Uncovering the Garden Professors’ cult of expert personality, as they go to extraordinary lengths to avoid admitting mistakes or learning anything.
Articles
My research study shows that drainage layers really do reduce the water retention of plant pots, contrary to popular mythbusting belief.
Tradescantias are often included on “toxic” plant lists, but these lists can be unreliable and inaccurate. In reality tradescantias are not severely dangerous to humans or animals.
On the history and implications of the most controversial common name for tradescantia.
If you search online for information about variegated plants, you’ll find plenty of blog posts offering to explain how variegation works and describing two or three different types. I’ve read lots of those posts, both when I was first learning, and more recently when I’ve wanted to explain things to other people. But they’ve never […]
An FAQ about plant growth regulators (PGRs), covering how and why they are used, and what effects they have on plants.
If you’ve been interested in houseplants for more than a year or two, you probably already know the original “Pink Congo” story. A few years ago, a new plant called Philodendron “Pink Congo” came onto the scene. Its lower leaves are dark green, but the new leaves at the top are bright pink. It quickly became a wild hit among tropical plant enthusiasts and prices skyrocketed.
Tradescantia ‘Nanouk’ and Tradescantia ‘Lilac’ are particularly trendy cultivars with thick stems and tough, pink-striped leaves. But there’s a lot of controversy and arguments about the plants’ status and identity. ‘Nanouk’ is often described as stolen, fraudulent, or a scam. People say that ‘Nanouk’ doesn’t truly exist, and is just ‘Lilac’ disguised with plant growth regulators.