You can’t go anywhere right now without hearing about AI or ChatGPT. It’s in the news, it’s in business meetings, and it’s definitely creeping into everything we do online. And honestly, you can’t argue that it’s not the most powerful tool since the iPhone. If you’re not using it, chances are you’re falling behind. It’s changed the way we work, think, and interact with the world.

But as amazing as it is, and I use it several hours daily, the only thing better than asking ChatGPT a question is already knowing the answer. There’s a huge difference between looking something up and truly understanding it. When you walk into a garden, it’s a completely different experience when you can recognize the plants around you. Maybe you don’t know the exact cultivar, but you know it’s a viburnum or a hellebore or a salvia. You know how tall it’ll get, what kind of soil it likes, if it’s going to spread, or how it holds up in your zone. That’s real knowledge. And that kind of knowledge doesn’t just help you grow a better garden—it helps you connect more deeply with the space around you. AI is to give ideas. To fill in the gaps of knowledge. To guide your towards more information. What it can’t do is give you passion and understanding.

That’s what I worry we’ll lose with AI. You’ll hear a lot of people say society is going to get dumber because of it. And in many cases, I think they’re absolutely right. Why learn how to do something when you can ask a machine and get an instant answer? Driving is a perfect example. Before we had GPS, you actually learned how to get places. You remembered turns, intersections, landmarks. You knew the name of the road, where the stoplight was, and where to turn after the gas station with the busted sign. Now? I follow the line on the screen. I couldn’t tell you half the roads I just took.

And I’m fine with that…….for driving. But I think it’s a real loss if we apply that same mindset to plants. There’s something personal and grounding about knowing how your garden works. About seeing a plant pop up and knowing it’s a self-sown rudbeckia or a weed that needs to go. That kind of awareness only comes from doing the work. From failing a few times. From digging, planting, watering, pruning, and repeating it all over again the next season.

Gardening brings out something different in people. It slows you down in a world that moves faster every day. It connects you with nature, with life, and with yourself. It’s not just a hobby. It’s a teacher. Gardening teaches patience. It teaches observation. You learn how to plan, how to give things space, how to nurture growth. And unlike so many other things in our lives, it’s not going to be taken over by machines anytime soon.

Will there be robots that water your plants? Absolutely. Soil sensors, irrigation timers, auto-fertilizers—those are already here. Will there be a bot that digs your planting holes? Probably. But none of that replaces gardening. The real thing. Being outside. Kneeling in the dirt. Watching a plant push through the soil in spring and explode in summer. That’s the part that sticks. That’s the part that matters.

I have a Roomba in the house and it’s great. I don’t have to vacuum anymore. But I know what’s coming. The robot lawnmowers are already here, and they’re getting better every year. We can’t remove a rite of passage. Mowing the yard is one of the classic chores you hand off to your kids. It’s half the reason we had them, right? Who else is going to mow over your freshly planted marigolds by mistake? Who’s going to forget to lift the deck and scalp your lawn? That’s part of the learning. That’s how you get experience—by screwing things up and figuring out how not to do it again.

So yes, I love AI. I think it’s incredible. It fills in the gaps in my plant knowledge all the time. But gaps is the key word. It’s not a replacement for learning. It’s an enhancer. If you’ve put in the time, if you’ve studied and experimented and grown things season after season, then AI is a phenomenal tool. It makes you better, faster, more confident. But if you rely on it to do everything, you’re just walking around with borrowed knowledge. It’s like renting a garden instead of growing one. It’s not really yours.

In the end, I believe gardening will last because everything else is becoming too perfect. Too easy. Too hands-off. Gardening is one of the last places where things are still raw and real and imperfect. Where you can disconnect from your phone, get your hands dirty, and feel like you’ve done something meaningful.

I might not have a person doing my taxes anymore. I might have a robot vacuum and a smart thermostat and a fridge that tells me when I’m low on milk. But I’ll always have my garden. And that’s where the real joy is.

5 Plants Currently in Bloom Which are Must-Adds to the Garden

Oso Easy Italian Ice Shrub Rose

Botanical Name: Rosa 'Oso Easy Italian Ice'
Common Name: Oso Easy Italian Ice Rose

My mom loves roses and she planted 6 across the front of her yard. She didn't want them to match because she wanted a swath of different colors. All of them are nice but this one doesn't look real—it has so many colors on one plant. The flowers start pink, then pink, then white. It blooms its heart out and looks like three roses in one.

Height: 24–36 inches
Width: 24–36 inches
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Hardiness Zone: 4–9

Goatsbeard and Dwarf Goatsbeard

Botanical Name: Aruncus dioicus and Aruncus aethusifolius
Common Name: Goatsbeard, Dwarf Goatsbeard

This is a picture of a garden with both goatsbeard and dwarf goatsbeard. It does a great job showing you the difference in flowers, flower colors, and height. Both of these thrive in the shade and you can see they have a full bloom. Might even think they were astilbe if you looked quickly. I find they are much more drought tolerant than astilbe so they are able to fight against tree roots which take up all the water. Astilbe can get a little crispy if they get dry. Especially in the first few years. Aruncus is used to fighting the trees. Another great shade plant for those who say they can never find good shade plants.

Height:

• Aruncus dioicus: 4–6 feet

• Aruncus aethusifolius: 12–18 inches
  Width:

• Aruncus dioicus: 2–4 feet

• Aruncus aethusifolius: 12–18 inches
  Sun Requirements: Part Shade to Shade
  Hardiness Zone: 3–7

Bowl of Beauty Peony

Botanical Name: Paeonia lactiflora 'Bowl of Beauty'
Common Name: Bowl of Beauty Peony

Peonies are about spent across most of the US but a few varieties look good even when "spent". Bowl of Beauty is one of those peonies. I think it looks almost as good or better when it's on the tail end of its bloom cycle. This one against a purple weeping beech is stunning and the giant white center is a great contrast to the red petals that are gradually widening until they fall off. I have a lot of varieties of peony and this is the last good-looking one of the group yet it starts blooming at the same time as the rest.

Height: 24–36 inches
Width: 24–36 inches
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Hardiness Zone: 3–8

Moonshine Yarrow

Botanical Name: Achillea 'Moonshine'
Common Name: Moonshine Yarrow

There have been hundreds of thousands of varieties of perennials introduced since Moonshine Achillea came out and yet there is no brighter yellow in the garden. There are plenty of yellow blooming plants out there. Probably more than any other color. None shine and bring out the colors of the other plants like Moonshine. It's one of my top 10 plants in the garden. You can kill it and one of the top 10 easiest plants to grow. If rabbits eat it, it just comes back fuller. Blooms for a month plus and the entire plant is covered in bloom.

Height: 18–24 inches
Width: 18–24 inches
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Hardiness Zone: 3–9

Jerusalem Sage

Botanical Name: Phlomis fruticosa
Common Name: Jerusalem Sage

You've probably never seen it. Much more available in Europe. I have one in my front yard as we used to grow it at the nursery but no longer do. My daughter used to say the flowers looked like Tinkertoy wheels with yellow claws in them. A bit odd but kind of true. Another can't-kill plant. The leaves have a great texture and the flowers are so unusual that it gets a lot of "what's that?"

Height: 2–4 feet
Width: 3–4 feet
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Hardiness Zone: 7–10

Clematis

Botanical Name: Clematis spp.
Common Name: Clematis

They hit full stride in June. So many colors and so many uses. Everyone grows them on trellises but did you know in Europe they grow them as groundcover and when in bloom drape them over their shrubs to get them up and make them a focus? Have a color you need to fill your color palette? Clematis has you covered. Remember the key to growing clematis is sunny tops and shady roots. If the roots get too hot it doesn't grow well. Too much shade on the top, same thing.

Height: Varies (6–12 feet or more depending on variety)
Width: Varies
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Hardiness Zone: 4–9 (varies by species)

_{Small Footprint, Big Impact: 5 Ornamental Trees for the Modern Garden}

Kousa Dogwood

Botanical Name: Cornus kousa
Common Name: Kousa Dogwood

This variety of dogwood blooms much later than a standard dogwood. A greenish white flower that turns into a pretty dime-sized red fruit. What I love about this type is it tends to be hardier than standard dogwood. Takes a little more cold. It can take more sun than traditional as well. It still struggles with full sun in the first 3–4 years if you don't have good soil and keep it watered, but once established I've seen it do well in an open yard. It also trims well—to the point many people think it’s an 8-foot shrub, when actually it's a tree that's been trimmed like a shrub. The more you trim, the thicker it gets. The pic below makes you think its a shrub but that plant is 17 years old and only 6 feet tall

Height: 15–30 feet
Width: 15–30 feet
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Hardiness Zone: 5–8

Ivory Silk Tree Lilac

Botanical Name: Syringa reticulata 'Ivory Silk'
Common Name: Ivory Silk Tree Lilac

These are in bloom all over the Midwest and East Coast. Often called the best tree there is for under power lines and in parkways where height is an issue or nothing else will grow. They are so tough, so pretty, and only have one issue: might be overplanted. Because of their success, they are everywhere. You don't notice until this time of year when they bloom and you realize how prolific they are. That all being said, it's still my go-to tree if you have bad parkway soil or incredibly tough conditions.

Height: 20–30 feet
Width: 15–25 feet
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Hardiness Zone: 3–7

Seven Sons Flower

Botanical Name: Heptacodium miconioides
Common Name: Seven Sons Flower

The rarest of this group but fairly common in multiple stems. Going to be less common because of Proven Winners who has a new red variety out called “Temple of Bloom’ (picture below is from them). That’s a red flower vs the species white flower. Both spectacular

You don't see it grown as a single stem very often to be used as a street tree because the multiple stem has more flowers and more body. Little known fact: most of the ornamental trees you find are naturally multiple stems—crabs, dogwoods, tulips, redbuds. We take one cutting and grow them into one stem for ornamental reasons. Heptacodium is one of those examples. I love the peeling bark and the small stature and use it when I want a specimen that stays smaller.

Height: 15–20 feet
Width: 10–15 feet
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Hardiness Zone: 5–9

🔥 Flame Thrower Redbud

Botanical Name: Cercis canadensis 'Flame Thrower'
Common Name: Flame Thrower Redbud

You don't grow this one for the blooms, you grow it for the leaves. Leaves come out red then fade to orange and finish yellow. It's a work of art and a larger specimen stops traffic.

Height: 15–20 feet
Width: 15–20 feet
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Hardiness Zone: 5–9

Paul’s Scarlet Hawthorn

Botanical Name: Crataegus laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’
Common Name: Paul’s Scarlet Hawthorn

Yes, it has thorns. That's to keep the riffraff out. Birds love it because of that and I promise you'll love the flowers. It's very trimmable to keep in check or even make a nice hedge. This is much more common in Europe because of those reasons. They tend to put a little more work into their gardens and you'll see a wall of these. But they spend a lot of time trimming them, and we in the US aren't wild about maintenance. Very easy to grow as long as the soil is well drained. Can get fireblight, so a good watering during drought periods is helpful.

Height: 15–20 feet
Width: 15–20 feet
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Hardiness Zone: 4–8

(this is a very mature tree below, don’t let size scare you)

Hope you enjoyed this weeks letter and it inspired you to get add a few new plants to the garden

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