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Enter August, named for Augustus Caesar. Enter the dog days, named for the dog star (Sirius, not Lassie) which was thought to conspire with the sun to make this the hottest time of year. Bikram Yoga practitioners celebrate Downward Facing Dog Days.
DOWN ON THE FARMS
Florida: Emerald Coast South welcomes a new hire, Parker Payne, who will put his Mississippi State University hort degree to good use assisting grower Barry Ballard at our Pace, FL perennial production greenhouses.
The new greenhouse floor has been poured, and (great news) the sand and water are oil-free! Yoga on the beach is no longer hazardous.
Pennsylvania: Our seeder is clicking nearly nonstop nowadays as germination guru Andy Babikow sows a wide range of perennials for your future transplanting pleasure.
By the time you read this, Al Mueller and yours truly will be gripping & grinning in booth #7036 at the PANTS show in Oaks, PA. Swing by and say Hi.
 THE ECG ROAD SHOW
Our new catalog made its triumphant debut at the OFA Short Course last month, then hit the road for the Perennial Plant Association's national symposium in Portland, Oregon. If you were at PPA, I don't have to tell you what a glorious gathering THAT was. If you foolishly stayed at home, well, I won't rub it in. Much. If we take on any more trade shows we'll need a Blue Unit and a Red Unit, like Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey.
It's a tradition among my friends to call one another just to say, "Hey, I'm in (insert cool place name -- Flagstaff, Dublin, Peru) having a wonderful time - And you're not! Hah!" Because really, what are friends for?
We're all friends here, right? Well, those of us who went to PPA in Portland enjoyed wonderful weather, wicked cool wineries, glorious gardens, magnificent mountains, nifty nurseries, scintillating seminars and spectacular salmon - and you didn't! Hah!
Seriously, you missed a really good one. Don't make the same mistake in 2011: Key it into Outlook, write it in big letters in your little black book, tell your smart phone to remind you to join us in Atlanta. Please don't make us taunt you again. Bad karma, y'know.
Namaste'!
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With a name like 'Lucifer', how much hotter can it get? I was reminded of just what a phenomenal flower Crocosmia is. It seemed like every garden we toured in Oregon during the aforementioned PPA symposium had a knockout stand of the stuff. Rich red flowers and iris-like foliage keep this old Alan Bloom intro relevant in today's gardens. It's a great cut flower, even when the flowers are done and the decorative seed pods form. Watch for spider mites, especially in times of drought.
For decades, Echinacea was the Model T of perennials: any color you want, as long as it's pinky-purple. (OK, there was also off-white). Well, not so no mo'. Good ol' coneflower is the sexy genus du jour, with a rainbow of shades, shapes and sizes. If a breeder announces a paisley strain, it won't surprise anyone.
One rap is that some of the newbies can be tricky to overwinter. One key to winter survival is bulk. Pot them ASAP, get some meat on their bones, and you should see a much higher rate of return come spring.
We're showing reasonable numbers of E. 'Harvest Moon', 'Pink Double Delight', 'Meringue', and 'Strawberry Shortcake', but demand is high. Don't dawdle. Many more will be back on line in January. Of course, the Model T colors still rule the showroom, especially improved strains like 'Lucky Star', 'Ruby Star' and 'Prairie Splendor'.
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