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The Kansas Gardener

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Andrew Mitchell, also known professionally as the Kansas Gardener, is a Horticulturalist, Nursery Crops Specialist, and Landscape Maintenance Supervisor for Grimm's. He has a B.S. Degree in Horticulture from Kansas State University and a A.S. Degree in Agronomy from Cloud County Community College. Andrew is a Lifetime Member of the National Home Gardening Club and a member of the American Horticultural Society. He is a regular writer and on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Native Plant Society and the Eternal Hope Worship Center. Andrew lives on an oak-hickory remnant forest edge with his wife and 3 children. He is an avid collector of plant species, and has an interest in heirloom vegetables. Andrew spends his free time in photography, hiking, spending time with his family and church, and working in the garden.

Posts by The Kansas Gardener:

  • Underused Plants

    As you spend your time planning for next year, look for underused plants. They come in all shapes and sizes, and many of them can be stars of the garden. I spend a lot of time with such plants, trying them in various places in my gardens. Some are ongoing trials, while others are stars [...]

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  • Flowers for Honeybees

    Honeybees are often considered the important bee on this earth. While that is strictly not true, honeybees are an important food producer for us and do a great job pollinating our flowers. And I do not know a beekeeper who does not love his or her bees. So what kind of flowers can we grow [...]

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  • Drought Tolerant Plants – Learning From 2022

    Drought in 2022 has been very tough on a lot of gardeners, not just those in Kansas and Nebraska. However, a lot of good has also come from the drought and heat. We have learned a lot about our landscapes, and just how tough our plants can be. Besides drought, we have also had extensive [...]

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  • Organic Gardener – What Does it Mean?

    What does it mean to be an organic gardener? This term gets thrown around a lot these days, but what does it really mean? How many people really understand what it means to be an organic gardener? And what does in entail to become one? I can say that from the start of my gardening [...]

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  • Beautiful Maples

    Its that time of year again. Time for the going to all your favorite places to view fall color. Here in Northeast Kansas, we do not need to go far to find beautiful maples; we can go to any of our local towns. Indeed, Hiawatha, KS is known as the City of Beautiful Maples. But [...]

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  • Mast Years and Their Effect on Trees

    What is a mast year? I get this question a lot from gardeners, but not in this form. Many gardeners ask it in a different way. For example, why are the trees producing such large and so many acorns this year? Or, why did my apples produce so well last year, but not this year. [...]

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  • Borders – Edging the Garden with Plants

    Recently, I became much more aware of the various types of borders in my gardens. Why you ask? Because of the curse of the lawn mower. Since late summer 2021, I have had an endless string of bad luck with mowers. First, our long running rider broke down and refused to go. The repair man [...]

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  • Fall Cleanups – To Do or Not To Do?

    Fall cleanups have become a source of great tribulation for the gardener in the past few years. And not because of the work involved. Rather, it is a trial on social media and among fellow gardeners, as a moral issue. As gardeners trend toward using more natives, and less pesticides in their landscapes, it becomes [...]

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  • How To Protect Monarch Butterflies with Gardening

    Recently classified as an endangered species by the International Union For Conservation of Nature, the monarch butterfly is one of our most recognized insect species. For decades, gardeners, biologists, and entomologists have been watching the decline of these butterflies and pushing to get them on the list. But what does it mean to be on [...]

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