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Berry brand recognized as second retail food and beverage brand in U.S.

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Driscoll’s is recognized as the #2 retail food and beverage brand in Circana’s ranking of top food and beverage brands. Since earning a spot in the top 10 in 2019, the company has maintained steady growth, driven by a commitment to delivering Only the Finest Berries™. For year-end 2024, it was one of…

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Possible contamination help

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Some contractors my landlord sent had a bonfire literally on top of my raised planter, they burned some items belonging to the last tennant that I believe was mostly wood but there was some metal, nails etc attached which were left behind. My concern is they used thinners to start the fire and in the patch (about two meters square) where the fire was it smells like thinners when you dig in it. Is this patch ruined forever now or can the soil be fixed? Will the contamination leak outwards and have gotten into the rest of the bed (12m square) I was thinking if I plant some non edibles on that patch and dispose of them elsewhere and mix in new clean compost then next year it might be viable? What do you think? I only have a very small garden I can’t afford expensive testing and have nowhere to dispose of the old soil. I want to be able to grow vegetables, I initially planned to put brassicas in this spot. My landlord isn’t going to help.

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Karel Capek & “The Gardener’s Year”

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I mentioned in my last post that I came across several books that I had not read before while I was reorganizing my library.  One of them was a tiny volume titled “The Gardener’s Year” by Czechoslovakian writer Karel Capek. I cannot remember where I found the book but I was vaguely familiar with it. It is considered a classic in horticulture literature. 
Before I get to the book, I wanted to share some information about the author.
Karel Capek (1890-1938) was a writer, playwright, critic and journalist. His works cover a wide variety of genres, but he was best known for his political journalism and his sci-fic/utopian works, particularly the play “R.U.R.” (1921) and the novel “War With The Newts” (1936). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times but never received one.
Capek received a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1915 from Charles University in Prague. He then began his writing career as a journalist along with his brother Josef. He and Josef were close and would work together as a team on many projects. Politically, Capek was an out-spoken anti-fascist and warned his readers about the threats of Nazism and fascist dictatorships. He developed close relationships with political leaders and they would meet for weekly garden parties at Capek’s home. As the Nazis came to power, Capek would be labeled “public enemy number two” (not exactly sure what that means and could not find a definition).
Karel and his brother Josef Capek (Photo: Novinky.cz)

In 1921, Capek published “R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots)”, a play about a scientist who invents human-like machines. The word “robot” was coined by Capek’s brother Josef. The play was a big success and is still performed today. (The American premiere featured a young Spencer Tracy in his first stage role in which he played one of the robots).
In 1933, Capek published the now children’s classic“Dashenka, The Life of a Puppy” which was inspired by his beloved fox terrier. You can read more about the book here.
Capek and Dashenka (Photo: Radio Prague International)

 

After a fifteen-year friendship, Capek married actress and writer Olga Scheinpflugova in 1935. She was his inspiration for the heroine in his novel “Krakatit” (1923).  Capek suffered from a genetic spinal disease called spondyloarthritis. Three years later, on Christmas day 1938, Capek would die in a hospital from pneumonia.
A few months after his death, Hitler’s Gestapo agents appeared at his residence to arrest him, not knowing that he had died. Instead, they arrested Olga and his brother Josef. Olga was later released but sadly, Josef was sent to a concentration camp where he would die in 1945. Olga died in 1968 when she suffered a heart attack while performing in Capek’s play “Mother”. 
Capek with his wife, Olga Scheinpflugova (Photo: Radio Prague International)

Capek’s literary output was prolific. In addition to the political and science-fiction writings mentioned earlier, he also wrote travel books, detective stories, biographies, fairy tales and…. one gardening title.
“The Gardener’s Year” was published in 1929. It is a charming, whimsical and humorous little book, a quick read but one that resonates. The chapters take us through each month of the year, and it is apparent that gardeners throughout the world, whether here or in Czechoslavakia, deal with the same issues – fretting about the weather, coveting plants, wrestling with hoses, etc. 
Equally appealing are the drawings that illustrate the book. They were made by brother Josef Capek. The style is greatly reminiscent of James Thurber, so much so that I wondered who might have influenced who. 
I chose this page with an illustration because I love this passage. I have often thought how wonderful it would be if I could fly or float above the borders and especially our laurel hedge with pruning shears or hedge trimmers in hand.
My favorite chapter in the book and the one I think was the funniest is the one for August. In it, he writes about the turmoil gardeners go through when they must leave their gardens to go on vacations. He gives an example of a man who decides to take a vacation in August when not much is going on in the garden. He asks a friend if he would watch over it and come by “every three or four days to water and so forth”, stressing the fact that there isn’t much to do – “five minutes will be enough, just a glance around…” The friend accepts but then begins to receive daily letters –
Day 1 – “I forgot to tell you that the garden must be watered every day, the best times for doing it are five in the morning and towards seven in the evening…

Day 2 – “It is frightfully dry, will you give every rhododendron about two buckets of tepid water, and each conifer five buckets, and other trees four buckets?…”

Day 3 – “I forgot to tell you that the lawn must be cut; you can do it easily with the mower, and what the mower does not take, you can cut with clippers. But beware! After mowing, the grass must be raked, and afterwards swept with a sweeper!…”

And so it continues on to the point where he is sending him cuttings and rootings of plants that he had collected and asking him to pot them up for him. It is all too funny.

I found a few photos of Capek’s home and garden today –

The house is now a museum and is open to the public (from what I gather, it seems that it is only open periodically but I could not find a clear answer to this) –

Photo: PKC Archive

Judging from this photo that I found on Trip Advisor, it appears that the garden could use some renovation. Again, there wasn’t much information to go on. Perhaps it is restored now –

Photo: Trip Advisor

And finally, a photo of a young Capek sitting in his garden –

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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Sunny but chilly, a morning walk around the ‘hood

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Our days of perpetual sunshine (plus a record-breaking number of dry January days) had come to an end, replaced by low grey skies and threats of snow. So when last Tuesday was unexpectedly sunny I went for a long walk. I never set off intending to take photos for a blog post, but once I pull out the phone (camera), it’s hard to stop!

How could I not document these stunning Agave ovatifolia? (plus a couple of A. parryi)
On the other side of the sidewalk there are a couple more (and they’re a little tormented by conifer litter)…
How nice it would be to have this front porch fern grotto!
Yes, I am using the term loosely, it’s kind of cave-like.
These folks are getting rid of their front lawn with chipboard and a very thick layer of woodchip mulch. 

I wish I knew when they’d started the project, it would be fun to watch the progress.
Oh my. How do I not remember these sculptures in the making?
Seems like a lot of work.
This house used to have a big healthy opuntia planting out front, and that cryptomeria used to be a lot smaller.
The opuntia is gone, but I see there is still an agave back there, can you see it?
There…
That’s a sweet Yucca linearifolia!
Ditto for the Euphorbia rigida (same property).
And still the same property, a fine opuntia, trachycarpus (palm), and more…
I hope the Agave bracteosa doesn’t get ran over.
Simple, but striking. There was a nice little patio up near the house and driveway, but I couldn’t get a good shot.
It smelled even better than it looks (hamamelis species)
I wonder what’s hiding under those frost-protection tents? I’ll have to remember to walk this way again when it’s warmer (our nights have been cool, a low of 25F recorded a couple times, but there’s even more cool (with possibly snow and freezing rain) on the way).
It occurs to me as I work my way thru this post just how many brick homes I photographed! Andrew and I call this neighborhood the ranchlands because of all the ranch-style homes there, and a lot of them are either completely brick, or have brick accents.

This ranchlands garden has been featured many times on this blog, although it’s been awhile. Things have grown substantially…
An other Agave ovatifolia, I believe.
The hellstrip with opuntia, arctostaphylos and barely visible at the far right a large cholla.
The Yucca rostrata here have attained tree-like height.

They’re remarkable!
I crossed a street to get a photo of the green (next shot), but was also captivated by the contrast next door, with the hard lines.
Green!
Lots of green.
I have no idea what this is, but it makes a nice soft brown winter moment.
I drive by this structure at least once a week. I’ve been trying to figure out what’s under there (I surely saw it before it was covered) but seeing it from the sidewalk side offered no more clues. I should have stuck my phone under there to get a photo or two, but the opening at the bottom is more narrow than it looks.
Oh hey… this one’s familiar, home!

Before I end this post I wanted to mention that I’ll be speaking at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival again this year. My topic; #fernsarethenewsucculents. This is the same talk I gave to the Hardy Fern Foundation last month, so if you missed it there (and you’ll be at the show on Friday morning at 11:15), come say hi! Bonus; you don’t even need a ticket to the show to attend the Plant Academy talks (where I’ll be), they’re FREE! More info on the seminars HERE.
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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

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Planting Trees in Clay Soil

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Heya!

I was recently gifted a few grafted fruit trees (a couple paw paws and a Frankenstein’s pear tree) and am trying to figure out how I should be planting them in my very poorly draining clay-y soil.

I just saw this thread but with such short notice (trying to get the paw paws planted while they’re still young) I don’t know if I will be able to get enough soil amended to prevent creating a tub of water around the roots from having a better draining soil encased in clay.

My current plan involves using a part of the land at the top of a elevation drop and digging my planting hole into the hill at a slight angle to essentially create a mini ditch, that when back-filled with amended soil, would draw water away and prevent the trees from getting waterlogged roots. While the trees get established and afterwards I would be planting something like comfrey and daikon, first focusing on a flared area around the evacuation ditch to make sure there’s sufficient drainage and later on the rest of the area around the trees.

https://preview.redd.it/cw7zi6l2r8ie1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=b2a1e87260be556070fe13efc6f2d4c507a34f72

One issue with this plan is that I’m worried about creating an erosion issue. The clay itself would take a little while to get noticeable erosion but I don’t have much experience with amended clay soil and I am wondering if it will just get washed away. I’m not really sure what else I would plant that could help here.

Another potential issues could be over-draining and loosing water and nutrients.

Am I overthinking this? Should I just be planting these trees on a mound made from better draining soil or just position them on the top of an incline and plop them in the ground without doing any sort of soil work? I feel like the paw paws would be relatively fine with mounds and might not instantly die from being planted in clay, but I feel like the pear tree is going to be unhappy with either of those two solutions.

I’d really like to avoid re-transplanting the paw paws because of their taproot, but I’m less knowledgeable on pears and am wondering if they could sit in a pot for a little while?

Any advice would be appreciated.

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More than 1,100 dead sea turtles washed up along southern India’s coastline

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The mass death of once-endangered olive ridley turtles in January has prompted an increase in wildlife patrols and a crackdown on fishing boats

More than 1,100 dead olive ridley sea turtles have washed ashore on the beaches of Tamil Nadu state in southern India this January.

“I never heard [of] such large numbers of turtles stranded at any beaches of Tamil Nadu at least in the last three decades,” Kuppusamy Sivakumar, an ecology professor at Pondicherry University said.

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