Irisaurus Gardens

09/26/2017

Ew. And fascinating.

08/13/2016

You know this summer has gotten away from you when this grows out of your compost bin: It's this year's magic pumpkin, which surely grew out of last year's magic pumpkin that got thrown in the compost bin after Halloween. When I first noticed the vine growing out of the compost bin, I let it grow out of curiosity, but then I became invested in it. [ 357 more words ]

https://irisaurusgardens.wordpress.com/2016/08/13/another-magic-pumpkin

You know this summer has gotten away from you when this grows out of your compost bin: It’s this year’s magic pumpkin, which surely grew out of last year’s magic pumpkin that got …

05/11/2016

If you have hired Irisaurus Gardens in the past 3 years, you have had the honor of having one of these artists assist with your landscaping. Come and see what else he can do! This is happening Saturday, 5/14 from 6-9 p.m. See ya there!

AAP is honored to have accepted over 650 artist entires to its recent call for entries for our 105th Annual. The competition was fierce and we are grateful for all of the support and amazing art that was entered.
Congratulations to the 2016 AAP 105th Annual Exhibition at CMOA accepted artists: Andrew Allison, Atticus Adams,Theresa Antonellis, Laurie Barnes, Pati Beachley,Terry Boyd, Kathleen Kase Burk, Lenka Clayton, Marcia Comer, Sheila Cuellar-Shaffer, Patrick Daugherty, Don Dugal, Corey Escoto, Carolyn Frischling, Glen Gardner, Sarika Goulatia, Rebecca J. Harmon, Ryder Henry, Alan Horowitz, Chuck Johnson, Gary Jurysta,Susan Kemenyffy, Todd Keyser, George Kollar, Erik Kost, Sharon Massey, Ben Matthews, Laura Jean McGlaughlin, David Montano, Jack Mayer, Clayton Merrell, Travis Mitzel, Katie Murken, Jennifer Nagle Myers, Mary Kay Neff, Ed Parrish, Jr., Leah Patgorski, Curtis Reaves, Leslie Robbins, Judi Rosen, Daniel Roth, Patricia Sheahan, Martha Hopkins Skarlinski, Gregory Smith, Linda Price-Sneddon, Ivette Spradlin, David Stanger, Carole Stremple, Mia Tarducci, Millie Tersak, Laurie Trok, Michael Walsh, Adam Welch, Mark E. Weleski, Bob Ziller, and Kathleen Zimbicki

04/28/2016

What I take away from this article is "do not plant Barberry, and kill it with fire everywhere you find it......" but I'm a little biased against Barbery because of how much I hate it. There were 15 other species listed as well. In the comments there are links to National Park Service data sheets that list these and more invasives, how to control them and alternatives to them. So, basically, if you have any of these plants growing, call Irisaurus to the rescue!

These 16 invasive species of plants are commonly sold at garden centers - beware of them and DO NOT buy them from your garden store!

04/26/2016

This is brilliant. I want to do this. Up until now I thought their preferences were directly related to how expensive a plant is. I do have to make one observation about the study, however. One of the non-native plants they used in the study is Barberry. Uhm....yeah, clearly deer are not going to eat barberry. It's covered in needle like thorns. I am curious about why they included it in the study.

Selective browsing by white-tailed deer likely is promoting the spread of some invasive plant species in northeastern U.S. forests, as deer avoid eating vegetation they find unpalatable.

03/23/2016

It was a strange winter, one that never seemed to really hit her stride. It was no surprise that the groundhog saw his shadow. And yet, the essence of winter - the stillness, the coldness, the gray days and long nights felt punishing enough . I was celebrating Spring's return long before I had any right to, but YESTERDAY I did it right. [ 679 more words. ]

https://irisaurusgardens.wordpress.com/2016/03/23/happy-spring-equinox-full-moon-lunar-eclipse-week

It was a strange winter, one that never seemed to really hit her stride.  It was no surprise that the groundhog saw his shadow.  And yet, the essence of winter – the stillness, the coldness, …

02/15/2016

Can we interest anyone in a water feature?

11/17/2015

28,000 pounds of leaves cleaned up so far.....that's a lot of leaves! Do you know how many leaves are in a pound? So many!

11/05/2015

Hmmm.....Pittsburgh must have been #11

As technology and infrastructure improved, rivers became less and less important and more and more forgotten about. We look at 10 cities reconnecting with their rivers.

10/25/2015

Here are some pictures I took yesterday while I was walking around stuffing bulbs in the ground. I reworked so much work of the Irisaurus Test Garden this year, and every time I dug, I unearthed bulbs. I put the ones I didn't slice in half in a pot and saved them up to replant in the fall. So, I have an idea of what I was planting as far as daffodil, tulip, hyacinth, etc. [ 288 more words. ]

https://irisaurusgardens.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/fall-photos-and-spring-anticipation-already

Here are some pictures I took yesterday while I was walking around stuffing bulbs in the ground.  I reworked so much work of the Irisaurus Test Garden this year, and every time I dug, I unearthed b...

10/22/2015

Exciting new post on the Irisaurus Gardens blog! Tell your friends!

https://irisaurusgardens.wordpress.com/2015/10/22/first-frost

I have been a negligent blogger this past year and I apologize. I know you miss hearing about our dirty exploits ("dirty" because we dig in the dirt, not because we have no moral compass.)  I've ju...