Wayside Gardens Voices

Mikinori Ogisu: The Indiana Jones of Botany

I was browsing through our catalog, as I sometimes do when I can't think of anything else to write about. I just find a pretty plant and then talk about how pretty it is. I know it's boring, and I apologize, but they really are very pretty.

This time was different. It wasn't the picture that caught my attention, but the description. Epimedium Osigui was "named for Mikinori Ogisu, the famed Japanese plant hunter...In the native it is found among limestone deposits near waterfalls." It was discovered in the mountains of Sichuan, China.

Plant Hunter! Browsing the InterWebs, I found Mr. Mikinori was connected with the discoveries of many popular plants. One blogger called him the "most important man in Epimediums." He has trekked though thick forest, up high mountains, and deep into dense river gorges to find some of the rarest and most exciting new plant varieties. One of the most interesting articles was from the Historic Roses Group written by another famed botanist and plant hunter, Martyn Rix. He described Mr. Mikinori's discoveries of exotic Chinese Roses. He spent ten years combing the Chinese wilderness, and has provided us with cultivated varieties of plants that, before him, very few people had even seen.

I guess it was naive of me, but I just had never thought of botanists as adventurers. I guess somebody had to go out and discover all of these things. As gardeners, we often fill our gardens with exotic plants from all over the world, provided either by our local nursery or ordered from a catalog like Wayside Gardens. Rarely, if ever, do we think about how that plant came to be cultivated. Who took the first sample of seeds or the first cutting. Some of the species that Mikinori Ogisu discovered only grow natively at very high altitudes or in deep gorges where there are no trails. The man is a modern pioneer, forging paths for knowledge and future discovery.

Ahoy, The Pirate's Garden!

Yar, me hearties.  'Tis Talk Like A Pirate Day yet again.  I'm Cap'n Labuffarosa, and I've got me trusty parrot tulips on me shoulder (just not, you know, really.  That would be silly, and they're not even in season), and I'm ready to give ye a fine tour of me Pirate Garden.

Of course, nothing goes with me Caribbean rum quite like some Coconut and Lime.  Except for maybe Oranges and Lemons, to keep away the scurvy.  Any citrus will do, so long as it keeps me healthy enough to be out hunting Winter Jewels, Blue Diamonds, and February Gold.  If we're lucky, we'll come across a boatload of Golden Ducats.  Maybe on my trip to Nice we'll run across an Elegant Lady, or an Exotic Emperor and his Ivory Queen and Orange Princess (hey, cut me some slack, this is a pretty thin premise I'm working with here).  Just have care not to catch me in a Dangerous Mood, or ye'll catch the Golden Edge of me cutlass.  If ye find me resting in a peaceful Blue Lagoon at Twilight, I might just Regale ye with tales of me time on the Silk Road, or of kidnapping the beautiful Stella de Oro under the Snowcaps of the Spanish Peaks.

The Pirate's life, an Endless Summer for me.

(was this one too Over the Top?  It's only 27, and I was shooting for 30.)

I Want To See Your Garden!

Here at Wayside Gardens, we see a lot of our plants.  Around the grounds, in the greenhouses, even in some of our offices, we've got our plants.  Most of us here have a lot of Wayside products in our own gardens, of course, as do our friends and families (what,  you think we give CDs as gifts?).  What we don't get as much chance to see, though, is our plants in your garden, out there "in the wild."  We would like to see and hear about your garden, though, since yours is the most important garden to us.

So, instead of coming to your house and knocking on your door, I'm asking you to send me pictures of your garden and tell me all about it.  You can email me at tandrews@parkseed.com.  We'll be posting some of these pictures and stories here on Wayside Gardens Voices, so send us pictures to show your garden off to your fellow gardeners around the world!

Gearing Up for Fall at Wayside Gardens

Today is an exciting day for us here at Wayside Gardens.  We're shifting our main website over to the fall season offerings, which means a great deal of work, but it also means that we get to start talking about all of the great new plants we've got available this year.

I have my copy of the 2008 Fall Gardening Catalog on my desk now (I promise, getting the catalogs first isn't the only reason I work here), and it is, of course, beautiful.  The cover photo is, I think, the most stunning I've ever seen on a catalog.  It is of the new Coreopsis 'Redshift.'  This Darrell Probst creation is a true improvement over previous red Coreopsis.  The flowers are a blend of a bright, rich burgundy and clean, intense yellow, starting off deep red and maturing through shades of red and yellow to finish a lovely creamy hue.  The flowers are plentiful and large enough to be truly impressive as in a vase (cut or deadhead them to stimulate new flower growth; this Coreopsis repeats heavily).  The most impressive feature of 'Redshift,' though, is that it is a genuinely hardy, vigorous red Coreopsis.  No more will red Tickseeds be grown only as annuals in much of the country; this one is hardy to zone 4!

Of course, for those of you in the Southeast, don't forget that tomorrow is Flower Day!  Come by our home here in South Carolina for guided tours of our beautiful trial gardens and a chance to meet HGTV's Paul James!

Festival of Flowers: Come Tour Our Gardens!

Each year, Wayside Gardens and Park Seed open up our amazing trial gardens to the public.  For one day we have our professional horticulturists give guided tours of these beautiful 9 acres of garden.  This year we will have over 2,000 varieties of plants at their peak, and anticipate that thousands of visitors from hundreds of miles around will be joining us in our Greenwood home.

This amazing day is called Flower Day, and it is the very soul of the South Carolina Festival of Flowers.  It is an opportunity for you to meet many of the people behind this company and to see the passion that we all have for bringing you the finest plants in the world.  More importantly, it is a chance for us to meet you, the most important people we know of.

This year we will be featuring Eric Johnson, our Director of Horticulture and Cohost of PBS's GardenSMART, who will be speaking at 8:30 on New and Exciting Plants for 2008.  Stephanie Turner, Park Seed's Director of Seed Product, will be giving a presentation on "Great Annuals and Tropicals for Containers." 

Most exciting, though, is that HGTV's Paul James will again be joining us for tours of our gardens as well as Q&A Sessions at 9:30 AM and 2:30 PM.  If you don't know, Paul is the star of HGTV's Gardening by the Yard, one of the most popular National gardening shows (as well as my personal favorite).  He is known for is uniquely oddball and personable approach to gardening advice, so be prepared for anything.

Our gardens will be open from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM on Saturday, June 21st.  I have been attending this event with my family for many years, and I hope that you will join us this year.  [Directions to Wayside Gardens]

Gift Certificates and Spring Gardening

It's not too late to order those Wayside Gardens gift certificates. If you order one of our gift certificates, it will be gift-wrapped and delivered with one of our brand new spring 2008 catalogs for you friends and family to browse and make their decisions. These gift certificates can be used over the phone, through the mail, or conveniently at waysidegardens.com.

The new catalog is full of all of your favorite roses, perennials, trees, and shrubs. We also have many items exclusive to our website. If you order now your gift certificate may still arrive before Christmas. If you're not looking to get anymore gifts, you can request our free Spring Gardening 2008 catalog and start browsing for the coming spring season.

Spring Gardening 2008 Catalog

It's almost that time again--the cold of winter is setting in,  and gardeners are twiddling their thumbs. What do we do to pass the time? Well, browse gardening catalogs of course. And, I've got a brand-spankin' new copy of Wayside Gardens Spring Gardening 2008 catalog lying on my desk, fresh of the presses. You can request a copy of your very own at waysidegardens.com.

This book is probably our most beautiful yet, starting with the giant, bright gold Paeonia 'Bartzella' bloom bursting from the cover. There are new items on almost every page, like the succulent tumbleweed, Senecio 'Kilimanjaro' or the new variegated cottoneaster. There are also many classic Wayside favorite rose varieties, perennials, trees, and shrubs. So, if you are going to be spend the winter inside anyway, why not spend it planning a beautiful garden.

Gardening Books Make Great Gifts

Some books focus on specific plants and growing techniques associated with particular climate conditions. One great example is the line of Month-by-Month gardening books from Cool Springs Press. You can give your garden-loving friends all over the country a gardening book that targets what to do in the garden each month in their specific state. Cool Springs Press also has a companion line of state-by-state gardening guides that deliver locally relevant plant descriptions and horticulture tips.

So if you are searching for gifts for the gardeners in your life this holiday season, don't be afraid to think outside of the flower pot and get your knowledge-hungry gardener a handy gardening book with pretty pictures. Or you could just opt for the pictures, as in Stafford Cliff's striking 1000 Garden Ideas. Gardener's always love inspiring pictures of other people’s gardens.

Moving Between Fall and Spring

It's and exciting time of the year for Wayside Gardens. We still have plenty of great fall deals, plenty of bulbs, roses, trees, and shrubs that are going fast. But, we are also very busy preparing for the spring season. The first copies of the spring catalog are being passed around, we are all very excited. This is one of the busiest times of the year for most of us.

It's a struggle sometimes, during a transition like this, to keep focused on the old when so many important new things are flying about. But, the fall items are selling as fast as ever--this is a great time to get the best prices on premium bulbs and plants from Wayside Gardens.

So, if you still have a few spring flower bulbs or shrubs that you want to get in the ground before spring, don't worry, you still have a few weeks to get those fall orders in. It is still warm enough in many places for fall planting. And you can order container plants or houseplants anytime.

Have You Been To See The Changing Leaves?

If you are one of the many, like myself, who trek up into the hills every fall to see the changing leaves then you know that it is that time of the year again. I was up on the Blue Ridge Parkway last week and it was beautiful. I hiked a short trail to the top of a small hill over-looking a beautifully colorful section of the Appalachian Mountains, and met a lovely older couple from Houston who had just flown into Asheville the day before to see the leaves changing. It's awesome how some events can still bring us all together.

Fall foliage interest is also a hot topic in garden design right now--this season peaks our interest in maples, oaks, willows, and deciduous fruit trees. Some of the most interesting fall foliage comes from Japanese maples--Acer Palmatum and Acer Japonicum. If you are looking to have some bright colors in your garden next fall, plant now, fall is the best time for planting trees and shrubs. They will establish over the winter and grow stronger next spring. Have your own amazing show next fall.