Garden Rant

More on our glossy friends at Garden Design

"We are … bored with perfect magazine gardens."

That quote should look very familiar—it's repeated to the left of this post as part of the Garden Rant manifesto. We were reminded of it when I posted that Garden Design had chosen us as one of their six favorite blogs. Rick of Whispering Crane thought it was just a wee bit hypocritical for us to rejoice over the endorsement of a magazine that, perhaps more than any of the others, strives for the—if not perfect—meticulously designed garden. I think both our rejoicing and his comment are perfectly understandable.

But it did get me thinking about magazines and their gardens. Like many, I have a love/hate relationship with the gardening press. I look at the trendy, geometric wonders in Garden Design—some of them are very beautiful—and, as a former art curator and fan of minimalism, I long for their precision. (How did I end up with a messy courtyard that only needs an overlay of kudzu to look utterly wild?)

If the gardens in many glossies are presented for inspiration, they often overshoot their mark to the point where depression, frustration, or exasperation result. This is why I often prefer the more prosaic befores and afters shown in such books as The Well-Tended Perennial Garden. I look at some of her photographs, and think, "That looks good. Yeah. I could probably do that." Unlike a mag like Gourmet, where if I buy the ingredients and follow the directions, I'll probably be successful, most of the innovative gardens in GD aren't easily emulated.

Yet, why not aspire? Like the crazy couture trotted down the runway during Fashion Week, can we look at these gardens as extremes that, in a scaled-back form, we'll be ready to wear some day?

In the Jan/Feb issue of Garden Design, in which "English gardens still rule," there are checkerboards of phlox (mat-forming type) interspersed with flagstones. Other issues in recent years have featured the European New Wave movement, where garden paths are often completely dispensed with—one simply wades through the plants. There have been a lot of pictures of brightly-colored plastic furniture that actually look kind of cool (in their pristine magazine setting).

The current issue features their annual hot 100. This is a common magazine come-on, one that, as an editor, I've certainly used. Readers seem to like having things enumerated. Top ten? Worst five? Lists of 100 are especially seductive; they seem to promise so much.

In the end I'm happy to get three good ideas a year out of all my garden periodical reading. What about you?

(Posted by Elizabeth.)

Gardens of the Getty Center

This $300-million, stunning museum complex in Brentwood, CA  by uber-architect Richard Meier is worth the visit for even casual art- and architecture-lovers.  But we're all about the gardens here, beginning with the subtle plantings between the many buildings, with their limited color scheme of green, white and lavender.  Nice complement to the off-white palette of the buildings themselves.  But for my gardener's money, the main attraction is the 3-acre Central Garden - a plant-lined ravine swirling down to bougainvilla arbors and a pool that's surrounded by specialty gardens and holds in its center a floating azalea maze.  (Follow this link to photos and a plant list.) 

This garden-as-work-of-art was designed by the painter Robert Irwin and to the well-known displeasure of architect Meier, Irwin was given the freedom to express his own vision, which turned out not to be sedate at all.  So how does a painter "paint" in plants?  With the help of someone who knows plants, in this case the California landscape architect firm of Spurlock Poirier.

Funny thing, though.  The Getty Center's docents tell the public it was designed with the help of "horticulturist (sic) Laurie Olin," which deserves a double-sic because he's a landscape architect and he had nothing to do with this garden, his contribution being limited to the occasional plantings between the buildings.  And though websites across the Internet get the name right, one site stands alone in getting it wrong - our old rant subject, About.com. 

Why the nit-picking?  Maybe because Laurie Olin's a big name here in D.C., what with his recent redesign of the Washington Monument grounds.  It achieved the impossible in this terrorized city - security measures that don't announce themselves and don't detract from the site's pastoral beauty.  His solution?  Ha-ha's! 

But no matter who created the Getty's signature garden, I'll just enjoy it, and go back to see the crape myrtles in bloom.  So tell me, how do azaleas know when to bloom in this California climate, anyway?

All photos click to enlarge.

Vox populi?

How can we reconcile the necessity of using Latin names (so we know what the heck we're talking about) with the old-fashioned charm and personal associations of common plant names?

The issue has been taken up on this blog before, on Golden Gecko's, and on mine. But I'm thinking of it again as I peruse the catalogs, ordering annuals and perennials for the 2007 season.

Select Seeds, for example, has Kiss-Me-Over-the-Garden-Gate, listed in the ks rather than under Polygonum orientale (though it gives this name along with its pronunciation). It also has Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena) and Love-in-a-Puff (Cardiospermum halicabum). The dilemma for me has more to do with the fact that only the first is available as a plant—I fear seeds much more than names—but it seems to me that you have to use both names, one to express the cottage garden lineage of these cultivars and one to correctly identify them in the botanical world.

Though most of us seem to agree that the use of Latin names is preferable, it's not catching on much in the real world. I wouldn't mind if all the common names were as cool as Ragged Robin or Queen Anne's Thimble. Unfortunately, these romantic and fanciful names (and the plants they represent) are just as archaic to most gardeners as multi-syllabic botanical handles.

I found some interesting comments on the subject in a lively thread on Gardenweb:

The common names were created by and for common/casual/the-majority-of gardeners who don’t want to, and don’t intend to learn another language in order to plant a few shrubs, annuals and perennials. These casual gardeners make up the vast majority of the folks who buy plants and gardening stuff.
(Bean Counter)

I once used only Latin names but they seem increasingly useless. The problem is they are less stable than the common ones.
(Ted B)

As for me, it drives me crazy to hear visitors referring to my painstakingly-chosen—and pricey!—varieties of species lilium as daylilies during Garden Walk, and I know the careless American nursery business is at least partially to blame for this. Many in this trade don't really care whether we know which plants we're buying as long as they get our money.

On the other hand, I'm longing for the day when I can point to a bed and say "Oh, that's Kiss-Me-Over-the-Garden-Gate, Love-in-a-Puff, and Ragged Robin."

Landscape by Jude Law

We've been anticipating "Breaking and Entering," with Jude Law's performance as a gardener (well, landscape architect, close enough for our purposes), and I can finally report that:

• It's Jude Law.  Isn't that enough?  Actually, it's also Anthony Minghella (English Patient, Cold Mountain), Robin Wright Penn, an amazing Juliette Binoche and some terrific supporting actors.

• Jude's firm, called Green Effects, isn't about gardening at all or as he says, "It's not about grass," but urban renewal.  Described as the "built landscape as art," it's reflecting pools and waterways that soften the industrial spaces of London's gritty King's Cross neighborhood.

• The reviews have been mixed, to put it kindly, and I don't get it coz this movie had me at the opening credits.  Maybe it's because, as one reviewer noted, it's a "genteel 'Crash' for concerned liberals"?  Exactly; that's why I thought it was so good.   

"I avoid my backyard because it just looks like work to me."

Following yesterday's conclusion that our love of dirt and physical labor makes us abnormal, this link (thanks to Gloria of Pollinators Welcome) seems relevant to our discussion.

The quote above is from one participant in a UCLA study to be released next month chronicling the "lifestyles" of 32 Los Angeles families.  Turns out that only a few of them use their outdoor spaces, even with low humidity, infrequent rain and moderate temps - a fricking paradise.  I just got off the plane from visiting LA myself and I'm sick with envy over their climate.  But the survey says:

Fear of Soil

This week, one of Garden Rant's sharpest correspondents, landscape gardener Christopher C. of the blog Tropical Embellishments, asked us all to remember that we are not normal.  People who care so much about gardening that they read or write blogs about the subject are not normal.

This really struck a nerve with me, because the people in my town--lovely people--sometimes appear to regard me as not quite normal.  I often notice a mystified expression on their faces if they happen to pass by as I attack my front yard with a shovel.  And if they're polite enough to ask what I'm doing, they listen to my answer with a look of strained patience--as if I'm telling them about the Star Trek convention I attended last weekend and why the Enterprise can tell you everything you need to know about life.

But being a gardener is not the same as being a Trekkie.  Gardening is not cultish or fetishistic at all.  It is one of the essential human experiences.  Of course, you don't have to grow crops or manage the landscape around you, but somebody has to do it.  And if you avoid, shirk, or outsource the job, you do so at some cost to yourself.  You remain ignorant of a central feature of human culture for the last 10,000 years.

So why do people find gardening weird?  I think because it's dirty and they are disgusted by dirt. 

Boogie Back to Texas

All right, you Austin gardeners:  Here I come!  Hope to see some of you on the southwestern part of the Flower Confidential book tour.  As always, full details here.

• Friday, Feb 23, 7 pm:  Book People, Austin, TX
• Tuesday, Feb 27, 7 pm:  King's English, Salt Lake City, UT
• Wednesday, Feb 28, 7 pm: Spotted Frog Bookstore, Park City, UT
• Thursday, March 1, 7:30 pm:  Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, CO

Master Gardener Magazine is Here to Teach

Unbelievably, the Cooperative Extension Service of Washington State University is funded generously enough to have not just an outstanding multi-faceted program of events for the public's edification but a fine website and now this - a first-rate quarterly magazine with the tagline "Science-Based Garden Education."  Not exactly sexy, like "24-Hour Makeovers" or "Sustainable Living" or whatnot, just a commitment to teach us how to grow plants - in environmentally responsible ways, of course - and inspire us to volunteer for the cause.  The first issue is finally in hand and has lots to say:

• It's this very Extension Service that STARTED the Master Gardener program that's now widespread nationally and abroad, back in 1973.  (You mean it didn't really spring from the folksy and fertile mind of Master Hustler Jerry Baker?)
• Bonsai Bill Taylor, Master Gardener Class of 1973, holds the world record for years of volunteer service (34) and is still going strong. 
• The highly regarded Linda Chalker-Scott, Extension horticulturist, calmly explains how a claim - for instance, that compost tea prevents disease or replaces fertilizer - is tested using scientific method (remember that?  Apparently it still works!)  And on this particular subject, "the science is not strong".  But really, it's much too complicated to explain in a single bullet item.  (Dang science.)
• Okay, Yakima scientists, clear this up for me.  In your article "Too Popular Peat" you clearly present the case against continued use of nonrenewable spagnum peat moss; it's a problem worldwide.  But then there's this:  "In contrast, the Canadian Spagnum Peat Moss Association, which represents producers, argues that peat is renewable and that peat accumulation is growing 70 times as fast as it is being harvested.  They further state that new methods can restore peatlands to their most important ecological functions in 20 years and as new technology is developed, that time is being shortened still."  But that's bullshit and you're too nice (and bureaucratically constrained) to say it, right?
• At the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, they're seeing more eco-smart garden proposals than ever, although the one "stringent request" of participants is that displays contain plants that  actually grow together.  But not to worry; they're still allowed to show plants flowering out of season (without which there would be no winter flower shows).
• Really good information like how to read and identify a winter twig, where insects go in winter, and lots more super-nerdy stuff we rarely find in the commercial gardening magazines.
• The story of Herbfarm and its Slow Food philosophy.  Reminds me of a DC Master Gardener classmate of mine who just this week announced his new blog: TheSlowCook.com.  You foodies out there might give it a look.
• And a great Valentine's Day story on the back cover - this cute pair with their 50 years of "successful marriage," both Master Gardeners who volunteer at demonstration gardens and worm composting classes for kids.  So couples that worm-compost together stay together - now you tell me.

Kudos galore to Washington State University for their commitment to good hort education for the public.  Would that Cooperative Extension Services everywhere could follow suit.  Here's the link with information about subscribing.

Garden Design on Garden Rant

"Pithy, hysterically funny, with poignant news and views of all aspects of the garden world. Don't miss their Manifesto!"

That's what Garden Design says about Garden Rant in their March issue. Referring to us as a "national blog," writer Maureen Gilmer introduces readers of the magazine to the world of garden blogs, and—this is the part we're excited about—lists Garden Rant as one of six on a "blog roll of honor."

Needless to say, we are more than thrilled to be recognized by this über-hip periodical—it's the one with all the chic furniture and cutting-edge gardens from all over the world. (This issue features Bali.) The issue also contains their yearly "100 hot plants" feature and there's a huge orange gerbera on the cover. Sorry, can't link to it; their website still has the October/November issue.

It was interesting to check out the other five blogs that were mentioned. I'm a reader of Garden Design Online and knew about the Human Flower Project, but not the others. I look forward to checking in on them often, though; they sound fascinating.

Here are our partners in coolness:

GardenDesignOnline
Dreams and Bones
Seedhead
my aloe garden 
Human Flower Project

And in another example of how Amy's book continues to bring attention to Garden Rant, we are also mentioned in the review of Flower Confidential published in yesterday's Christian Science Monitor.

What's on your Wish List for Garden Centers?

Garden Center Magazine has asked GardenRant to write a guest post for their new blog that answers this question:  What's your wish list for changes in retail garden centers?  So we're asking our Readers to help with this important job.  This is your chance to rant!  How could garden centers better serve you?  We're looking for the Top Five Ways they could improve.  My own dream list begins and ends with:

1. More information about the plants they sell, especially the Latin and correct cultivar name, but also exposure, water requirement and ultimate size.
2. More employees available who can answer questions and give overall guidance.  Newbie customers in particular are overwhelmed and often waste their money on misguided choices that you, the retailer, could have prevented.  So they're discouraged and frustrated, and you've just lost them as repeat customers.

My fear is that hiring more employees would just worsen the price advantage that big box stores have over independent garden centers.  But maybe creative business people can figure this out; our job is to WISH.

Okay, Readers, now's your chance.

Trees for Troops

I'm a sucker for a good public relations gimmick and here's one I especially like.  This past Christmas the National Christmas Tree Association and FedEx delivered 12,000 trees to 25 military bases, including those in Afghanistan, South Korea, and Qatar, the U.S.'s shipping gateway to the Middle East.  Details here.

These pictures may make the case for this smart industry program - and really, it IS smart - but to me, they're so sad.  Am I veering dangerously off-topic to admit that I can't think of these trees without wanting to go rescue the people they're intended to cheer up and delivering them back to their families??

Flights of plantasy

In March, Northerners and Midwesterners can look forward to more than simply watching our gardens slowly come back to life. We'll also be treated to a wide range of garden and flower shows, from the "home and garden" variety where hardware plays the starring role to garden-only shows—still commercial but at least with more plants—to spring flower shows, often hosted by non-profit public gardens and conservatories. The flower-lover in me prefers the conservatory shows, though these often feature too few cultivars. (I like to see the rarer varieties but seldom do. Tulipa acuminata, anyone?) But I do get some enjoyment out of the commercial garden shows. By "enjoyment" I mean that not wholly innocent form, where an appreciation of the absurd plays an important role.

The garden show in Western New York is called Plantasia; it is put together by the local association of landscapers and nurseries. A garden exhibition area features display gardens created by garden centers and design contractors; there are also aisles of vendor booths. I think this is a common format for most of these shows. Often, the show has a theme: my favorite was books, where we saw an urban garden based on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and a Lord of the Rings hobbit habitat. Last year was "Around the World," but I don't remember any of the locations, so it couldn't have been that great. Without ranting too much about Plantasia, I wonder about the value of these expositions.

I can't stay away from them because:
•It's great to walk into any space filled with gardens and plants at this still-frigid time of year.
•Sometimes, the vendors have some interesting items.
•I'm a sucker for insane water features like towering waterfalls with sound and light shows attached.
•I'm fascinated by the countless ways in which Unilock can be employed.

I'm disappointed every year because:
•Most often, the display gardens err on the side of caution. They don't seem to get that they should be pulling out all the stops. Even if it's not what I would want for my garden, I'm always going to be more impressed by creativity.
•The plant material, I guess because of the time of year, is generally limited to forced bulbs and azaleas, with some exceptions.
•Increasingly, the displays are less and less about a great context for plants and more and more about the "outdoor room."
•I'm not really fascinated by Unilock.

Yet, these shows are aimed at gardeners, I'm a gardener, and I continue to attend, hoping that the pleasure will outweigh the disenchantment. What about you? Are these shows, for good or ill, part of your gardening year?

A partial listing of upcoming shows:

Plantasia, March 22-25.
Gardenscape (Rochester), March 15-18.
The Connecticut Flower & Garden Show, Feb. 22-25.
The Chicagoland Flower & Garden Show, March 10-18.
The Cincinnati Flower Show, April 21-29.
The Boise Flower & Garden Show, March 23-25.
The Portland Flower Show (Maine),March 8-11.
The Central Massacusetts Flower Show, March 2-4.
The San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, March 21-25.

And of course there are many more.

Graham Rice's Top 10 Blogs

Over on Transatlantic Plantsman, Graham is ever-so-helpful to his newbie blog-readers back home in England.  It's Blogging 101, plus some more advanced details I'm still confused about myself.  (Feedburner "Subscribe Here" creates emails to readers of your new posts?  And how's that different from using a blog-reader?) 

But Graham quickly moves on to our favorite part - the blogs he recommends.  Heaps of thanks and a virtual group hug for the generous endorsement!

Ten recommended blogs
Finally, to get you started, here are ten recommended gardening and plant blogs from the UK and USA. There are more in the sidebar over on the right. 

GardenWeb’s Garden Voices
Daily highlights from the gardening blogs

Garden Rant
Firm opinion, with an endearing touch of justified hysteria from Susan Harris, Elizabeth Licata, Michelle Owens and Amy Stewart. Superb.  There are links to their own individual blogs too.

Horticultural
Jane Perrone's organic allotment and garden blog from England.

Invasive Plants in Arlington
Photo diary or working on non-native, invasive plants in Arlington, Virginia.

Mostlymacro
Sightings and photographs from the natural world in Yorkshire, England.

Irene's Garden and Beyond
New York Newsday’s gardening columnist Irene Virag on her garden and beyond.

GardenDesignOnline
Gardening and landscape design with attitude from Jane Berger in Washington DC and Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Cold Climate Gardening
Hardy plants for hardy souls from Kathy Purdy in zone 4, New York state.

A Study in Contrasts
Mostly garden-related musings of a transplant living near the sandy shores of Lake Erie.

May Dreams Gardens
From Indiana, including the Garden Bloggers' Book Club

What an interesting list, and I'm glad it includes my buddy Jane Berger, who's an excellent writer and practically a neighbor.  But about the invasive plant crusader in Northern Virginia?  That just proves once again that there are people who devote themselves to fighting the good fight, be it environmental or political, and then there are people like me, who vote with them and write checks to them but really just want to enjoy being outside, ya know?  There's a popular bumper sticker in my neighborhood that reads, "I'd Rather Be Fighting Global Warming," to which my honest reaction is that I'd rather be enjoying nature while those other folks are out fighting global warming.  Am I the only one?

Welcome, Dallas Readers

Mariana Greene, garden writer for the Dallas Morning News (one of the top five newspapers in the U.S.) doesn't just say nice things about Flower Confidential; she also writes that she first discovered Amy right here on GardenRant and is a regular reader.   And in the seventh paragraph - my favorite part - she lists the other Ranters by name, city and state.  Nice!

Then there was this revelation:  She has a rant inside her just waiting for the right venue and wonders if GardenRant might invite her to do a guest post.  Consider it done!  Yes, she's been formally invited to join our unruly bunch and will be making her debut appearance here soon.

One more note.  In describing this site Mariana wrote that we "chime in on just about anything even remotely related to gardening."  Yeah, our definition of "gardening" casts a pretty wide net and as the culprit who recently wrote about a surfing movie (and what surfers supposedly have to say about gardening), guilty as charged.       

Here's the link.

Hot Colors, Wild Shapes, Racing Pulses

Just in time for this week's snow dump in the Northeast, a catalog arrived in the mail that offered me an hour of free entertainment and a warm glow: Logee's, which bills itself as "tropical container plants for home and garden."

While I don't do very well with container plants in the home--finding them generally about as much fun as depressed houseguests--I do love a humongous pot or two of something weird in the garden in the summer. 

But it's hard to find interesting annuals.  Even the fancy nurseries in my part of the world offer not much besides pansies and the boring varieties of impatiens. 

I've only gotten what I wanted because there is a really unlikely nursery in the unfancy countryside near me.  Devoted to annuals and vegetable seedlings, it's owned by a sophisticated couple who have always been way ahead of their market.  So I've been able to buy nice stuff like heliotropes, fun pink or chartreuse caladiums, tiny little miniature impatiens in hot colors, and tuberous begonias already blooming.  (I've had no luck trying to start those babies in a windowsill early.  They just get leggy and rotten.)   

But the owners of this nursery have recently sold their house, started spending more of each winter in a balmy clime and are clearly losing interest in expanding their upstate customers' horizons.

Can Logee's fill this gap?  They're comparatively expensive, but the catalog suggests numerous thrills:

1. Rex begonias with their paisley-swirling leaves.  My God, these are gorgeous!
2. A bat-winged begonia with white polka dots: B. Maculata var. 'Wightii.'
3. Pelargoniums with fancy leaves.  I love a classic red-flowered geranium.  Think I love Logee's 'Skies of Italy' even more.

I was also gripped by the idea of a fig tree theoretically hardy to Zone 5... only to learn from Logee's website that Ficus carica 'Danny's Delight' is not in stock.  Too many other fig lovers in upstate New York?  Fresh figs are one of life's great pleasures any way you get them--grow 'em, buy 'em, or steal 'em-- but try them on a pizza with onion confit, provolone, and prosciutto.

And Logee's offers a passion flower variety named Incense that is supposedly hardy to Zone 6.  No way, I say, but they've probably won my $10.95 for it anyway.

Just Dropping In ...

...from the Seattle Garden Show. What, I ask you, does this Roman fantasy have to do with the average garden? (I know, I know--that's the whole POINT!) This year's show gardens were interesting enough-- and wildly fragrant thanks to all the hyacinth everyone planted.

Top 10 Gardening Blunders (with Bonus Blunders)

The Renegade Gardener - the one and only Don Engebretson - is at it again, compiling nuggets of wisdom for experienced and newbie gardeners alike.  He says his criteria are that the blunders be common, be BIG and be blunders he's made at least twice himself, but I bet that last bit is just an ice-breaker, a humble little prelude to the great pile of criticism Don's about to dump on his readers.   I say Don, bring it on; Americans need a little ice water in the face just to get their attention. 

First and foremost, every one of these blunders deserves its places on the list - Bull's Eye!!  Now notice how many American landscaping mistakes are attitudinal (too small, too straight) and emotional (fear of large plants and of letting go, getting suckered, and possible addictions).  And it seems to me they're what happens when we're cut off from Nature.  If we'd all grown up in little English towns where everyone grew veggies and flowers, ya think we'd be planting swaths of turf and a row of foundation azaleas?  Not likely.  That's why I love the Garden Walks that are changing neighborhoods and neighbors in cities like Buffalo and Chicago.  People just need someone to teach them, and without having grown up in a gardening culture, they need neighbors to encourage and inspire them.

And about the Great Dumbing Down of American Gardening that Don's so pissed off about, did it really only begin 10 years ago?

Finally, number 3 on the list is a blunder of omission - not using enough nonplant items like pots and furniture and hardscape.  Agreed, but doesn't seating itself deserve special mention?  As a proselytizer for the salutary effects of sitting in the garden, I venture to suggest that people who sit regularly in their gardens A, enjoy them more and B, have gardens with fewer blunders (eventually).

They're all here - 10 plus Bonuses.  Discuss among yourselves.

[Photos:  Thomas Hobbs' Vancouver garden, by Engebretson; and plan showing too much turf.]

Love is a (six-foot) rose

Love is a rose
but you better not pick it
It only grows when it's on the vine.
—Neil Young

Ok, so Neil doesn't know roses don't grow on vines. He's Neil, and that's enough.

A "holiday" that doesn't include a day off from work is bogus in my opinion, but I do soften a bit toward Valentine's Day. It is the day when flowers are given, received, and celebrated—and not just between the romantically-involved.

At a "Red" party I attended Saturday, all the food was either red or white. In recognition of the occasion, I presented our hostess with the flower you see here: a "six-foot" rose, recently featured on the cover of Fortune magazine. (Mine was more like four feet; it must have lost some stature along the way.) The appearance of this monstrosity—kind of like the stretch limo of flowers—in my favorite local flower shop couldn't have been more well-timed. I have just finished reading fellow ranter Amy Stewart's Flower Confidential in which she writes in detail about the very Ecuadorian growers—Nevado Ecuador—who created this wonder.

Also referred to in the trade as "extreme roses," these were first grown for the Russian market, and are considered the longest-stemmed roses in the world, though of course there are much taller rose plants—climbers can go up to sixty feet. Apparently no special hormones or genetic tinkering are required to produce these, and, as Amy reports, fewer pesticides or fungicides as well.

I must say I caused an instant sensation as I walked into the party with my shaker of Negronis (the perfect red cocktail), and my extreme rose. I had found a tall vase to match it; in fact, the rose and the vase were about the same price. No one there knew so many roses were grown in Ecuador; clearly, they all need to read Amy's book.

Perhaps Valentine's Day would be the only day when you'd really need a six-foot rose. It would ensure that your romantic offering would stand out in the crowd of carnations, lilies, and lesser roses that everyone else was giving and receiving. Another use for this would be galas, banquets, and the like, where tall floral arrangements are just as popular as tall food.

But I think I've probably purchased my last six-foot rose. Happy Valentine's Day!

I have written about Amy's book here.

TypePad Book of the Month

Our good friends at TypePad have chosen Flower Confidential as their Book of the Month.  Each month, they feature a different book written by an author who blogs on TypePad; you can see other recent picks here.

We've found TypePad to be surprisingly easy to use and even easier to customize. It's also easy to import an existing blog into TypePad. So if you're thinking about making the leap, now's your chance:  there's a free copy of Flower Confidential waiting for you.  Act fast--supplies are limited!

Message from Susan - Don't miss their interview with Amy, including these thoughts on the joys of blogging:

As a writer with something to get off her chest, it's a great place to do the kind of writing I can't do anywhere else. I can rant and stamp my feet and get political and swoon and fall in love. I can post crazy pictues. I can veer dangerously off-topic. It's very freeing.

Meet Rob Cardillo

a GardenRant Interview
I first noticed garden photographer and writer Rob Cardillo through his messages to the Garden Writers Listserv on the subject of websites.  Readers know I've been ranting and raving overtime lately about websites, so here comes another (rave, that is).  His nifty professional photography site does everything it needs to do, and well, with plenty of eye candy for the frustrated gardener in winter.  (Professionally designed by the QDesign Shop for $1,200.)  Just recently he's created a do-it-yourself site to help promote his new book (with Adam Levine), Great Gardens of the Philadelphia Region - this one only costs $5 a month and was quick+easy to create using Homestead.

Then I read Rob's bio and found out that his photos have been published like everywhere - Organic Gardening, more books - and he's a muckty-muck in the Garden Writers Association (past Director for the Mid-Atlantic region, past chair of its Awards Committee) and the venerable Pennsylvania Hort Society.  So I decided to ask Rob for an interview and because he's super-friendly and a diehard gardening enthusiast, he agreed.

Philadelphia takes Gardening Seriously
Founded in 1827, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society doesn't let history stand in the way of keeping up with the times.  Today it embraces its traditional members, the Main Line Philadelphians (the movers and shakers behind the amazing Philadelphia Flower Show) and community gardeners and activists of all sorts.  Very cool.  I was especially impressed with their Philadelphia Green program, which has taken over enough empty lots to make a difference in the city and is now a model for gardening as a tool for urban revitalization.  Maybe there's a DC Green in our future.

Speaking of Philadelphia, if you're going to the Flower Show (March 4-11), we're looking for a stringer to report on it for us.  The pay's lousy but think of the resume-enhancing "Guest blogger for GardenRant."

Bringing the Garden Writers Association into the 21st Century
Recently the GWA's ears were burning as listserv members ranted (mostly) about what it's doing and not doing for its members for their $85 annual dues.  Sure, members attending GWA's regional and national conferences have a grand old time networking with each other, and I saw no complaints about the conferences beyond some predictable quibbling over details like hotel choice.  But about GWA's yearly commissioning of a survey of trends in gardening?  Some complaints about its usefulness and suggestions that the money could be better spent.  Ditto their dead-tree and snail-mailed newsletter.  So let's ponder how that dues income might be better spent.

Well, what's a professional association for?  Partly so members can meet and enjoy some comraderie (and who needs it more than writers, after all?)  But lots of members are now suggesting GWA focus its efforts on helping them get work through things like job banks, and helping them get more money by negotiating better contract terms between publications and freelancers.  Our own Amy offered a long and sensible list of services that the GWA might offer and in response, she was told to volunteer and make it happen.  Ya know, in her spare time.

So as a GWA insider, what's Rob's take on all this?  He loves GWA ("It's one of the best networking organizations of gardening communication") and suggests that members who want to see it revitalized "get involved."  Well, as frustrating as that answer may be, I know from my own experiences with organizations that the people who do the work generally get to determine what happens and how, so he's probably right.  But damn, can't we just take a member survey and see the organization respond to the results?

On Promoting Books 
If schlepping across the U.S. in mid-winter to promote a book isn't your idea of the good life, go local, or in the case of Great Gardens of the Philadelphia Region, regional.  It makes promotion a snap.  Of course, it helps if your region, like the Philly area, is at the top of gardening's food chain. Garden-goers here in D.C. are naturally jealous (oh, to be able to pop in on Chanticleer or Longwood whenever we feel the urge) but feel lucky just to have Philly within day-trip range.  So I begged Rob for a review copy of the book, he took pity on me, and readers can expect some regional garden porn here soon.

Why don't Gardenblog Photos look like These?
Okay, we're not professionals and Rob needn't worry about competition from us, but even amateurs are teachable, at least in theory.  So Rob, any tips for us? 

• Be patient.  Sometimes you just have to wait for the wind to stop and the sun to soften.
• Use a tripod. They're not just a way to sharpen your images, they're also invaluable for finessing your compositions.
• Great subjects deserve great backgrounds.  Look for contrasts in color, echoed shapes and supporting lines.

Thanks, Rob!  All photographs by Rob Cardillo (except for his mug shot by book partner Adam Levine.)