Dr. A's 2022 Gift Guide
Good Day and Merry Christmas to All!
I feel a little like Santa but without the elves, the sleigh, or the reindeer. However, I do think of my garden friends often, and here are a few of my thoughts on Gifts for the Gardener.
My colleague, Maria Zampini, swears by the is apron. It is versatile and durable. The company also bundle options for gift giving.
A versatile and high preforming water nozzle. What gardener would love this tucked under the tree.
For all the houseplant lovers, this is an essential for the library.
What’s the best way to nurture your green thumb when you don’t have a yard or space? Houseplants! This is your guide to raising the best, healthiest, and happiest potted plants nature has ever seen.
Pollinator Garden Gift Set from botanical interest
I love Botanical Interest seeds. Seeing as natives and pollinators are crucial parts of the garden, this gift set will be wonderful for any gardener in your life.
Premium Stainless Steel ComfortGEL® SCOOP from corona
This scoop from Corona – It can be used for container gardening and helps move more soil quickly. Coronoa offers an entire line of comfortGEL tools. Way better than wood handle tools.
My flower farmer friend, Kelly Garcia with Terra Flower Farm, has suggested two of her favorite tools for designing and harvesting Cut Flowers. These are essentials in her tool kit.
“When cut flowers are treated well, they last longer; when plants are trimmed and pruned effectively, they thrive.… For perfect floral arrangements and flourishing plants.” ~Victorinox
Gardening Knife with Nylon Handle from Swiss Army Knives
Felco Picking and Trimming Snip
If you have been following along, you will have noticed I am doing Dr. A’s 12 Days of Christmas Sale. Each day I am offering a special discount code or a giveaway! These only last for 24 hours! So follow along on Facebook, Instagram, or sign up for my newsletter to get theses offers straight to your inbox!
I Simply Remember These Favorite Things, and then I Can Smile All Day
Welcome to Dr. Allan Armitage's cozy corner for November 2022! In this month's favorites, he shares delightful travel tales, beautiful garden finds, must-read books, and the streaming shows he's loving right now. Whether you’re a fellow plant lover or just looking for some inspiration, there’s something here for everyone. Come along for the journey and discover the things that have brought joy and inspiration to Dr. Armitage this month!
Episode 3, Nov, 2022
A Plant:
Acer ‘Villa Taranto’
A fabulous Japanese maple at any time, but spectacular fall color.
A Garden:
Coastal Maine Botanical Garden,
Boothbay, Maine
Every time I visit, I marvel at the diversity of plants, the expertise of the garden staff and the beauty around every turn.
A Book:
The Secret Life of Groceries, the dark miracle of the American Supermarket. Benjamin Lorr
Nonfiction – From Trader Joe’s to the harvesting of shrimp and the truckers who get the produce to our stores. You won’t think of supermarket in quite the same way. Fascinating read.
Streaming Show:
Navillera (from Korea, Netflix)
No bullets, no murders or dark secrets, but rather a feel good (yet complex) show of a 70-year-old retired mailman who wants to fill his childhood dream of being a ballerina. Sounds crazy, but one of our all-time favorites.
A Place:
Glacier National Park, Montana
Another one of our country’s wonderful National Parks, try the Highline
Trail for a bit of fun.
Watch your inbox for
my list of December Favorites.
The Month is October, the Year is 2022, and I Believe That Fall is Just Around the Corner
The Month is October, the Year is 2022, and I Believe That Fall is Just Around the Corner
Of course, who knows what weather will be doing these days. It has been a hot summer, not only in beautiful Athens, Georgia but almost everywhere in the country. We were teased with cooler days and nights a week ago but, then it got hot again – but that’s what September does. However, I know that fall is coming because the box store sand garden centers are overflowing with fall mums. Like the Internet, if the box store tells me it is fall, then it must be so.
The author’s garden in early October with Impatiens and Caladiums among a coral bark Japanese maple and Deutzia
Of course, who knows what the weather will be doing these days. It has been a hot summer, not only in beautiful Athens, Georgia but almost everywhere in the country. We were teased with cooler days and nights a week ago but, then it got hot again – but that’s what October does. However, I know that fall is coming because the box stores and garden centers are overflowing with fall mums. Like the Internet, if the box store tells me it is fall, then it must be so.
Speaking of fall mums:
I have no problem with those cookie cutter mums; they are usually well grown, colorful and functional. I will buy a couple of small ones to replace tired plants in my window boxes and may even buy a large one for the front door. “Real gardeners” tend to complain a little about being overrun with them, but they provide a solution for people who want instant color. And that is most of us. I have no problem with the fact they are treated as throw-away plants; so are poinsettias at Christmas.
However, fall flowering hardy mums are something I look forward to every fall. They are planted like any other perennial, and flower every year in late autumn. Unfortunately, hardy mums are almost impossible to find locally in the spring because they are not flowering in that season. If you do find some now, enjoy them this year and then for many years to come. There are many choices out there, but I love 'Apricot Single', aka ‘Sheffield Pink’, and those under the “Ryan” name, such as ‘Ryan Pink, named for the outstanding designer Ryan Gainey.
And what about my favorite fall-flowering Salvia:
Oh my, ‘Phyllis Fancy’, named for Phyllis Norris at the U.C. Santa Cruz Arboretum, is doing her thing. At well over five feet tall, she will flower in late September to mid-November, or when the frost comes. I apologize to my friends in Ohio, probably not hardy north of USDA 7b. But so what, if you cannot grow it as an annual, get it as a spectacular annual?
Let’s talk a little about bulbs:
I recently visited my friend Faye Beck in Knoxville, TN. She is what I would consider a Super gardener; defined by one whose thumb is so green and garden so interesting that people make pilgrimages to her home – Susan and I just did.
Not to diminish her fabulous garden design, but it was the wonderful fall-flowering bulbs she had planted that caught my eye. Naked ladies, colchicums, and cyclamen were all vying for eye-time - and when I went around the corner, I spied some wonderful oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida) in flower. Not a mum in sight. To be sure, her temperatures are not as cold as Cleveland or Quebec City but don’t overlook what fall flowering bulbs can do for your garden.
Of course, since it is fall, don’t forget to order and plant your spring/summer bulbs like daffodils, alliums, lilies and blue star flowers (Ipheion). It is not too late. Dr A has great information on all bulbs in his App, Armitage’s Great Garden Plants and Brent & Becky Bulbs supports the App and is an excellent source of bulbs for your garden.
Native Plants and Nativars, again:
I recently spoke at one of my favorite venues, The Perennial Farm, in Glen Arm, Maryland. You may be familiar with their online store that I recommend for perennials (www.perennialfarmmarketplace.com). I was showing off many native plants to garden center owners, growers and large landscapers and once again, the question arose “Do nativars attract as many pollinators as the straight species?” I quoted test results from Mt Cuba Center in Delaware (www.mtcubacenter.org) that have shown few differences time and again with different genera.
And as much as I admire what Mt Cuba has done, I am every excited to share a paper recently published in a refereed scientific journal, (PeerJ) by Adam Baker (Univ of Kentucky) and his colleagues. In this study, they determined pollinator activity (butterflies, bees) on native species of milkweed as well as numerous nativars (eg. ‘Cinderella’, ‘Ice Ballet’, ‘Soulmate’ …). The bottom line - essentially, there were no significant differences in number and types pollinators between a species and any of it nativars. The paper can be found below and makes for very interesting reading.
Some more good news:
My son and family visited recently, and my granddaughter Avery loved smelling, touching and cutting flowers from the garden. One of her favorites was the tiny forget-me-not. And oh my, she made vases and filled the birdbath with all sorts of flowering goodies. The garden is a little barer, the birds are a little thirstier but granddad is smiling from ear to ear.
More Good News, The App
Be sure to open the Armitage App (Armitage’s Great Garden Plants) as it has been completely redesigned. The same in-depth information, lots more information on Solution Gardening, Deer Problems and Pollinator’s - all for a single price, and no advertisements.
I am telling short plant stories on our local NPR station. Believe it or not, the station is getting good feedback.
A Few of My Favorite Things:
Follow me as I share with you a few of my favorite things, a plant, a book and a Place. The first one can be found in my previous posting with many more to follow. Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter be the first to get news from us.
Won Gold medal for doubles and Silver medal in singles at the GA Senior Olympic Games this week, held in Warner Robbins, GA.
Qualify for Nationals next summer.
This old guy is still out there whacking away in the garden and on the court.
Find Me
Please follow me so you know when the next adventurous walkabout will occur. All walkabouts up to now can be found on my website under walkabouts.
YouTube videos are being posted fast and furious, hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy rambling on about plants and such.