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Pine Torsos
LinnaeusLinnaeus formally coined the name for pines – Pinus – but at the time he lumped other genera in with the group. Indeed, even today, city-slicker and indoor types consider many conifers to be...
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Promising Conifers
I keep a modest library at the nursery, those books that I consult (and/or plagiarize) frequently, while the best stuff – rare books , first editions etc. are kept at home. Unfortunately there are...
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Dreamscape
Noted English plantsman Brian Humphrey VMH emailed four wonderful photos to me recently. At first I assumed he snuck into the National maple collection at Westonbirt Arboretum, but he claims: “I...
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Winter Propagation – Random Notes
A recent Flora Wonder Blogentitled Pine Torsos gave tribute to the colorful trunks of various pine species. An afterword comment by a reader quizzed me about what rootstock I use to propagate Pinus...
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Hybrids in Horticulture
Horticulture abounds with hybrids; some were intentional crosses and some occurred when nature got frisky and did it herself. The origin of "hybrid" is from Latin ibrida, then hybrida, which...
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Good Names, Decent Names, Bad Names
Acer palmatum 'Dr. Brown'Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood'In horticulture we have many wonderful plant names, some that are inventive, thoughtful or aptly descriptive; and then we have some that are...
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Return to the Olympics
Today's Flora Wonder Blog is Return to the Olympics, a re-run from December 2, 2016. My solo trip was one of the happiest memories of my life, but sadly it occurred five years ago and I haven't been...
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Pilgrimage for Plants
Frank Kingdon-WardOne of the most astute and remarkably industrious figures in horticultural history would describe Francis Ward (1885-1958), better known as Frank Kingdon-Ward.* He was an...
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Cryptic Conifer
This past week we have planted cuttings of a number of Cryptomeria. What follows is a blog re-run from December 15, 2017 where I discuss the...
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Conifers, The Illustrated Encyclopedia
I've mentioned in the past that I house a library of plant books in the coffee room just outside of the main nursery office. I used to encourage my employees to avail themselves of the knowledge, as I...
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Botanists of Yore: Ghosts in the Garden
Georg KamelHosta sieboldianaThere are numerous people – well...characters – whom I've never directly met, yet they haunt (usually pleasantly) my Flora Wonder Arboretum. Sometimes they appear in generic...
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Cheers for Ukraine
Irina Bobosko, center, at company Christmas partyIn 2004 we had an intern work for us for a year, her hometown was Kyiv, Ukraine. Irina Bobosko was one of my favorite employees, out of the hundreds of...
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Spring Aroma
My wife Haruko accompanied me to the nursery last Sunday; it was cold though sunny, but in any case she wanted to prune one-gallon maples inside the greenhouses while I worked on the liner sales list...
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Return to Catherine Creek
Last Wednesday I went truant from the nursery, as I had a better plan than work. I gathered four pretty girls -- my wife, my two teenage daughters and our Japanese intern, Saori -- and we sped east,...
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What is it?
While spring is a wonderful time for most of you, the owner and staff at Buchholz Nursery have entered into another season of production and shipping insanity. A blog from six years ago seems apt...
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David Douglas in America
I have probably stood on the exact same ground as David Douglas, the intrepid botanical explorer who was sent to the west coast of North America in 1827 by the Horticultural Society of London. He was...
View ArticleFlagship "Horticulture" for Sale
After 42 years of ownership I have decided to sell Buchholz Nursery. It is not that the company is in distress or that I have run out of energy, rather I have plans for a new chapter in my life....
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A Transitional Time
I frequently receive requests from family, friends and customers, and from the latter for plants not listed on our sales availability. When possible I attempt to oblige. The following email came to my...
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Carrots and Beer
Reuben appreciating a RhododendronMy wife Haruko and I skipped work this morning to pay a visit to my long-time friend, Reuben Hatch. Many Flora Wonder Blog readers know of RH, that we have travelled...
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The Governor's Tree
Sequoiadendron giganteum Governor Withycombe Heritage TreeArising from the bucolic plain three miles south of Hillsboro, Oregon is a dramatic tree, a behemoth redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) that...
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