The Month is September, the year is 2020, and I Learned One Thing About What we do
Rain lilies (Zephyranthes candida) in late August/September. For more info - https://youtu.be/tY3evjimhWQ
We Always Have Something to Look Forward to:
Cases of Covid-19 are still skyrocketing, deaths in this country have topped 175,000 real people. Covid has touched us all in ways we never would have dreamed of, regardless if you are driving a cab, running a restaurant or cleaning offices. However, without doubt, some people have been hit far harder than others and have no idea what the future holds.
I was reminded of this when I went to my dentist appointment. Kelly, my dental hygienist and I were chatting about these times and she said, “I just took it for granted.” I looked quizzically and she continued, “I just took for granted that I would always have something to look forward to.”
As I lay in the dental chair, mouth full of goodness knows what, I thought about what Kelly said. Right in that chair, a light came on and I realized the enormous depth of her brief avowal. I believe her statement should be the mantra of every plant-related business and every gardener today, no matter who we are. In fact, these five words should be on the letterhead of anything written or spoken about gardening
By definition, gardening is always “something to look forward to.” When we plant a seed, buy a perennial, bring home a shrub or dig in a bulb, we look forward to what those seeds, bulbs and plants will look like in the future. This has always been true, but oh my, how it resonates with joy during these dark times.
So, let’s keep being smart, staying safe, and continue to zig while the virus zags. But most of all, let’s get into the garden so we always have something to look forward to.
Dr. Scott Linder & Kelly Robertson
Enough of this:
We have a ton of things to share. The new book Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th ed. has been selling like hotcakes. The reviews have been wonderful, the comments very pleasing; I know you will enjoy it.
Here is a question: The softbound cover is $10.00 less expensive than the hardbound cover. Which version is selling the more copies, by how much? (Answer at end of newsletter)
It is available, as are all my books, including Naked Ladies and Forget-Me-Nots through my website, www.allanarmitage.net While browsing books, you might also enjoy the wonderful children’s book, Bitsy’s Happy Bouquet, written by my colleague Linda Copeland.
Walkabouts are still so much fun:
On August 6, I led the latest Facebook Live happy-hour-walkabout through the Trial Gardens at the University of Georgia. A trial garden is just that, and some plants are simply better performers than others. It was wonderful to be able to share some of the tremendous breeding that has allowed gardeners and landscapers to be more successful every year. Here are just a few of the plants we saw.
The next Facebook Live happy-hour-walkabout will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 10, 2020. We will be going through the exceptional Children’s Garden at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. Sign up and join me.
Here is the video from the last walkabout, the sound quality is not the best due to lots of background noise! However, if you want to spend a little more time with me, join me in the Trial Garden!
The YouTube channel
IGTV:
I hope you have been enjoying the Instagram TV series, Tales from The Garden. The stories are based on the book Of Naked Ladies and Forget-Me-Nots, and are designed to make you smile. You will enjoy hearing whether there really was someone called Joe Pye; check out this story in the button below. There are many more, to be sure, under the umbrella of …...
The channel includes dozens of short vignettes of plants and garden scenes that have caught my eye. I am always adding stories of must-have plants but … you will be astonished at the Yucca video, a plant which you must-not-have! You won’t believe this …..
This is not to say that I am still not working to keep the App up to date:
The nice thing about all these videos is that I can also incorporate them in the plant descriptions I do on the App, Armitage’s Great Garden Plants. The App continues to be updated; I added a video to Ruellia and included Physostegia,, as well. Photos, videos and information are updated regularly. I call the App “back pocket horticulture”. I have also added incorporated my …“op-ed” comments of Covid and Horticulture (like the one above) to the App.
Online Courses
You can find out all about the online courses I teach on my website. Click the button below to find out more.
YouTube
Book Store
If you are interested in looking at the books I have written, check them out here. Click the button below for all my great reads.
The Month is July, the year is 2020 and one thing is obvious
Phlox, Delta Snow. June 2019
The Beast will not go away quietly:
Cases of Covid-19 have returned to levels in April, in some states they are higher than they have ever been. We cannot lightly shrug it off as the result of increased testing. Unfortunately, the rate of infection is soaring, more young people are getting sick than ever, and more ominously, hospitalizations are up. The forced shut down was awful; mentally, physically and economically but that “death by a thousand cuts” had flattened the curve in most areas.
The opening up of restaurants, bars, and informal gatherings had to occur but could have been done without a spike, if people were concerned enough about others to do their best to distance - and to wear a mask. I mean, really, how hard is that? A mask is a symbol of respect, that you respect the health of others and will do your best not to expose them to this virus. Good grief, did a public health issue really become a political issue? Do some people actually see political implications of protecting others from a killer? Or maybe all those people not wearing masks in shops and stores simply don’t give a flip, about themselves and others. We are in the process of losing all the incredibly hard-won gains from the shutdown, to say nothing of another 50-60,000 lives. I am going to die someday, perhaps of a car crash, of an accident or of old age. However, I refuse to die of stupid.
Enough of this:
Most of us are doing just fine thank you, and we have discovered that this gardening thing is not only fun, it is essential. Many people in the gardening industry have had banner years and I truly believe we will come out of this better than when we went in. But do we have to make it so hard?
“Something to look forward to!” On a similar but brighter note, I have discovered the new gardening/industry slogan: If we have not learned that nothing should be taken for granted anymore, then we have learned nothing. One of the things that we all took for granted was we always had something to look forward to – dinner with friends, an upcoming ballgame or simply a movie to enjoy with the popcorn.
Something to look forward to is exactly what gardening is all about. No one hires a landscaper to design hardscapes and put in immature trees and shrubs if they weren’t looking forward to the long-term improvement to their home? No one plants bulbs in the fall if they didn’t look forward to the lilies in the summer, or grows cut flowers to if not looking forward to the bouquet tomorrow?
Something to look forward to! Now that is a slogan I am going to start with every one of my lectures and walkabouts.
Speaking of Walkabouts:
The latest “Walkabout with Dr. A” on Facebook Live was on July 2. Amazingly, that was the eighth one; the first being on a Saturday morning in April. Participants ranged from about 200 to nearly 2000 on a given walkabout. The numbers got much larger when I changed the time to Happy Hour, another confirmation that wine and gardening go together. All the FB live walkabouts are available on my Facebook page.
Join me next time August 6th, at the UGA Trial Gardens and will be chatting about all things annuals. The Garden looks amazing right now! Can’t wait to show you all!
Who knew this old geezer would so embrace Instagram:
Good grief, I hardly knew what it was. However, my colleagues Kelly Garcia and Maria Zampini suggested that since I couldn’t tell stories about plants and people in person, I should tell them socially. So, we started Legends in the Garden. They are posted every week on Mondays and if you want to know why snapdragons snap or what foxgloves have to do with foxes or what beebalm is good for … then you can find them on my Instagram IGTV Channel, https://www.instagram.com/armitageallan/channel/ .
The stories are mostly based on the books Of Naked Ladies and Forget-Me-Nots and Legends in the Garden, Who in the World is Nellie Stevens? If you would rather read than listen, those books are available through my bookstore.
Speaking of Books-
HALLELUJAH, finally, amen, and at last – the 4th edition of Herbaceous Perennial Plants is truly available. I am excited, humbled and exhausted – but so pleased I can hardly stand myself. A book for everyone, from seasoned grizzled growers and breeders to my daughters and neighbors.
Soon you will not have to take my word for it, I have sent it out to respected reviewers.
Herbaceous Perennial Plants is available through Stipes Publishing (https://stipes.com/) and from Dr. Armitage (www.allanarmitage.net). The book retails for $89.80 (hardbound), $79.80 (paperback) and those copies ordered through the Armitage website can be personalized and autographed if desired. For more information about the book, contact John Hecker, Stipes Publishing, at stipes01@sbcglobal.net.
This is not to say that I am still not working to keep the App up to date:
Lugging around a 5-lb weight is all well and good but having information in your pocket on your phone is a little easier on your back. I have added herbs, woodies, annuals, perennials, to say nothing of where you can buy these wonderful plants I am highlighting. It is really cool.
*** A note to current iPhone users, we are having technical difficulties with the color contrast when your phone automatically moves to night mode. You will need to adjust your settings to day when using the app in the evening. We are working hard to figure out this problem!
Speaking of plants:
How about a few terrific plants? These can still be purchased and will flower in the fall, or at least look good in the fall:
Here are a few plants I look forward to:
Fall Anemone
Hard to beat their flower power in the fall. Deer enjoy them so be warned. My favorites are the much -lover ‘Honorine Jobert’ and the shorter ‘Pamina’
Aconitum, wolfsbane:
Everyone loves blue, and there is sufficient choice in wolfsbanes to allow for late summer through fall flowering. The common name should be a hint; don’t plant it if pets and babies are sticking things in their mouths. ‘Arendsii’ is my favorite performer.
Gomphrenas:
They have made such strides in being more robust, more colorful and more useful in the landscape than ever. Series like Ping Pong are outstanding, my favorite is ‘Truffula Pink’.
Sunflowers:
Both the annual forms (eg ‘Sunfinity’, ‘Sunsation’) and the perennials are always something to look forward to. The height is far less a problem with the annuals and disease tolerance is much improved on the perennials.
Grasses:
The fall is often their time to shine, providing handsome foliar color as well as flowers. For me, it is still hard to beat switch grass, Panicum, with their range of cultivars, and Mexican feather grass, Stipa tenuissima.
YouTube
Online Courses
You can find out all about the online courses I teach on my website. Click the button below to find out more.
Book Store
If you are interested in looking at the books I have written, check them out here. Click the button below for all my great reads.