Our Favorite Presidents

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

nurseries-natives-invasives-october-2016

Native American Gardens

Don’t get me wrong…I love native plants!  But we need to be honest and accurate about why we incorporate them in contemporary landscapes.

At a great lecture last week, one speaker proposed that we use

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

September 11, 2016

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

Morning in Cleveland

Who was the big winner at the RNC last week?

The City of Cleveland!

We were all holding our breath, hoping there would be no acts of violence or terrorism associated forever with the city and the

For fifty two days we’ve been held culinary hostage by the availability of zucchini from our nursery garden.  In the beginning it was tremendously exciting!  We conspired on all kinds of recipes featuring our wonderfully fresh and productive

Collateral Cuisine

Our first pick-able Zucchinis from our nursery garden arrived on July 1. We fought over them.  Who would get them!  What size is appropriate?   I prefer the small zucchinis less than 8” long. 

We hear the term ‘Globalism’ bandied about.  Some people blame ‘globalism’ for the loss of American manufacturing jobs (and I think they’re right!).  Others ascribe to ‘globalism’ tremendous savings for the American consumer through the availability of cheaper

Jesse Storrs was the visionary who began our Lake County nursery industry in 1854, partnering a few years later with JJ Harrison to form the world-famous Storrs & Harrison Nursery.  His three sons went off to the Civil

Summer Camp

Summer is the season of student-workers at Gilsons.  We’ve tried many different employment strategies over the years…1). ‘Keep the money in the family’ (that didn’t work because there wasn’t enough family or money,  2). local

In 1796 General Moses Cleaveland led a survey party along the southern shore of Lake Erie to chart the areas from the Pennsylvania line to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.  They traveled by long-boats, perhaps to avoid the

Ask any tree-hugger what a native plant is and they will reply…a plant that was indigenous to North America prior to the arrival of Europeans…generally considered to be about 1750.

Alright.

Does anyone else have problems with this?

First of

North by South

The Historic Nursery Region of Lake County is three to seven miles deep and about twenty miles long, extending from Mentor to Madison.   Once covered by glacial lakes there are three sand/gravel ridges that

Along the Wayside

One of the finest hardy geraniums in our estimation is Geranium sanguinium ‘John Elsley’.  Refined and dignified, like its namesake, it provides great color now through midsummer…bright pink with a hint of purple.  The

Imagine the Cicada who does not want to arise after seventeen years of slumber.

‘I just got to sleep five years ago…’ 

     ‘I was in a dream with this chick who had these great mandibles…let

Michael Horvath was a landscape architect who immigrated from Hungary to New York and eventually to Cleveland where he became the City Forester in 1903. In that role he designed Wade Park and Rockefeller Park, among others. These two parks

Today I was invited by Paul Palagyi, Director, Lake Metroparks, to speak at the dedication of ‘Lake Erie Bluffs’ at the end of Lane Road and Blackmore Road in Perry Township. Other speakers included Congressman David Joyce, FrankPolivka, Lake Metroparks