The Plant Man column
for publication week of 08/29/04 - 09/04/04
(774 words)
###

The Plant Man
by Steve Jones
www.landsteward.org


“Easy care” plants for the horticulturally challenged!


“I have a brown thumb,” a reader of this column recently moaned.

She meant that she had the opposite of a “green thumb,” a description
we often apply to people who seem to have a knack of growing just
about anything successfully. Our “brown thumb” reader went on to say
that she seemed to have no luck at all when it comes to keeping plants
alive and thriving.

This luckless lady was one of several who have asked me for some tips
on foolproof trees, shrubs and plants that even THEY are unlikely to
kill! Today, I’ll tell you about some of my favorites that are easy
to plant and easy care for.

But first, a quick note about natural snake repellents. Sometimes, a
newspaper editor has to cut part of a column when space is tight or a
major news story is breaking. I heard from several readers who said
that their newspaper had had to cut part of a recent column referring
to the use of marigolds as a natural snake repellent. You can find
the entire column archived at my web site
hehttp://www.landsteward.org/page.cfm/18923 or you can send me an
e-mail and I will reply with a “hot link” to the story you can click
on!Now on to those easy-care trees and shrubs...

First of all, I have to say that no plant is truly foolproof (or
kill-proof) and you definitely put the odds in your favor when you
select plants that are most likely to thrive in the conditions they
will find in your landscape. So determine if you will be planting in
the shade or direct sunlight, in sandy or clay soil, and so on. When
you pick plants that prefer those conditions, you’re already ahead of
the game.

Having said that, there are a number of trees and shrubs that are
tolerant of different climates, soil types and conditions, and are not
particularly demanding of your time or skill-level when it comes to
caring for them. Here are a few you might want to consider if you are
somewhat “horticulturally challenged”...

Cedar Green Giant
Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of this one. It’s one of the
toughest and fastest-growing of all the conifers. If you want to
screen your landscape from neighbors or the highway, this is an
excellent choice. It needs no shearing or pruning. It is able to
withstand drought well, exhibiting no significant pest or disease
problems, and is highly deer and bagworm resistant. Although Green
Giant prefers direct sun, it works well in shady areas too.

Rosa Rugosa
Sometimes called “the living fence,” this one is fairly husky and
extremely disease resistant. It does well in just about any soil and
is winter-hardy all the way to Zone 2. (If you’re not sure of your
Plant Hardiness Zone, send me an e-mail telling me where you live and
I can help you.) The fragrant blossoms are followed by very large
orange-red hips in late summer and last all winter.

Aristocrat Flowering Pear (Pyrus calleryana)
I like all the flowering pears, but Aristocrat is one of my favorites.
Why? Because the word “adaptable” describes it perfectly! It is pest
resistant and tolerates drought, poor drainage and just about any
soil. It can thrive despite the effects of moderate winds, smog, and
extreme temperatures. See what I mean about adaptable? And because
its branch angles are wider than other pears, the Aristocrat is more
resistant to storm damage.

Hybrid Lemon Yellow Daylilies
These guys come back year after year, growing larger and displaying
more blooms. In fact most daylilies are fairly undemanding when it
comes to ongoing care, but you might want to start with this one. As
long as they are pretty much exposed to full sun, they can do well in
almost any soil type.

Rose of Sharon Hibiscus
This one does well in either full sun or partial shade and will be
very tolerant of your soil conditions! You don’t have to prune it if
you don’t care to. Leave it alone and you’ll get a larger number of
small flowers, or prune it back for fewer but larger flowers. The
single or double flowers are in shades of red, pink, white and purple,
depending on the cultivar, and another nice feature is that it blooms
in mid to late summer when few other shrubs are in bloom.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs
and landscaping to and for resources and
additional information, including archived columns, visit
www.landsteward.org

If she has a "brown thumb", that means the opposable digit has gone necrotic
and she should see a doctor immediately. If it becomes infected and
gangrenous, it could seriously affect her whole hand and even put her very
life at risk. It may have to be surgically removed. Living without an
opposable thumb will create a whole new set of problems with grasping items
and long term rehabilitation will be necessary.

If she is so inept that she cannot grow plant because she cannot grasp even
the most basic concepts, then she shouldn't grow plants. She should go and
visit other gardens and settle for being in awe of how it is done.


"earl" wrote in message
...
The Plant Man column
for publication week of 08/29/04 - 09/04/04
(774 words)
###

The Plant Man
by Steve Jones
www.landsteward.org


"Easy care" plants for the horticulturally challenged!


"I have a brown thumb," a reader of this column recently moaned.

She meant that she had the opposite of a "green thumb," a description
we often apply to people who seem to have a knack of growing just
about anything successfully. Our "brown thumb" reader went on to say
that she seemed to have no luck at all when it comes to keeping plants
alive and thriving.

This luckless lady was one of several who have asked me for some tips
on foolproof trees, shrubs and plants that even THEY are unlikely to
kill! Today, I'll tell you about some of my favorites that are easy
to plant and easy care for.

But first, a quick note about natural snake repellents. Sometimes, a
newspaper editor has to cut part of a column when space is tight or a
major news story is breaking. I heard from several readers who said
that their newspaper had had to cut part of a recent column referring
to the use of marigolds as a natural snake repellent. You can find
the entire column archived at my web site
hehttp://www.landsteward.org/page.cfm/18923 or you can send me an
e-mail and I will reply with a "hot link" to the story you can click
on!Now on to those easy-care trees and shrubs...

First of all, I have to say that no plant is truly foolproof (or
kill-proof) and you definitely put the odds in your favor when you
select plants that are most likely to thrive in the conditions they
will find in your landscape. So determine if you will be planting in
the shade or direct sunlight, in sandy or clay soil, and so on. When
you pick plants that prefer those conditions, you're already ahead of
the game.

Having said that, there are a number of trees and shrubs that are
tolerant of different climates, soil types and conditions, and are not
particularly demanding of your time or skill-level when it comes to
caring for them. Here are a few you might want to consider if you are
somewhat "horticulturally challenged"...

Cedar Green Giant
Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of this one. It's one of the
toughest and fastest-growing of all the conifers. If you want to
screen your landscape from neighbors or the highway, this is an
excellent choice. It needs no shearing or pruning. It is able to
withstand drought well, exhibiting no significant pest or disease
problems, and is highly deer and bagworm resistant. Although Green
Giant prefers direct sun, it works well in shady areas too.

Rosa Rugosa
Sometimes called "the living fence," this one is fairly husky and
extremely disease resistant. It does well in just about any soil and
is winter-hardy all the way to Zone 2. (If you're not sure of your
Plant Hardiness Zone, send me an e-mail telling me where you live and
I can help you.) The fragrant blossoms are followed by very large
orange-red hips in late summer and last all winter.

Aristocrat Flowering Pear (Pyrus calleryana)
I like all the flowering pears, but Aristocrat is one of my favorites.
Why? Because the word "adaptable" describes it perfectly! It is pest
resistant and tolerates drought, poor drainage and just about any
soil. It can thrive despite the effects of moderate winds, smog, and
extreme temperatures. See what I mean about adaptable? And because
its branch angles are wider than other pears, the Aristocrat is more
resistant to storm damage.

Hybrid Lemon Yellow Daylilies
These guys come back year after year, growing larger and displaying
more blooms. In fact most daylilies are fairly undemanding when it
comes to ongoing care, but you might want to start with this one. As
long as they are pretty much exposed to full sun, they can do well in
almost any soil type.

Rose of Sharon Hibiscus
This one does well in either full sun or partial shade and will be
very tolerant of your soil conditions! You don't have to prune it if
you don't care to. Leave it alone and you'll get a larger number of
small flowers, or prune it back for fewer but larger flowers. The
single or double flowers are in shades of red, pink, white and purple,
depending on the cultivar, and another nice feature is that it blooms
in mid to late summer when few other shrubs are in bloom.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs
and landscaping to and for resources and
additional information, including archived columns, visit
www.landsteward.org

"earl" wrote in message
...
The Plant Man column
for publication week of 08/29/04 - 09/04/04
(774 words)
###

The Plant Man
by Steve Jones
www.landsteward.org


"Easy care" plants for the horticulturally challenged!


a quick note about natural snake repellents. Sometimes, a
newspaper editor has to cut part of a column when space is tight or a
major news story is breaking. I heard from several readers who said
that their newspaper had had to cut part of a recent column referring
to the use of marigolds as a natural snake repellent. You can find
the entire column archived at my web site
hehttp://www.landsteward.org/page.cfm/18923 or you can send me an
e-mail and I will reply with a "hot link" to the story you can click
on!Now on to those easy-care trees and shrubs...

Fascinating late medieval folklore resurfaces from time to time as helpful
gardening "facts." The origins of such fantasies are often quite
interesting, even if such superstition-driven advice is uselessly silly.

Marigolds were said to have the power to repel serpents & human lust. In
other words it is proof against the devil, though it wouldn't bother a
real-world snake at all. The odor of Marigold functions as an incense that
repels the charnal serpent, but conjurs beneficial spirits. Its brightness
of red-tinged yellow meant it was a form of Fire, & was sacred to a
Sun-divinity (or a Sun-divinity's forest-dwelling spouse) hence the
folknames Summer's Bride, Bride of the Sun, Spousa Solis, The Husbandman's
Dial, Sunwort, or Holy Gold (really Holle's Gold, a Nordic earthmother).
So marigolds banish the serpent for the same reason the sun banishes all
minions of night, without concern for the fact that real serpents actually
bask in the sun, for this is purely folk superstition, rather than
story-encoded folk knowledge.

Its ability to thwart the serpent was finally due to the plant's
association with the Virgin Mary, though this association occurred late in
the flower's folk-name history, the "Mary" in Marigold originating as an
old English corruption of the Anglo-saxon Merso meaning Marsh. Most
Mary-associated plants have blue flowers (the color of her veil) or white
(for purity, or for her breast's milk). But "Mary's Gold" came to mean
yellow flowers that were offered at roadside Mary shrines in lieu of gold,
because Mary spurned material wealth as being inconsequential compared to
spiritual wealth. And a story was told that during the flight into Egypt,
desert bandits waylaid the exiled family, but when Mary's purse was turned
inside out, all that came out were marigold petals.

-paghat the folklore ratty

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

"paghat" wrote in message
news
"earl" wrote in message
...
snip

Fascinating late medieval folklore resurfaces from time to time as helpful
gardening "facts." The origins of such fantasies are often quite
interesting, even if such superstition-driven advice is uselessly silly.
snip
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

Hi,
Don't confuse these spammers with facts, their minds are already made up.
L8R -_- how
no NEWS is good

(paghat) in newsaghatSPAM-ME-NOT-
:

Marigolds were said to have the power to repel serpents & human lust.

i thought it was codling moths that did that.

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 12:38:32 -0700,
(paghat) wrote:

[...]

(whoever quoted this...)

Marigolds were said to have the power to repel serpents & human lust

[...]

That must not work in India, since wreaths of marigolds are a feature
of many rituals there. And I don't notice "human lust" being
dysfunctional in this country of a billion+ population g

Persephone

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 12:38:32 -0700,
(paghat) wrote:

[...]

(whoever quoted this...)

Marigolds were said to have the power to repel serpents & human lust

[...]

That must not work in India, since wreaths of marigolds are a feature
of many rituals there. And I don't notice "human lust" being
dysfunctional in this country of a billion+ population g

Persephone