Things have been a bit quiet here, as I’ve been focusing on updates at my other site.
I added a page on Gardens in the area that I’ve enjoyed.
I also just set up a twitter account (@GuruPyleman), and my LinkedIn info is all updated and shiny. This domain’s email is now working: pyleman (at) thisdomainname (dot) com
Some Big News is coming soon…
I wrote a guest post for the blog my friends at Two Fish Farms maintain. It’s a more in-depth exploration of the existing plant material on their 40 acre site in Bear Lake, Michigan, featured here earlier. You can check out the post at twofishfarmer.
In the 21st century, Horticulture has not been an easy career or business to succeed in. Many, if not most, professionals are in the industry more for their love of growing plants than for the money. Long hours are the norm during peak production periods, and the work can be exhausting and stressful at times. There are definitely rewards, but it is passion for plants that fuels the industry. Continue reading
This gallery contains 13 photos.
I’m a big proponent of butterfly gardening, and my sister asked to see more butterfly photos, so here is a set of pictures of butterflies from the last couple years. Plant geek that I am, I don’t just try to … Continue reading
2014? But 2012 isn’t even over…
While home gardeners ponder their seed orders for 2013 (I’ve been reviewing the new Johnny’s and SSE catalogs, and was happy to pick up the High Mowing catalog at the EXPO trade show), the wholesale horticulture world is getting presentations on new varieties being introduced for the 2014 season. The industry gets advance notice to evaluate and trial varieties before they reach the market and to get programs finalized and catalogs printed in time for the 2014 sales season. Continue reading
My talk on Seed Plug Production was well attended, though as usual, there was plenty of space in the first couple rows. Thanks to everyone who attended, I hope you found the talk worthwhile. I’ll be walking the trade show again tomorrow, and hitting some educational sessions, before heading home.
After the talk, one of the attendees asked about Dr. Norm C. Deno’s Seed Germination: Theory and Practice, which I recommended. It’s out of print, and I personally bought it and both supplements from Dr. Deno while it was available. These excellent references are now available for download at the USDA National Agricultural library. The original book is available here (12 meg .pdf), supplement 1 is available here (5 meg .pdf), and supplement 2 here (5 meg .pdf). Dr. Deno published these works after retiring as a Chemistry professor, and his hobbyist research added significantly toward understanding seed dormancy.
I’ve got a link to this site now up at the original, old-school Perennial Guru site, so the new site is officially fully launched. I’m going to leave the old design up as is for a bit. Nostalgia.
In getting things transitioned, I discovered that I’d really messed up when initially setting up email for the Perennial Guru site, long ago. If you ever mailed me at an @perennialguru address… well, I didn’t get the email. I wasn’t ignoring you. Apologies. I thought those addresses were set up to be channeled into my main mail account, but they were not.
You can reach me at: pyleman (at) buffalodreaming (dot) com.
Renovating an existing landscape around a new home can be an interesting exercise, seeing what was planted by a property’s previous owner and learning something about their design sense (or lack thereof) and interest level in plants. Continue reading
Handouts for my upcoming talk at the Great Lakes EXPO are now up in the Juicy Info seed propagation page. This is the first time I’ve had handouts uploaded before a talk. I expect eager attendees to come prepared with extra questions.
Handouts from my talks at the 2012 Perennial Conference are available in the Juicy info vegetative propagation page and the perennial varieties page.
Greenhouse Management has my last article online. They have always done a good job at formatting my tables, which is not an easy task. I was on the magazine’s panel of advisers from 2004 until this year.
Having spent over 17 years in the Horticulture Industry, I’ve seen a large number of breeders, growers, and suppliers purchased by larger companies. Both the amount of consolidation and the rate of consolidation in the Horticulture industry have been on the rise in the last 3 to 5 years. Continue reading