Growing Under The Sun: A Botanical Expedition

Inflorescence of Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'  The genus Calamagrostis consists of 250 species found throughout the northern hemisphere in a variety of  environments, with 12 species being natives of North America. This wide distribution has resulted in the genus duel-ability and thus its recommendation for some of the toughest of garden conditions. Members of the genus can be found in riparian  glades, forest, and grasslands.The majority of this genus prefer full sun to part shade and are evergreen to semi evergreen in nature. This makes them low maintenance but also a source of refugee for overwintering invertebrates. The flowering stalks emerge late in the growing season and come in a variety of tans to more pinkish hues, overall shape however is very reminiscent to a more skinnier opener pampas grass in structure. The majority of these grasses are considered to be cool season grasses, which means majority of growth is done when cooler frost free temp...

    Bog gardens don't often come to mind when one thinks of the desert city of El Paso, yet in this humble clay pot that's exactly what is being created. A bit of back history on this planting. In its initial design it was home to a native honeysuckle which had died due to water logging and subsequent root rot. The remains of the honeysuckle remained for almost a year before being removed. During this time however the idea for the bog pot came into being.     This clay pot has one drainage hole has long since been plugged. It takes about 20 minutes or more for water to level out with the top layers of the soil and another 20 before any starts to drip from the bottom of the pot. This makes it ideal for those plants which thrive in those muddy conditions, conditions that are currently found nowhere else in the garden (more on that later). The soil is a rich humus which when dug into feels like puddling at its wettest moments and cool and airy when dry. It these kin...