A Long Time Coming

After several months of revising and revamping, I'm proud to finally announce the re-launch of my old "Garden Notes" blog.  You'll notice that the title of the blog has changed, but don't fret.  I still plan to deliver all of the gardening information that was included in the blog before the changes--new and unusual plants, practical gardening tips, photos of gardens I have visited and more--but the new blog will also include another of my passions: food.

Food has been almost as important in my life as gardening has and it only made sense that at some point, the two would merge--my vocation and my avocation--and become one.  There are some exciting things happening that I can't discuss with you just yet, but stay tuned for future announcements about new career directions, more opportunities for one-on-one interaction, travel to visit some of the finest gardens and gastronomic destinations around the world and much, much more.

In the meantime, enjoy the new blog--GardenerCook--and watch your "In" Boxes for regular new posts about my two favorite topics.  Happy fall, and I'll see you in the garden!  Or maybe the kitchen!

Troy

'Crescendo' Rose Unveiled on Volunteer Gardener

Hi Everyone--This week I'm passing along a press release about the episode of Volunteer Gardener that will air in the Nashville viewing area on Nashville Public Television this coming Thursday evening, June 17, at 7:30 p.m. and will repeat at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday the 20th.   We air statewide across Tennessee, but at different times in different viewing areas, so if you're in the Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Martin or Cookeville areas, you'll need to consult your local listings.  For those of you who live outside of Tennessee, if the show becomes available on the internet, I will let you know.

As many of you know, two weeks after we filmed this episode back in March, Jackson & Perkins announced that they were filing for bankruptcy.  Unfortunately, we do not know what that means for the 'Crescendo' rose at this time.  Jackson & Perkins retail mail order business is undergoing re-organization, along with it's parent company Park Seed, but it is my understanding that the wholesale division, which includes all breeding and research, has been re-claimed by the bank.  It is our belief at this time that since 'Crescendo' was set to be unveiled in the 2011 J&P catalog and the catalog/mail order division is being re-organized, that it is already in production fields and we will still see 'Crescendo' come to market next spring.  I will let you know as we learn more.

As always, thanks for continuing to follow along with the blog.  There is much, much more to come!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pictured: Troy Marden host of “Volunteer Gardener” with Crescendo rose hybridizer Keith Zary of Jackson & Perkins (photo by: Katherine Bomboy)

NASHVILLE MUSIC GARDEN’S LATEST ADDITION TO BE FEATURED ON NASHVILLE PUBLIC TELEVISION'S "VOLUNTEER GARDENER" THIS WEEK

The Crescendo Rose Honoring the Nashville Symphony is the First Rose to Recognize a Specific Symphony Orchestra

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--June 15, 2010--The Nashville Symphony was recently honored by Jackson & Perkins with a brand new rose variety, aptly named "Crescendo." It is the first rose to be named in honor of a specific symphony orchestra and the latest addition to the Nashville Music Garden. Tune in to "Volunteer Gardener" on Nashville Public Television (NPT-Channel 8) on Thursday, June 17 at 7:30 p.m. and catch host Troy Marden as he profiles this fragrant and beautiful rose. The show re-airs on Sunday, June 20 at 9:30 a.m. Marden was on hand for Crescendo’s star studded unveiling at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in March along with country stars Barbara Mandrell, Pam Tillis and Brenda Lee and captured all the fun for the show.

"Jackson & Perkins has been creating some of the world's finest roses for more than 130 years and 'Crescendo' is the latest in a long line of rose masterpieces. It was an honor to interview Crescendo's creator, Dr. Keith Zary,” said Marden. “I hope everyone will tune in to 'Volunteer Gardener' to see the Nashville Music Garden’s newest rose unveiled on the show!"

"Volunteer Gardener" also airs across Tennessee on select PBS stations including Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Martin and Cookeville (check local listings for show times).

About Crescendo:

Pat Bullard, a LifeWorks trustee and founder of the Nashville Music Garden (Located at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Demonbreun in the Hall of Fame Park just across the street from the Schermerhorn Symphony Center) along with Sam Jones and the Nashville Rose Society approached hybridizers Jackson & Perkins with their desire to honor the Nashville Symphony, regarded as one of the most creative and innovative orchestras in the nation today. The Crescendo is a fragrant cream and pink blend hybrid tea rose bred from two award-winning parents, "Gemini" and "New Zealand." The exhibition quality rose was developed by hybridizer Keith Zary.

Crescendo will debut for purchase in the Spring 2011 Jackson & Perkins retail catalog. For information about the Nashville Music Garden, visit www.NashvilleMusicGarden.com and for information about the Nashville Rose Society, visit www.NashvilleRoseSociety.com.

About NPT:

Nashville Public Television is available free and over the air to nearly 2.2 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area, and is watched by more than 600,000 households every week. The mission of NPT is to provide, through the power of traditional television and interactive telecommunications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those they serve. For more information, visit www.wnpt.org.

Bailing Out

Hello from a rain soaked, waterlogged and devastated, but optimistic Nashville, Tennessee.  For those of you who haven't heard, west and middle Tennessee and several other parts of the southeast were soaked by torrential rains this past Saturday and Sunday with some areas receiving upwards of 20 inches of rain in 36 hours.  Nashville proper "officially" received 13 1/2 inches of rain according to the National Weather Service, but many areas of town would argue that they received more--and they'd probably be right.  At my house in Primm Springs, Tennessee, which is about 30 miles west of Nashville, I dumped 15 1/2 inches of rain out of my rain gauge.  However, there were several times over the course of two days when the wind was blowing so hard that it was raining sideways and the rain was probably being blown right across the opening of the rain gauge without going in.  My guess is that I actually had in the neighborhood of 18 inches of total rainfall.  Thankfully, I live on top of a hill.  Our damage was mostly cosmetic and while it's inconvenient, it certainly isn't life altering.

Tens of thousands of people in the city of Nashville and several surrounding communities have lost everything they've ever owned.  Many will have a hard time recovering.  Lives have been lost across the state.  In addition to the many homes and lives affected, many of Nashville's most famous attractions are devastated or destroyed.  The Opryland Hotel had 15 feet or more of water throughout the hotel and the Opry House had water above the level of the stage.  Next door, the Opry Mills Mall has at least 6-8 feet of water inside and a friend who works at one of the stores there says they will not even be allowed in to assess damage until Friday, at the earliest.  Musicians were also hit hard by this event, as one of the primary warehouses where many musicians store their instruments when they are not on the road was completely devastated by the flood waters.

Our stunning Schermerhorn Symphony Center--built just within the past 5 years and arguably one of the finest modern symphony halls in the world--had 25 feet of water in the lower level.  The damage there has yet to be assessed.  The same goes for the Country Music Hall of Fame, which had five to six feet of water in its theater and whose vaults, which hold the entire history of country music, were in the lower levels.  I haven't heard any official word on losses there.  Businesses throughout the downtown district were flooded and our LP Field, the home of the Tennessee Titans football team, looked like a giant swimming pool from the air, with water filling the field up to the first level of stadium seating.

Gratefully, there has been very little (almost none) looting or other types of theft, etc.  People are, for the most part, calm, cool, collected, respectful and marching forward--cleaning up and figuring out what to do next.  Neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping friends and strangers pitching in to help people they've never met.  Keep the citizens of Nashville and it surrounding communities, as well as those in west and southwest Tennessee and northern and eastern Mississippi in your thoughts as we begin to recover from this record-setting flood that experts are now calling a "once in a thousand year" event.   Next week we'll be back to gardening.

If you'd like to see some stunning images of what we've been through in the past few days, click here http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/flooding_in_tennessee.html

See you soon!

Greetings, Gardeners!

Happy Spring, everybody!  I've been away from the blog for quite a while now and I've received several very kind emails wondering if I was okay and if indeed I was going to get the blog up and running again.  I'm fine, I promise, and I WILL be back to blogging all the time now, so stay tuned!  We've been working on re-designing the website, changing servers and various other things and were hoping to be able to re-launch the new website and pick up blogging again all at the same time--back in March.  The website re-vamp has taken much longer than I had hoped and the new site may not launch until early summer now, so I didn't want to stay away from the blog any longer!

I hope that spring is in full swing for you or if not, at least on its way!  For those of you who live in the southern hemisphere, I guess you're on your way into autumn!  No matter where you're gardening, I hope that your gardens have been beautiful and successful and I hope that you'll continue to follow along as we get into the full swing of gardening season here in the states.

A lot has been happening and I have been working away on many design projects and several fun publishing things, so will try to keep you posted.  For you Tennessee folks, I've had several articles in Tennessee Gardener magazine lately and occasionally those articles go regional in all of the State-by-State gardening magazines (I think there about 16 or 17 states, mostly in the south), so you may see me there.  We've also started filming for our new season of Volunteer Gardener, so again, if you're in Tennessee, we air statewide so check your local listings for airtime on your local PBS station.

I'm also supposed to have an article in Landscape Solutions magazine, which is one of the Better Homes & Gardens special interest publications, though I have to admit that I have not seen it yet.

I've been taking lots of spring photos, so be prepared for all kinds of fun new blog posts in the weeks to come.  Thanks so much for following along and happy gardening to everyone!

P.S.  I'm working on itineraries right now for our first garden tours, which I will organize and lead.  I'll keep you posted as those take shape!  Talk to you soon!