Flying in the Face

Meaning:

"Flying in the face of conventional horticultural wisdom."


Having successfully completed the Illinois Master Gardener program and been around ancestors who loved gardening, others who were farmers for generations, and myself having gardened for almost fifty some years, I've read and heard lots and lots of "you must never" and "you must always."



I've read and listened to advice, used a portion, but I have no qualms about pushing the boundaries of conventional horticultural rules. I'm sure a trained counselor could trace it back to teen rebellion gone unsuppressed but that's another topic.



I don't worry about counting the successes and failures with this practice because any gardener will have successes and failures - even with following every rule to the "T".



Another trick with the "rules" is they're often conflicting and/or confusing.


Experts are even at odds with exactly what is right and those odds change through the generations. Some guidelines and rules may be what's in vogue, what is financially beneficial to a merchant, or a lack of knowledge at that time.


Not to say all horticulture rules are wrong because that is far from a truth. We are blessed to have the university and corporate research and development available to private and professional horticulture enthusiasts.

Many horticulture rules have shades of gray surrounding them. An example:

The multi-colored map of the US is divided into hardiness zones. My little corner of the world is listed as a Zone 5.

• In truth,our woods is often a combination of Zone 4 to a Zone 6 due to windbreaks, hills and snow cover.
  The north side of the house, out to the edge of the woods, is most often a Zone 4. That is because of cold winter wind whipping over it for months.
• The south side of my house between the fence, house and bay window is a Zone 6 and occasionally annual plants survive the winter here.
• Then there are all those pockets of differences.

My point being: Don't be so tied to the rules of gardening that you don't try the wrong thing in the wrong place.

If you read the history of how some of the world's most beautiful gardens and the most talented gardeners developed that beauty, it is often by "flying in the face of conventional horticultural wisdom." They weren't afraid to experiment.

As with most Midwest country homes, I have what is called Orange Tawny and Orange Tawny Double daylilies (often referred to as ditch lily). Don't get me wrong, I like the tawny, especially the double - in the right place. It brightens places where no other flower will grow. It's impossible to kill with the strongest herbicide and spreads with abandon. For those reasons, it's not recommended and is classed as an invasive weed by some.

I accidentally dug a portion of the double Orange Tawny (pictured above) and put it in my flower bed. And it has been beautiful. It photographs as beautiful as any lily and the contrast to my "snooty little high class hybrids" is stunning. It "flew in the face of conventional horticultural wisdom" and it worked.

I planted coral bells for several years and they would slowly die - I'd move them - I'd try different kinds - I'd this and that and always a failure. It was time to STOP flying and face the fact I shouldn't waste any more time and money. Horticultural wisdom says do not plant coral bells around walnut trees and that is a fact!

Enjoy your garden dreams and experiments. Who knows, someday we may be reading about this Midwest gardener who pushed the edge of gardening reason and is now called an innovator! But, you have to be willing to fly first!