The features below are linked in their entirety, and reprinted courtesy of American Nurseryman Publishing Company, Inc.

UPDATED JUNE, 2010, COMPLETE FEATURES NOW AVAILABLE AS PDF

  • MAKING A DIFFERENCE by Robert F. Gabella, published in the February 2010 issue of American Nurseryman magazine.  This green initiatives feature describes recycling of Horticultural plastics at Midwest Groundcovers,  a unique company within an industry not especially known for transformational leadership. 

  • KEEPING TRACK by Robert F. Gabella, published in the February 15, 2004 issue of American Nurseryman magazine.  

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UPDATED JUNE, 2010, ARCHIVED CONTENT FROM "GROWING TRENDS" NOW POSTED

Linked below, see Robert F. Gabella's previously published features and covers from GROWING TRENDS - the magazine of the ILLINOIS GREEN INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (formerly the Illinois Nurserymen's Association). 

For additional features and content, click the links for the current online edition.

For more published features, click the BEEN THERE button at left.
 

PEAS LIKE THESE?  Of course you can! 

Just how can Peas like these Super Sugar Snap can be part of your garden not just once, but TWICE, each season?

The photos show a perfect crop (what can I say?) grown in my community garden plot - photographed, and first eaten, on June 5, 2006. 

It is now mid-June 2010 and I am still picking from the current crop thanks to a ton of rain - not all of which has been welcome.   After 4-6 weeks of continuous production, I will probably rip out the vines, and the cylinders will either be removed or become host to new seedlings, planted by August 1, for a Fall crop.   Next year, plan for both Spring and Fall Peas - if you select your varieties carefully and pay attention to the calendar,  you will not be disappointed!

A 2007 crop is also shown below left, about 3 weeks old, in a tray of Jiffy Strips - Snap Pea seed is very sugary and thus is not as tolerant of cold, wet soil as garden peas, and may rot if sown outdoors too early.  But they still love cool weather once growing!  I start them the first week of March, under lights, in the basement, 2-3 seeds per cell.  Do not use bottom heat (the seed cannot be too warm either).  Inoculate with Rhizobia bacteria, specifically for peas and available widely under many brand names.  Harden them off on an unheated screen porch or outdoors in semi shade, for 3-5 days, prior to planting out into the open ground.  Do not thin or pull extra plants from the cells, the peas will grow just fine.  Plant 10-15 cells around an 18" diameter cylinder, plan to help them climb at first by weaving the young stems, then watch as they take off!

    

    

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DON'T OVERLOOK REBLOOMING IRIS! 

Make it a point to plant more of them next year, in mid-summer, giving the plants time to establish roots before fall.  Then, get ready for surprise autumn bloom stalks in following years.  Though not always consistent in the North, rebloomers are welcome additions to the late season garden.

Here is the tall bearded Iris WITCH OF ENDOR blooming on October 29, 2007 in my Chicago-area garden, and as of November 5 the plant continues to open its many buds despite light frosts.

Not sure where to start?  Try the American Iris Society's Commercial Source List.

 

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If you didn't have the chance to see Garden In A City 2006 which ran from May 13-21 at Butler Field in Chicago's Grant Park, click the link to check out the synopsis and photography by Robert F. Gabella.

     

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Reviews, features and news with a personal touch, plus guest contributors, and an archive of Robert F. Gabella's previously published Entertainment writing and photography!