Be Outside of the Box
The box is that place you set yourself into. Your comfort zone. But I am telling you now, be outside of the box, your box. Why? Because without change, your cannot grow as a gardener, an individual, a person. I spent more time outside the box in 2023 than anytime in the last 10 years. […]
KC Champion Trees: Trees for the Kansas City Region and Beyond
Over the course of many years, Doug Grimm has been searching out, collecting, sampling, and developing new and native trees for his own corner of the world, here in Northeast Kansas. Though Doug has traveled the world over, he has been searching mostly for trees that can be grown in a very tough climate, Kansas. […]
What is With All the Butterflies?!
Recently, here in Northeast Kansas we were seemingly swarmed by millions of butterflies. Along nearly every road and blacktop surface, butterflies swooped and landed and were struck down by passing cars. No matter how many died, more took their place. I have been asked multiple times what kind of butterfly they are and where did […]
Birds are for the Bugs!
That first sweet bite of peach in the hot July sun, off of your own tree in your own yard, makes you wonder about the truly good things in life. For my family and I it was about a move 3 years ago to where we are now, bringing a plethora of landscape plants and […]
Hawthorns
I have been working as a landscape maintenance professional now for more than 10 years and each year get more exciting. One thing that never changes is how my customers feel about their hawthorn trees. They love them! And I am not surprised at all. Hawthorns in Kansas seem to embody the spirit of strength, […]
Delightful Switchgrass
As far as Kansas native grasses go, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is one of the most recognized and most utilized. Little bluestem is the Kansas state grass, but switchgrass is much more used in landscapes. Switchgrass can be used for screening, specimens, massings, and is even utilized as a crop for the bio-fuel industry. This native […]
Rhizosphaera Needle Cast of Spruce
Every year it amazes me how much information our brain can hold. The more landscapes I go to see, the more things I realize I have yet to learn. This past summer I started consulting in Atchison, KS after we added a garden center there. One of the first jobs I went to had a […]
Kentucky Coffeetree
Growing up in North Central Kansas, I developed a love for large, tough shade trees to give rest from the intense summer heat. Although originally a prairie, my grandparent’s land is dotted with trees they collected seed for in their travels across America. They had me identify and catalog their tree species one year and […]
Winter Blooms
I asked my teenage daughter what she would want to read about if she were a gardener and her first response was: “What blooms in winter?” What does bloom in winter? In Kansas and areas north, very little to nothing at all. Winter is defined as a period of time between solstices, from December 20 […]
