Gardening With Tony

UNITED STATES—Fads certainly complicate gardening. Most are merely marketing tactics. Most are bogus. Many even contradict their justifications! For example, most new, trendy and supposedly sustainable plant cultivars are genetically weak because of extensive breeding. Drought tolerance likewise has potential to be a constructive fad but is so commonly misapplied. Incidentally, its terminology is somewhat inaccurate. Drought is an extended...

UNITED STATES—Colorful foliage is always present. After all, green is a color, even without any other color or variegation. Defoliation of deciduous foliage during autumn reveals evergreen foliage beyond, even if fading through winter. Immediately prior to defoliation though, deciduous foliage of quite a few species temporarily becomes spectacularly colorful autumn foliage. Whether deciduous or evergreen, foliage that is most...

UNITED STATES—Most flowers rely on wind for dispersion of their pollen. The remainder do what they must to attract pollinators. Of these, the majority are visually appealing. They utilize color, form and texture. Some prefer to be more olfactorily appealing instead. They utilize fragrance. Some get creative with a combination of both tactics. They are both fragrant and colorful. Flowers...

UNITED STATES—Annual bedding plants are surprisingly more popular among those who enjoy gardening less. Those who procure the services of gardeners appreciate the rich colors and simple efficiency of annuals. Many who are more directly involved with their gardening consider them to be decadent. Nonetheless, warm season bedding plants will soon be in season. Cool season bedding plants should perform...

UNITED STATES—Flowers were originally colorful only to attract pollinators. Breeding has improved the color and quality of many garden varieties of flowers, to make them more appealing to the people who grow them. Some have been bred so extensively that they are sterile, which defeats the original function of flowers. Now their function is merely to look good in...

UNITED STATES—Recently wintry weather is a reminder that large trees require maintenance. Otherwise, some are likely to eventually drop limbs or blow over. Even some of the most stable and structurally sound trees benefit from maintenance. Otherwise, they can become shabby, overgrown or obtrusive. Such maintenance is what constitutes the basis of arboriculture. Arboriculture is, most simply, the specialized horticulture...

UNITED STATES—Timing is very important in gardening. Even when the weather in autumn still seems like summer, spring blooming bulbs must be planted on time. Bare root fruit trees will become available while they are dormant, and will need to be planted before they wake up. Roses need to be pruned before buds for new canes swell later in...

UNITED STATES—The temptation is unbearable. The catalog of Adelman Peony Gardens, either in print or at www.peonyparadise.com, shows how spectacular peony blossoms can be. There are one hundred and seventy-eight exquisite pictures of the cultivars available for mail order on online purchase. The only problem, and it is a big one, is that peonies are recommended for USDA Zones...

UNITED STATES—Seasonal pruning is just as the terminology implies, seasonal. It might seem as if it all happens in winter. Most of it begins after cooling autumn weather initiates dormancy. Most of it is completed before warming spring weather stimulates vascular activity and resumption of growth. That is why most seasonal pruning is referred to simply as winter pruning....

UNITED STATES—Shade has become less of a priority for modern urban gardens than it still is for older and more spacious suburban gardens. Significantly less sunlight reaches the ground of such confined gardens among taller and shadier homes and fences. Even where shade might be desirable, space for shade trees might be minimal. Streets are the primary exception. Streets, and...