The Kansas Gardener

Profile
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:

  • Swallowtail Butterflies in Your Garden

    Attracting swallowtail butterflies to the garden is something many gardeners strive for. Why do we love swallowtail butterflies? It is because these butterflies are large, showy, and fun to watch. Even as a child I watched the large yellow and black striped Eastern Tiger Swallowtail swooping and landing on the garden phlox in my grandmother’s [...]

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  • The Shrub Border

    The shrub border has been a part of many landscapes. In the old world (Europe) tall hedges of box and yew outline the garden and landscapes. Even now, gardeners are trying to recreate shrub borders around their landscape to mimic what their ancestors had. But maybe we should be looking at a mixed shrub border, [...]

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  • The Lazy Gardener

    Have you wanted more from your garden with less work? If yes, then you are a lazy gardener. But do not feel bad, most of us are that way. We want our gardens to be beautiful, productive, and provide us with joy, all without us laying our hands upon it. Because we are lazy gardeners. [...]

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  • Planting for Pollinators – June and July

    What to plant, what to plant? If you are preparing for a succession crop of flowers for pollinators, then June and July might be your biggest months. There are a plethora of plants to pick from. As we have discussed before, pollinators can include bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, bugs, ant, wasps. hummingbirds, and even [...]

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  • Penstemon – June Plant of the Month

    Penstemon is the June Plant of the Month. Also known as beardtongue, penstemon is one of the most diverse genus of plants in North America. With 240 species alone in North America, there is a lot of potential for hybridization as well as nativar selection. Here in the Central Great Plains region, we have only [...]

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  • Fountains – Adding Serenity to the Garden

    Fountains in the garden can bring peace and serenity. The sound and movement of water in the garden is like a symphony in full glory. Water is music, and fountains are the easiest way of adding that music to the garden. They do not have to be huge; they can be as small as a [...]

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  • Emerald Ash Borer Found in Brown County Kansas

    As many of you know, Brown County Kansas is the homeplace of Grimm’s Gardens. And because of that, anything important starts here first. Last week, a group of Kansas foresters, entomologists, and Doug Grimm met south of Hiawatha to look over some ash trees. And what did they find? Yes, they found emerald ash borer. [...]

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  • Favorite Natives (And Nativars) of the Author’s Garden

    How many favorite natives can you have? I have been gardening for more than 30 years, and adding natives into my gardens from the very beginning. At my parent’s home in North Central Kansas, I recognized several natives which made their way into my container gardens, and eventually into the landscaping I did for my [...]

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  • Aphids in the Garden and Landscape

    Aphids can be a real tricky problem to manage. These tiny little pests are one of the most annoying insects in the garden, if you let them be anyways. Most of the time, you will not even see them, because it is only when populations explode that we see pests at all. And aphids can [...]

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