosion at his home on Monday, October 15. In 1958, Harlan and his wife, Shirley, founded Bluebird Nursery in Clarkson, Nebraska. Bluebird Nursery quickly became known worldwide as a source for new and exciting winter hardy perennials from Harlan’s plant explorations both in the US and around the world to places like China, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia. In his 70’s, Harlan turned Bluebird Nursery over to his sons and started a new nursery, H.H. Wild Plums, with the goal of promoting interesting woody plants for the Great Plains. Harlan was a tireless public servant and served on the board of the Perennial Plant Association as well as 40 years as a volunteer firefighter, and even mayor of his hometown of Clarkson, Nebraska. Our friend, Allen Bush, captured the essence of Harlan in this wonderful recent article. Harlan is survived by his wife, Shirley and sons Tom, Chuck, and Mike. A huge Plant Delights salute goes out to the legendary Harlan Hamernik, as our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Just after we heard about Harlan, word came in that we lost the world’s authority on bromeliads when plantsman, Harry Luther passed away after a brain seizure on October 17. Harry Luther, 60, was regarded as the world’s top bromeliad authority, having described over 100 new bromeliad species during his 32 year tenure at the Marie Selby Botanic Garden in Florida. Harry was a prolific writer, having authored over 200 articles/publications on bromeliads. Harry did all this without ever graduating from college…a presumptive prerequisite in our current society. In 2010, Harry left Marie Selby to join the new Singapore Botanic Gardens…an effort that has financially lured quite a few of the country’s top horticulturists. Our thoughts go out to Harry’s family and friends.

In some better health news, I just heard from Rob Jacobs that his dad, Eco-Gardens founder Don Jacobs, is slowly recovering from two strokes he suffered last year. Don is now living with Rob near Don’s Georgia home, where he will be celebrating his 93rd birthday on October 25. Don can walk again with a cane and is now fixing his own lunch. Rob says that Don’s speech is returning and given enough time, his memory should also return. If you’d like to send birthday or other greetings to Don, you can write to him care of Rob Jacobs, 512 Chieftain Court, Woodstock, GA 30188.

In the “You can’t make this up” news this month, Duke University fern researchers have recently completed DNA analysis of plants in the fern genus, Cheilanthes, which showed that up to nineteen species from Texas south to Central American actually constitute a separate genera. Consequently, the Duke researchers have created a new fern genus, Gaga. As you no doubt guessed, the new genus was named after sexually expressive pop singer, Lady Gaga. As Duke’s Dr. Kathleen Pryor pointed out, they named the genus Gaga for a number of reasons including the apogamy of the genus (it has meaningful sex with itself), its gametophyte (the baby fern before it has sex) resembles one of Gaga’s Armani costumes, and believe it or not…in the scanned DNA base pairs of the new fern the word GAGA was spelled out. Lest you think naming plants after celebrities is new, the singer Beyonce has a horsefly named after her and President Obama has a California lichen named after him. I’m not sure I’d be jumping up and down about either of those, but as I said earlier, you just can’t make this stuff up.

In another bit of “You don’t say” news, a recent patent has been filed to use plant extracts to counteract the toxic effects from chemicals released by smoking cigarettes. The research uses extracts from plants including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Chinese lizard tail (Houttuynia cordata), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Korean mountain ash (Sorbus commixta), Japanese alder (Alnus japonica), and balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflora). Who knew? I can see folks who roll their own already changing their formulas. Read More

In news from the commercial horticultural world, the 70-year-old Randolph’s Greenhouses in Jackson, Tennessee closed its doors at the end of September. Plant lecturer, Rita Randolph blamed the closing on a combination of the economy and costs to repair and maintain their aging facilities. Rita plans to do more writing and lecturing while also opening a small mail order nursery as a retirement venture…doesn’t sound like retirement to me!

If you’ve been watching the news recently, you’ve seen the space shuttle Endeavour making its way through south Los Angeles on its 12 mile final trek to its final resting place at the California Science Center. Unfortunately, getting the Endeavour to the Science Center was a bit more than some residents bargained for when they learned that more than 400 trees had to be removed so that the shuttle could fit on the highway. In exchange for allowing the trees to be cut, the California Science Center agreed to spend $500,000 to replant twice as many trees as had to be cut down. So, where were all the tree huggers chaining themselves to the poor trees? Where was the media coverage and national outrage? I must have also missed all the furor from the manmade global warming crowd over this…geez. Regardless…if you haven’t seen it, the time lapse video of the shuttle’s trek through town is fascinating.

Time to get back to catalog writing, so enjoy the newsletter and in the mean time, we’ll see you on Facebook with more updates and plant photos.

-tony

2012 Plant Delights Nursery September Newsletter

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Greetings from Plant Delights! We hope everyone has made it through another summer garden season in good shape. We’re wrapping up the open houses for 2012 with our final three days, Friday through Sunday this weekend. If you’re in the area, we sure hope you’ll join us. It’s been great to meet so many of our nearly 7,000 Facebook fans and friends in person at open house…thanks so much for taking time to follow our plant postings.

As we inch closer to the autumnal equinox, temperatures have begun to fall, which marks a resurgence of many plants that hibernated during the dog days of summer. Dahlias are like many plants that live for fall, and many of us cut our dahlias to the ground in late August so the fall flush will be look fresh and new. Perennial salvias such as the woody-stemmed Salvia greggiis put on their best floral show of the year in autumn when they flower nonstop for several months. Other salvia species like Salvia leucantha, and my personal favorite, the Salvia leucantha hybrid Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’, only flower in fall. Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’ is a Barry Bonds-sized steroidal monster, producing a 7′ tall x 8′ wide specimen in only 12 months.

What an amazing year this has been for butterflies in the garden…certainly, the best that I remember in over a decade. While butterflies were in abundance, Japanese beetles were nowhere to be found this year…not that we have much trouble with them anyway since we try to keep stressed plants out of our garden. Remember that most garden insects have cyclical population spikes, so don’t get too excited when a pest leaves or a new pest arrives.

One insect that made an appearance in our area starting a couple of years ago was the Genista caterpillar (Uresiphita reversalis). Baptisias have long been considered insect resistant since their leaves contain chemicals that repel most insects. Unfortunately, Genista caterpillars are immune to these leaf toxins. To make matters worse, the caterpillars have chemicals in their bodies that make them immune to most caterpillar predators…ain’t that just grand. While the Genista caterpillar is native to southern and central US, they have not been seen this far east until the last few years.

The unattractive nocturnal moths lay their eggs in spring, which subsequently hatch and the Genista caterpillar larvae begin feeding on the tender new baptisia plant growth. The larvae work fast and can completely strip the foliage of a mature baptisia in a few days…fortunately, this shouldn’t cause permanent damage to the plant. The larvae have 5 stages before they pupate for overwintering. Since the moths are quite prolific, they can actually lay several generations of eggs each year, so you’ll need to monitor your baptisias all summer. When the caterpillars are young they can be easily killed with organic BT (Bacillus thuringensis) products. Spinosad, a biological insecticide composed of Saccharopolyspora spinosa bacteria from crushed sugar cane, has also shown good effectiveness.

While I never expected to commit to writing another regular column other than our monthly e-newsletter, I recently had my arm twisted thanks to one of those once in a lifetime opportunities…the recent launch of Walter Magazine. The name may sound strange for those of you outside North Carolina, but our city of Raleigh, was named after Sir Walter Raleigh, a 16th century English flamboyant dressing explorer/spy. While writing a plant feature column for my hometown magazine was a great oppurtunity, this is also my first time to pair with former New York Times freelance botanical illustrator, the amazing Ippy Patterson.

I can’t believe I’m actually promoting a shrub pruning demonstration, but this isn’t just any shrub pruning. One of my favorite people, topiary artist Pearl Fryar, is coming to Raleigh for an artistic demonstration at NCSU’s new Gregg Art Gallery at 1903 Hillsborough Street. The date is Sunday October 28, from noon until 4pm. This free event is a gathering of artists and musicians…refreshments will be provided. If you’ve seen the movie, “A Man Named Pearl”.

and want to meet this amazing man in person, don’t miss the event.
In the latest news from the nursery world, the 65-year-old Klupengers of Oregon is closing their doors. Klupengers is a 320 acre wholesaler specializing in japanese maples, rhododendrons and azaleas. Klupengers Nursery had sold out once before, but wound up buying the nursery back in 2010 hoping to outlast the downturn, which didn’t work out so well. Everything including land is currently being liquidated, unless someone wants to buy the entire operation.

It was also time for more consolidation in the green industry this month as the world famous, 3rd generation Ecke Ranch was purchased by Agribio International. For those of you not in the horticulture industry, the majority of the poinsettias you buy at Christmas were introduced by the 1000-employee Ecke Ranch of California. Ecke also has a large geranium breeding program. It appears for now the company will remain intact other than a change in ownership.

Agribio Holding B.V. is a Dutch investment firm, specializing in purchasing plant breeding businesses. It recently acquired Barberet and Blanc, a carnation breeder in Spain; Bartels Stek, an aster, solidago, and phlox breeder in Holland; Fides, a bedding and potted plant breeder in Holland; Oro Farms, a production facility in Guatemala; Japan Agribio, a breeder of bedding and potted plants in Japan; and Lex+, a rose breeder in Holland. The acquisition of Ecke makes Agribio one of the largest producers of cutting-produced ornamentals in the world.

It’s with sadness that I report Ohio hosta breeder and nurseryman Bob Kuk, of Kuk’s Forest Nursery passed away on August 14 after a short illness. During his lifetime, Bob developed and introduced over 50 hostas including Hosta ‘Bizarre’, ‘Emerald Necklace’, ‘Golden Empress’, ‘Queen Josephine’, and ‘Unforgettable’. In 2011, Bob was awarded the Distinguished Hybridizer Award by the American Hosta Society for his body of work. Our thoughts go out to both Bob’s hosta family and friends. < href=”http://www.americanhostasociety.org/2011FisherSpeech.html”>Learn more about Bob.

I recently got an email from Dr. Charlie Keith, whose Chapel Hill, NC Arboretum I’ve written about several times. Charlie is turning 80 soon, and has come to the realization that he hasn’t been able to raise adequate funds to preserve the arboretum as he had hoped. Consequently, he’s looking to sell the arboretum property which houses one of the largest woody plant collections in the country. Charlie will be hosting an open house on October 21, from 1-5pm, with plantsmen Mark Weathington of the JC Raulston Arboretum and author Tom Krenitsky as tour guides. The arboretum is located at 2131 Marion’s Ford, Chapel Hill (for more information). If you know of anyone interested in purchasing the 80 acre property, please get in touch with Charlie, as his collection is simply too important to lose.

From the medical world, recent research from The University of Sichuan, published in “Current Chemical Biology” (Volume 3, 2009), has shown the common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, has great potential as an anti-fungal, anti-viral (including HIV), and anti-tumor agent for several cancers, including breast cancer. The report also studied the significant anti-tumor lignin activities of other related monocots including Aspidistra elatior (cast iron plant), Polygonatum odoratum and P. cyrtonema (Solomon’s seal), Narcissus pseudonarcissus (daffodil), Ophiopogon japonicus (mondo grass), Typhonium divaricatum (dwarf voodoo lily), and Viscum sp. (mistletoe).

Other common ornamental plants with very specific anti-HIV activity include Lycoris radiata (surprise lilies), Polygonatum multiflorum and P. cyrtonema (Solomon’s seal), Hippeastrum hybrids (amaryllis), Cymbidium hybrids (orchids), and Narcissus pseudonarcissus (daffodil). This is just another reason that the federal government should be doing much more to make plant exploration and importation easier and reverse the current trend toward plant exclusion and making plant importation exceedingly difficult.

Enjoy, and until the next newsletter, we’ll keep in touch on Facebook!
-tony

2012 Plant Delights Nursery May Newsletter

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Spring in our part of North Carolina has been truly amazing this year. It helped that spring started in January and has continued into late May. Finally, I know what it feels like to live in the Pacific Northwest. We’ve actually had relatively good rains so far, so growth in the garden is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent years. Hopefully the impending rains from the remnants of tropical storm Beryl will soak the lower southeast coast, where drought conditions have been quite bad.

I’m sitting on the deck today, looking at our amazing clump of the wonderful gold-leaf Hydrangea ‘Lemon Daddy’ which is just about to burst into full flower. I’m always looking for gold-leaf plants to help brighten the dark spots in the garden. I’ve been posting pictures of the different stages of its growth on our Facebook page, which we hope you have enjoyed. http://www.plantdelights.com/Hydrangea/products/211/

It’s been century plant central here this spring, with nine agave flower spikes ready to burst into flower (Agave protoamericana – 3, Agave striata, Agave striata v. falcata, Agave palmeri, Agave victoriae-reginae, Agave ‘Ansom’ (nickelsii x scabra), and Agave ‘Stormy Seize’ (scabra x ferox). As promised, I’ll let you know via Facebook when peak agave bloom arrives and we’ll arrange a time when visitors can drop by and see them in full bloom. We’ve already starting making crosses since one of our customers was kind enough to share pollen from his flowering Agave ovatifolia, which we’ve already applied to our Agave striata as well as to Manfreda undulata…that should result in something truly weird.

Hardy gladiolus flowering season has also just begun and it’s hard to keep the flowers cut fast enough in our stock blocks. The first glads to start this year were the lovely Gladiolus ‘Purple Prince’, followed by Gladiolus ‘Robeson Red’, and now Gladiolus dalenii ‘Boone’. We’ve been playing around with some gladiolus breeding the last few years and our first crop of seedlings will be flowering next week…always exciting to see what results you get. We’ll post photos of some of our best seedlings on Facebook, so let us know what you think. http://www.plantdelights.com/Gladiolus/products/189/

Speaking of plants and gardens, we’re looking to fill an assistant garden curator position, so if you know anyone with a good work ethic, an eye for detail, an academic plant background and a passion for plants, tell ‘em to email our business manager, Heather Brameyer at heather@plantdelights.com. We’re also searching for a seasonal nursery worker to help with watering, so let us hear from you.

Kudos are in order for our friend, Dr. Allan Armitage, who was recently awarded the prestigious Liberty Hyde Bailey Award from the American Horticulture Society. The Bailey Award is the society’s top award, given annually to an individual who has made significant lifetime achievements in at least three of these horticultural fields; teaching, research, communications, plant exploration, administration, art, business, and leadership. Congratulations my friend…well deserved!

Speaking of awards on a much lesser scale, I got a note from the President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society last week, letting me know that I was selected to receive their Jackson Dawson Medal for plant exploration and breeding. In order to actually receive the award, however, I would have to fly to Boston and attend their awards banquet at my expense or the award would be re-gifted to someone else. This is the same Massachusetts Horticultural Society that in 2008 stiffed me for my speaking honorarium and most of my out of pocket expenses because of their financial mismanagement. This recent offer sure seems to me like a group looking to fill their dinner with horticultural celebrities in order to attract donors as opposed to truly recognizing individuals for their accomplishments. I obviously declined their kind offer. Having known many wonderful folks who formerly worked at Mass Hort, I find it sad that they still haven’t experienced a significant period of reflective enlightenment.

Speaking of reflective enlightenment…six years after closing the beloved Heronswood Nursery in Kingston, Washington, George Ball has decided auction off the property which housed the original nursery, and the home and garden of founders Dan Hinkley and Robert Jones. Ball paid $5.5 million for the original property plus an adjacent land parcel, which brings the land total to 15 acres. The asking price has been as high as $11 million, but no one bit, so now the land, three houses, an office, and the entire gardens will go on the auction block with silent bids starting at $749,000. Bids are due by 2 p.m. June 15 to Sheldon Good & Co., a auction division of New York’s Racebrook investment firm. The Heronswood name and business are also for sale separately. Racebrook will hold on-site inspections for prospective buyers by appointment on May 18, May 26, June 1 and June 9. For more information, visit http://www.HeronswoodAuction.com or call 800-962-0931.

I was very sad to receive an email last week from the producers of The Martha Stewart Show, telling me the show has been cancelled by the Hallmark Channel. I’d like to openly thank Martha and all the great production staff who were so great to work with during my several appearances. I wish everyone the best of luck in their new ventures including Martha’s new cooking show on PBS.

Other news that caught most of us in the botanical garden world off guard was the sudden departure of Mt. Cuba Center director Rick Lewandowski after a 13-year tenure at the helm. The Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware is in the process of a public transformation in the model of other nearby Dupont family estates such as Longwood Gardens. Under Rick’s tenure, the gardens had continued to develop and his botanical treks through the Piedmont region brought an extensive number of wonderful new collections to the garden. Mt. Cuba is currently searching for a new director and Rick is searching for his next great horticultural adventure. Best of luck to both.

Speaking of artsy things, one of our customers, David Fishman, is an avid photographer, and is now trying to commercialize some of his artistic plant images. I think you’ll find his work quite fascinating. http://www.fishmanbotanicalportraits.com/index.php

In the “I’m from the government and I’m here to sniff you” file this month comes more interesting news. Yes, you read it right…with the increasing costs of hiring government workers and subsequently paying them retirement, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture is now using dogs to find Emerald Ash Borers and trees infected with these damaging insects. While the first crop of bug-busting canines are still in training, they are expected to be on the job full-time by July. Their assigned tasks will include sniffing mulch piles, landfills, and commercial vehicles.

In case you missed it, the US Department of Agriculture is already using dogs to find the equally destructive Asian longhorn beetles. The USDA, however, is also looking for volunteer beetle spotters, so here’s a great chance to keep your kids busy and out of your hair. You can find more here…just don’t let the live beetle freak you out. http://www.beetlebusters.info. You can find out more about the partner organization, Working Dogs for Conservation at http://www.workingdogsforconservation.org/

In another bit of very interesting scientific research, it was recently discovered that rubber mulches are not really as good as the marketers of these products would have had us believe. Duh! To help rid the world of scrap tires, ground tire rubber mulch has recently been touted for uses from playgrounds to athletic fields to putting greens. Now that rubber mulches have been used for several years, it has become clear that many of the initial claims of its superiority are being debunked. In terms of effectiveness as weed control, rubber mulch rated near the bottom of the list of mulches, but in terms of flammability, rubber mulch tops the list…not really a good thing. As for permanency, rubber mulch also fails. According to the research, rubber eating bacteria, which will actually consume rubber mulch, are initially kept at bay by toxins used in tire production (2-mercaptobenzothiazol for rubber vulcanization and polyaromatic hydrocarbons for tire softening). White and brown-rot fungus effectively neutralize the toxins, which then allows the bacteria to decompose the rubber. Ok, so this sounds good…right? Wrong! This decomposition means that all of the toxins in the tires, including very high levels of heavy metals like zinc are leached into the soil. I have warned people for years about high zinc levels which often occur when water runoff from roads drains into your landscape. Many plants, especially aquatic plants, are especially susceptible to zinc. The bottom line is simple…stick with organic, non-toxic mulches.

Finally, from the “you can’t make this stuff up” file comes the May 11 incident of a medical marijuana grower who was shopping at a Clarkston, Washington Walmart. The grower was purchasing mulch for his crop and reached to move a twig on the mulch pile, only to discover too late that the twig was actually a thoroughly pissed-off rattlesnake…oops! The snake was subsequently beaten to death for being under the influence and the marijuana grower was treated with six bags of snake anti-venom for shopping in such an alert and coherent state. Want to bet there was some serious self-medicating after the victim returned home? WalMart has apologized, but did note that the snake was “Made in America”.

Enjoy, and until the next newsletter, we’ll keep in touch on Facebook!

-tony