Penny Carnathan

Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.

Kim Franke-Folstad

Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.

Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.

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There’s more than one way to go clubbin’

Posted Sep 6, 2009 by Loren Omoto

Updated Sep 6, 2009 at 06:16 PM

Neither Kim nor I have ever been lucky enough to be garden club members, though both of us would love nothing better than to nosh on oatmeal cookies and trash-talk frail annuals (along with putting our muscle to constructive club endeavors, of course.

We’re both editors. Garden club activities tend to be revving up about the time we’re sneaking out of the morning budget meeting, or waiting for the last reporter to file the last story.

Last week we were invited to speak to the Davis Islands Garden Club. We caught the last 20 minutes of the pre-program agenda, and it was fun. Lots of friendly people talking about weeds and tibouchina and what’s for lunch. It dawned on me that it wasn’t so different from the conversations we have here (so many people see The Dirt only in The Tribune on Sundays. Only one person at Davis Islands Garden Club had visited online—and she dropped in only to see who the heck was coming to talk.)

It dawned on me, after our talk, that The Dirt (on-line) is really just a 21st-century garden club. We post something—which may be something you emailed to us—and you comment, and we comment, and you comment, and, before you know it, we’ve got a lively conversation that may have nothing to do with the original topic.

In the print version of this post—to illustrate for those who don’t know how it works—I used the example of Kim’s July 31 post about her new blackberry lily and how, in researching it, she found a gardener’s helpful suggestion to plant it where its small blooms can be seen close up. It was a great hint. And it led Kim to a Hallmark moment of gushy gratitude for all the good advice our online Dirt readers dispense. She used the post to thank them for their wonderfulness.

I shared a (severely pruned) glimpse of the comments that followed. I loved ‘em!

Aug. 1— Susan Gillespie: Awwww, we love you, too

Aug. 3 — Dave Cyment:  When are the beach flowers coming back?

Aug. 3 — Janna:  Dave, I don’t know about the beach sunflowers, but I’m sure someone here does!

Aug. 4 — Penny:  Janna, thanks for the hot tip on the Brazilian red hot cuttings! They take super fast. Amazing! … [to Dave] You might like those Brazilian red hots.

Aug. 4 — Dave Cyment:  I think those beach sunflowers would be fantastic to replace my lawn.

Aug. 4 — Susan Gillespie: A better choice to replace a lawn might be sunshine mimosa, golden peanut or dwarf jasmine.

Aug. 4 — Penny:  How about slowly turning the whole yard into a perennial flowerbed with a mix of stuff?

Aug. 4 — Kim:  Dave, if you’re looking for a surefire groundcover, I love lantana.

Aug. 5 — Dave Cyment:  I’ve decided to take the gradual approach and rip up a section at a time, filling with perennials and mulch. … I think this will actually be more fun

(Note to Dave: We haven’t heard from you in awhile. How’s the project going?)

In our talk to the Davis Islands club members, we shared highlights from The Dirt columns they don’t see in print, and coaxed them to drop by for a visit. In retrospect, we should have just said, “Hey, here’s another club to check out. No dues, clothing optional, drop by at 3 a.m. if you want.”

Hopefully you’ll see them here. The more the merrier! (And maybe they’ve got cookies.)