Gardening on the Internet
Since you are reading this, I can assume that you are no stranger to the internet. I am beyond old enough to remember what life was like before the computer age, which makes it even more amazing to me just how much our daily lives have changed. Even gardening has changed because of the internet, and so has the business of gardening. There are now so many ways for a business, like us, to communicate with you, our customers. This ability to communicate and interact on multiple levels is one reason we have just recently opened a Facebook Fan page, as mentioned earlier in this newsletter.
Perhaps the biggest change the age of the internet has brought to gardening is its ability to provide vast amounts of data, only a few keystrokes away. With so much information out there, it is sometimes daunting to sort through it all, separating what is useful from what is not. So for this edition of the newsletter, I thought I would list just a few of the many sources where good gardening information can be found, as well as providing links to the sites.
There are several government institutions that have very useful web sites. The Virginia Cooperative Extension Agency offers lots of information on a range of subjects from plant selection, pest control, pruning and more. The USDA PLANTS Database is where I go when I am trying to track down something hard to find. The National Park Service co-hosts an interesting site where they list their Least Wanted Plants. If you are trying to find just the right tree or are trying to identify one already growing in your yard, then you could visit this site operated by Virginia Tech.
Many of the more famous gardening magazines now operate web sites designed to compliment their print publications. Here you can find suggestions on plant combinations, get design ideas, read information on new products, and more. You may want to start by perusing Southern Living, Fine Gardening or Horticulture. There are also sites that are extensions of popular TV gardening shows like P. Allen Smith and the Victory Garden.
Most traditional catalog gardening retailers now have on-line versions where they offer a little education, as well as plants for sale. Although we prefer that you buy your plants from us, maybe these catalogs will whet your appetites, and then you can come see us, where we hope you will find the coveted plants at a larger size or at a lower cost. You may want to visit Wayside Gardens, Jackson and Perkins and one of our favorites, Plant Delights.
Government agencies, catalogs, magazines and television have been dispensing gardening information before there were such things as computers. However, now there is one source of information that knew no life before there was an Internet. I am speaking of garden blogs. For the uninitiated, a blog is short for "web log", and is an on-line diary where anyone with a computer can post their thoughts, experiences and photos on a variety of topics. If you would like to sample a few garden blogs, there is a site called Cold Climate Gardening that despite its name has a directory of sites from around the world, grouped by state and country. You may also find Garden Rant an interesting site where any number of current gardening topics are discussed daily, ranging from Michelle Obama's kitchen garden, book reviews to urban chicken farming.
Now that I have given you a few places to explore on the internet, please don't forget there is no way to replace the information and experience gained from getting your hands dirty in your own garden.
Les Parks
with us, plus another picture showing the extensive root systems these perennials can have. She reports that deer do not bother the baptisia plants in her rural garden, and she also says she has read that baptisias resent being disturbed once planted. The PPA folks call the root systems "massive", and report that these nitrogen-fixing plants may flop if the soil is too rich.
