I Simply Remember These Favorite Things, and then I Can Smile All Year.
I Simply Remember These Favorite Things, and then I Can Smile All Day. 2023 was a beautiful year for us all, and I hope it was the same for you! Here is a recap of my favorites from the year 2023. I look forward to sharing these every month!
Episode 14, The Year of 2023
The Plants of 2023:
2023 has almost disappeared and what a year it was. I hope it was a year to remember fondly. As for me, I look forward to 2024 and sharing good times yet to come.
And oh my, I simply remember my favorite things from 2023 – and here they are. My favorite plants, gardens, books, streaming shows and places to visit.
See you in 2024!
The Gardens of 2023:
The Books of 2023:
The Shows of 2023:
The Places of 2023:
Watch your inbox for the 2024 Favorites and more. Exciting new adventures await us in the New Year!
Dr. A's 2023 Gift Guide
Happy Times: We are so fortunate to be gardeners but, as wonderful as it is, we also realize that there are certain self-evident truths.
1. It is called Working in the Garden for a reason; no-one said that this rose garden or weed garden would be easy.
2. It is truly better to give than to receive, but receiving isn’t half bad either.
So, here are a few Holiday Gift ideas so we can all continue to work (with a smile) in the garden. Enjoy.
Liquid fence
Now, I know it sounds wacky to wrap this up and stick it under the Christmas tree, but let me tell you, any green thumb would be thrilled. This bad boy is a non-toxic spray that works by deterring deer and rabbit by scent, but trust me, it's a miracle worker in the garden. If you've ever strolled through the garden with me, you'll know I always give this spray a standing ovation.
Squirrel Buster Bird Feeder
As a fellow bird admirer, you know the struggle of keeping those pesky squirrels from taking over your bird feeders. But let me tell you, my Squirrel Buster is the true MVP! It's a hoot to watch those bushy-tailed bandits try to outsmart it and fail miserably while my feathered friends enjoy their meals without interruption. It's like a live-action comedy show right in my backyard!
Johnnys Stirrup Hoe
Bendy-backs be gone! Weeding is about to get a whole lot smoother with this nifty tool. The blade glides effortlessly through your garden beds, making it a snap to give those pesky weeds the heave-ho from their root. And, in case you were wondering, the Red Tips Hoe is one of Johnny's hottest sellers.
Joyce Chen Garden Scissors
Searching for a scissors soulmate for your gardening or kitchen adventures? These snips are the answer to your prayers! Lightweight and petite, they are your trusty sidekick to keep in your gardening apron.
Cut flower seeds from Johnny’s
Johnny's has bloomed into an awesome hub for cut flower growers in the US! Looking for the perfect stocking stuffer? A few seed packets from Johnny's will do the trick. And guess what? They've got a whole bouquet of brand new cut flower varieties blossoming in 2024!
Clematis ‘Rooguchi’ from brushwood nursery
From Brushwood: “A hybrid from Kazushige Ozawa of Japan, it has a loose sprawling habit that can either ramble through your garden or be guided and tied to supports. Rooguchi has deep purple, 2.5 inch flowers with an open bell shape and are borne all summer long! I have seen this clematis grow to perfection through the legs of a tall climbing rose: It held dozens of flowers out from the mass to adorn what would have been an otherwise unsightly thorny mess.”
My colleague, Kelly Garcia, owns Terra Flower Farm and has recommended two indispensable items for flower farmers: a Cut Flower design and harvesting tool, and a tool belt. You would never know how much you need this tool belt until you have one, it's an essential item for every flower farmer.
Gardening tool belt from maker Wheeler Monroe
Made in North Carolina, these gardening belts come in multiple styles and options. This tool belt makes carrying everything from your phone to gloves to pruners a simple task. Makes not loosing your favorite pair of snips in the garden a much simpler task.
Felco Picking and Trimming Snip
We couldn’t have said it better than Felco.
“Redefining your idea of what is a hard-to-reach area, these snips can cut small branches and are perfect in minimising wastage when picking flowers and fruit. The ergonomic handle design means both small and large hands will be able to bring unstoppable manoeuvrability to every cutting job.”
New for spring, 2024 This guide serves as a fundamental introduction to the commercial production of cut flowers. It is designed as a field guide, and written primarily with new, small scale cut flower farmers in mind. However, it will also serve as a valuable resource for home gardeners and experienced growers alike.
The guide includes quick reference tables and easy-to-access information. It will be viewed similar in style to an Audubon Guide, providing a comprehensive yet accessible overview of the subject matter, including cultivars, stage of bloom, propagation techniques, planting tomes, spacing and the all-important post-harvest procedures.
The book will be physically robust, and we hope it will be tossed in the back of the wheelbarrow, tractor or pickup and referred to in the field.
If you have a copy of Armitage & Laushman’sSpecialty Cut Flowers, then imagine that as the text for Cut Flowers 401. This is the text for Cut Flowers 101, and they complement each other.
Whether you're starting a small cut flower farm or just looking to expand your gardening knowledge, this manual will provide a solid foundation for success.
Back Pocket Gardening
Having a gardening expert at your fingertips, in your pocket or purse, is what this app is all about. Dr. Allan Armitage has gathered the best plant knowledge so you can access it quickly and easily whenever and wherever you need it. With a single click, Solutions for Garden Problems, Plants Deer Don’t Eat, sources to buy plants and concise how-to information on annuals, perennials, shrubs, grasses, ferns, cut flowers, houseplants, and native plants awaits.
Download where ever you get you apps, Apple App Store or Google Play
All titles still available for christmas delivery
As the weather turns colder and the gardening season comes to a close, it's a great time to cozy up with a good book. Whether your favorite gardener is an experienced pro or just starting out, there's nothing like a good gardening book to inspire and educate.
So why not treat yourself or someone special to a winter's worth of gardening inspiration?
I Simply Remember These Favorite Things, and then I Can Smile All Day
I Simply Remember These Favorite Things, and then I Can Smile All Day. Here is a list of my favorite things this month of October 2023.
Episode 13, October 2023
A Plant:
Chrysanthemum ‘Apricot Single’
It is October, and I assume that your garden outlets are awash in pot mums. For quick fall color, they are most impressive, in fact, I have one by the front door. They work …. and then they become compost.
For me, I love the anticipation of flowers to come and I wait all season for the appearance of the blossoms of the true perennial mums. They are cold hardy to Montreal, Quebec, heat hardy to Athens, GA and persist for years. My favorite is ‘Apricot Single’ whose dozens of flowers provide wonderful late fall color. Unfortunately, plants may be difficult to find, but there are many others out there as well. If you can’t find it, look for ‘Ryan’s Pink’
A Garden:
St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall, England
The world is our garden, and there is plenty of world to see. The spectacular grounds and castle of St Michael’s Mount lie on an island just beyond the town of Marazion in southern Cornwall. At low tide, one can walk across Mount’s Bay to the island but at high tide, the island sinks and a boat is necessary.
The trek to the top the mount is not for the faint of heart, but the gardens all along the climb are beautiful. And the sight from the top is more than awesome.
A Book:
How We Got to Now; six innovations that made the modern world.
Author: Steven Johnson
Nonfiction. Have you ever wondered why flash photography led to antipoverty programs at the turn of the 20th century? Or how the invention of the laser contributed to the decline of mom-and-pop stores? Or why spectacles coincided with the invention of the printing press? It is likely that few of us, other than the author have. He examines six themes — glass, cold, sound, cleanliness, time and light, from their beginnings in history and proceeds to connect the dots to show us how “we got to now”. Sounds a little boring but it is anything but.
By the way, the invention of flash photography finally allowed Jacob Riis to capture the images of dismal tenement life on New York’s Lower East Side that he had already been writing about, with little impact, for years. And the laser begat the bar code that, in turn, gave an efficiency advantage to stores like Target and Walmart. And it turns out that once the printing press made books “available” to the common people, it turns out that they were all near-sighted.
Johnson shows that innovation is almost never the result of a lone genius experiencing a sudden voilà! moment; it is a complex process involving a dizzying number of inputs, individuals, setbacks and (sometimes) accidents.
This is was one of the most fascinating books I have read … and wait until you meet Clarence Birdseye.
A Show:
Hijack
You know if Idris Elba is in a show, it will likely be very good. When this series came out, we thought we would give it a try, and after the first episode we were hooked.
The whys and wherefore of hijacking an airplane, kept us coming back for more. The acting was excellent and the suspense non-stop.
A Place:
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada,
A trip to the Great Northland can be a simple journey, without the need to cross an ocean or to study a different language. And one of the finest small towns in the great province of Ontario is Niagara-on-the-Lake, or NOTL for short. The town has dozens of lovely shops, selling extraordinary local art to, extraordinary butter tarts. And during the summer, the renown Shaw Festival attracts theatre lovers as well. However, NOTL is a plant lovers dream; almost every shop has beautiful plantings, and the town itself is a horticultural park. Situated less than 10 miles from Niagara Falls, simply follow the Niagara parkway along the swift-flowing Niagara river, past the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture, and the amazing Floral Clock … and you will soon arrive. Enjoy your visit!