This article appeared in Gardenopolis-Cleveland in June, 2020:
Ironclad refers to a durable group of Rhododendrons that have proven reliably hardy in Northeastern Ohio. My favorite among the ironclads is R.’ Nova Zembla’. I have my reasons.
Follow this link to a two-part article posted to Gardenopolis-Cleveland in June, 2018! (just double-click on the Gardenopolis icon; you can navigate between parts at the end of each article)
Think of all the energy those ancient Druids must have had…running around on days like this…performing their pagan rituals to celebrate the beginning of another season…moving giant rocks dozens of miles and sticking them in the ground to confound anthropologists
Follow the link below to Gardenopolis…a Cleveland gardening blog that publishes our articles! The two-part history of our local ‘nursery belt’ appeared in June, 2018. You can navigate between Part 1 and Part 2 with the link at
The clouds and colors of autumn finally arrive: our oaks and maples and sweetgums transformed into seas of gold and red and yellow. Chilled air awakens our senses in the morning. Acorns and buckeyes accumulate on the
My wife belongs to a book club that has turned into a food club. Last month they completed the transition. No one talked about the assigned book because no one had read it. Instead, they shared appetizers
This is our 70th year for Gilson Gardens…Kris and I will turn 65 in September…also in September (if we make it that far!)…we’ll celebrate our 45th anniversary!
In connection with these monumental events, we plan to downsize our lives,
We lost a local plantsman, innovator, historian and nursery industry icon last week when Jim Zampini, age 85, passed away in his sleep after a long battle with heart disease. A fusion of Italian and Hungarian ancestry, Jim grew up
Our modest yard contains six full-grown multi-trunked silver maples. Recent tempests commenced the process of leaf detachment and denuding and for several months I must hide from my neighbors. The good people on our street have
I grew up in the ground cover business. In addition to our nursery, Moretti’s to our north (now Briar Rose Nursery) and Beardslee Nursery just beyond, specialized in traditional ground
We all admire our ‘founding fathers’…Washington, Jefferson, Adams and others. What a brain trust of revolutionary thinkers and articulate communicators! And yet, despite serious consideration of timeless and self-evident truthsthey did not address human
I have lived my life in greenhouses and rain is always louder on the inside. Even the first few drops arrive like a resounding chorus. Then there is the snarling rain…sideways and singular. Sometimes under taut double-poly
This month marks twenty years since Paul F. Otto passed away. Paul is still remembered by many in the industry today. This was written by Paul in the early 1980’s as a background piece for a Perry High
Sundays are generally a day of quiet uninterrupted industry and appreciation here at our wholesale nursery. But on this Sunday, I was approached early-on by my Wife, generally not a good sign, with a woman in
The Kohankie nursery dynasty began in 1856 when Henry and Julius, sons of a Prussian immigrant, came to Lake County. Of seven brothers in that family, five would become horticulturists. Henry worked at Storrs
