Growing Greener

Jeff Lorenz, founder of the acclaimed Refugia Design Build, explains why the pandemic was a boom time for a landscaper committed to native plants, and how his firm's "Ecological Greenway Network" is transforming neighborhoods

Nebraskan Benjamin Vogt, a leader in nature-based gardening, has just published Prairie Up, a book that is sure to become a go-to tool for those designing and installing landscapes rooted in our native grassland flora. With its many insights how the dynamics of native plants will shape a native landscape, Prairie Up offers invaluable lessons to nature-based gardeners everywhere

My quest for tomatoes that will bear in my cool, cloudy climate led me to Dr. James Myers of Oregon State University. He shared with me the cultivars he had bred for that purpose, then described a program to produce vegetables better adapted to organic cultivation, and his collaboration with chefs

Horticultural Educator Carol Reese explains why feeding your garden in springtime with a "complete" fertilizer can be a mistake, and describes a "lazy" style of gardening that can help heal the environment while drastically reducing your work.

Plant explorers, once the rock stars of the horticultural world, have suffered a loss of status as gardeners turn to native plants. Listen to plant explorer extraordinaire Panayoti Kelaidis of the Denver Botanic Gardens discuss why his quest is still important to making our gardens more sustainable, as well as beautiful.

Gratify your Indiana Jones fantasies by joining the Plant Conservation Volunteers. Your work will have you hiking into overlooked corners of the wild to monitor surviving populations of rare and endangered native plants, and work with landowners to combat threats.

My quest for tomatoes that would bear in my cool, cloudy climate led me to Dr. James Myers of Oregon State University.  He shared with me the cultivars he had bred for that purpose, then described a program to produce vegetables better adapted to organic cultivation, and his collaboration with chefs

Are your beloved native plants actually "noxious weeds"? Too often town or homeowner association officers say yes and invoke anti-weed ordinances to force gardeners back to old-fashioned lawns and foundation plantings. Listen to attorney and native plants advocate Rosanne Plante tell you how you can fight back, and win.

My quest for tomatoes that will bear fruit in a cool, cloudy climate led me to Dr. James Myers of Oregon State University.  This inspired plantsman told me why a tomato plant that needs no fertilization is the key, and how he and his team are teaming up with chefs and breeding vegetables better suited to organic cultivation

My quest for a tomato that bears fruit in my cool, cloudy climate led me to Dr. James Myers of Oregon State University.  He shared his new tomatoes, then told me about working with chefs on new vegetables, and breeding cultivars better suited to organic cultivation