PlantEd with Dr. Jared

At the beginning of the month, Thomas Rainer and I travelled to Arkansas to see Amsonia hubrichtii (Arkansas bluestar) in the wild. The first site we saw it was at Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area, and we timed it so that the plants were just coming into flower. We found this member of the dogbane family growing right along the water's edge, a surprising location since it seems to do well in all sorts of sites in gardens.

You can learn more about this expedition from reading Searching for Amsonia in Arkansas, Part 1 https://meristemhorticulture.com/planted/searching-for-amsonia-in-arkansas-part-1

Searching for Amsonia in Arkansas, Part 1 | Meristem It all started with a text message back in February.  My friend and colleague Thomas Rainer was reaching out to ask if I had ever been plant exploring in Arkansas.  He was keen to see Amsonia hubrichtii in the wild.   So, who is Thomas Rainer, and what plant is worth tr

Home garden is looking great. I picked my second harvest of peas today. The lack of a hard freeze has kept them growing well.

Celosia ‘Dragon’s Breath’ has been such a stunner this fall. The seeds are very expensive, but they are worth the price.

A gathering of fallen leaves, ’s handiwork.

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Karen and I spent our weekend celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary in Oklahoma. Before we went, I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised with how beautiful the small sliver of the state we saw was. We stayed in the Beavers Bend State Park area and saw beautiful rock stratigraphy.

It was a cool and blustery day, a perfect send off to October.

Awwwww yeaaaaaa, !!! 1.04 inches

Pumpkin-colored sky.

‘Raydon’s Favorite’ looks stunning in our gravel garden on campus. I’m still amazed this planting was just installed 6 months ago. It has filled in so well. New blog post on the origin of this aromatic aster in ‘A Favorite Aster’.

Muhly by morning.

Fun times today teaching students in fruits and vegetables about harvest protocols for food safety! We harvested our first radishes of the season!

Even when it flops, I still love Helianthus angustifolia.

Working in the garden this afternoon, I saw a very vibrant sundog to the right of the sun. So I flew the drone up for a closer look.