Kate's Newsletters

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April Flowers

With both Earth Day and Arbor Day freshly behind us and the cusp of springtime just ahead (bar the summer-to-winter weather swings we've had lately), it seems like an appropriate time to dive into some of the flowering beauties that bring the season to life.
This week, instead of focusing on resilient hellscape plants, we're gonna take you back to a time of nostalgia, where cottage gardens bloomed with peonies and roses, trellises and espaliers were festooned with wisteria and clematis, and hydrangeas dominated foundation plantings as choice shrubs. With the future as uncertain as it is, it's okay to take a step back in time when things were simpler, colors seemed brighter, birds chirped louder and unlucky insects covered the windshields of our cars driving through cornfields at night.

By Kate Irvine Read More

Phloxosophy

In preparation for these upcoming resiliency-focused conferences, we'll get you warmed up with yet another plant built for the apocalypse: Phlox subulata.  You probably already know this plant. Even people that don't know plants, know this plant. That probably has something to do with its ability to absolutely thrive in optimal conditions, as you've probably seen around your neighbor's rock walls, driveways and footpaths.

By Kate Irvine Read More

The Lowdown on Downies

I thought this week would be a fairly easy write up. After all, woodpeckers are fairly conspicuous birds.  Namesake rhythmic drumming of tree materials aside, their undulating flight patterns and often flashy black-and-white plumage sprinkled with dashes of brilliant red (like the pileated woodie) and occasionally yellow and tawny brown (think Northern flickers) make them impossible to ignore as an avid outdoorsperson, especially one that tends to wander about open woodlands.
 

By Kate Irvine Read More

Pretty in Prunus

Within the course of a week, the nursery has exploded with proof of life.  Both in the gardens and the production houses, sudden, flamboyant conglomerations of springtime arrivals offer visual resting places for winter-worn eyes; spaces of spiritual respite adorned in serene pinks, yellows, purples, whites and, occasionally, varying shades of blue. Amongst these early performers, and perhaps most notable even to the most plantblind individuals, are the cherry and magnolia blossoms that dot forest peripheries with their bright whites and soft, bubblegum pinks.

By Kate Irvine Read More