You’ll find a common theme in my newsletter: working retail and selling plants face-to-face accelerates your learning like nothing else. It moves you at 10x the speed of doing it on your own. You hear the problems and desires of gardeners hundreds of times a day. You get to understand their time constraints, their knowledge gaps, and their budgets—each person has a different mix of all three. You also learn that, more often than not, you become the problem—even when the real issue falls into one of those categories.

My favorite and worst experience was this:

A customer and his partner came in and told me his Japanese maple was dead. It clearly was—it was in his hand with no dirt on it, and instead of weighing 70 pounds in a pot, it now weighed about seven ounces. It had seen better days, and its future was either compost or firestarter. They had the pot it came in but no receipt. Not having a receipt isn’t a big deal if I recognize the customer—but I didn’t. And I’d never seen the pot he was holding. We don’t only carry one type of pot, but most of our Japanese maples are either balled and burlapped or in a very specific kind of pot used by Oregon growers. I often ask growers to put the burlapped trees in pots to make them easier to carry. This pot, though, definitely wasn’t one of ours.

So I asked, “Are you sure this is the pot it came in?” He was immediately defensive—ready to fight any suggestion that I wouldn’t be giving him a refund. He insisted it was. I told him I was confident he didn’t buy the tree from our nursery. I offered 20% off something new or suggested he return it to wherever he bought it. That’s when the fire started—the same one his tree might eventually fuel. He lit into me with one of the worst verbal scoldings I’ve had in 20 years. A couple of cuss words, a big scene in front of customers and my retail staff. I don’t get mad easily, but it kept going. I had to ask him to leave. He did what people often do when they don’t get their way: he said he’d tell the world what a terrible place we were. I hated hearing that—but giving in to something I knew wasn’t right would only hurt the people who do the right thing. So I let him go and asked him not to come back.

He came back a week later.

He asked me to gather all my employees because he had something to say. I told him if he was planning to yell at me again with an audience, he was crazy. He promised he wasn’t. He had something kind to say. So I gathered everyone, and he said this:

“I want to apologize. I got home and found the receipt. I did buy the plant somewhere else. I got mad when you questioned me, and I don’t think a business should question a customer—but in this case, you obviously knew your plants. I want to apologize to everyone here. You didn’t deserve that—especially you. I hope you’ll accept my apology and let me shop here again.”

That moment showed me what kind of person he really was. Despite how badly he treated me, the fact that he came back to apologize showed true character. It took effort and a swallowing of pride that not many people are capable of. Ninety-five percent of folks would’ve just never returned and hoped it blew over. But not him. My respect for him—and for humanity—jumped 10x that day. It reminded me that you can respond poorly and still make things right in the end.

I think of that story every time someone treats me rudely. People lose their cool. That doesn’t mean they’re bad. It means they’re human. Let them have their moment, then try to meet them with a calm, casual conversation. We’re plant lovers. Some times expensive plant lovers. When they die we all lose, but we can’t lose respect for other people in the process.

Here’s the Dirt and Beer Section

What Does “Reblooming” Actually Mean?

You read about reblooming shrubs. What does that mean exactly? It means a few different things.

One, it could mean that a certain temperature triggers the bloom. So you’ll have plants that rebloom when the seasons shift and temperatures hit certain marks. You see that with iris, lilac, and several others.

Then there are those types—like some daylilies and coneflowers—where when a bud dies, another is right behind it. They just keep going, continuously flowering regardless of the conditions or temperature.

Finally, there are the kinds I want to talk about now: the ones that bloom again if you trim them right after they flower. That includes most dwarf lilacs and pretty much all spireas. Even if they didn’t rebloom, it’s the perfect time to trim anyway. A good cut right after a bloom pushes the plant’s energy into new growth, and that growth is both foliage and flowers. Time it correctly, and you can have a spirea or lilac blooming all summer. Especially with something like a Bloomerang lilac, which has been bred for exactly that. Timing is everything in plants—and you’ll almost never go wrong if you cut right after it’s bloomed.

The Power of Fresh-Cut Flowers

There’s nothing nicer than a glass full of fresh-cut flowers.

People say they don’t like flowers, but what they really mean is they don’t like receiving them on forced occasions—birthdays, anniversaries, the usual. I guarantee they love random flowers. Unexpected flowers. That’s literally why we garden—to harvest. Maybe harvest fruit or vegetables, but also to harvest smiles. That’s what fresh-cut flowers are. A giant bunch of smiles. No matter how your day is going, if you look over and see a bunch of flowers from the garden, the day’s better.

I’ve found only one way to spoil that: bring them home every day for twenty years from the garden center. Evidently, an endless amount of flowers makes them... not special. I imagine she’d lose her love of shoes if I owned Nike

Think About Bagworms Now—Not Later

I hate to get you thinking about them already, but you need to start thinking about bagworms.

You know the ones—the bugs you forget about until your evergreens are covered in little sacks. For most of the U.S., mid to late May is the time to scout. There won’t be any bags yet, just tiny worms, and you’ll have to look hard for them. But if you find them—or if you had them last year, especially if those old bags are still hanging on—spray with Bacillus thuringiensis. BT isn’t a chemical, it’s a naturally occurring bacterium. You can keep your organic label. It only targets bagworms and their close relatives.

If you wait until the sacks show up, you’ve added 100x more work, and it’s much less effective. If you remember this and do it early, it’s a 30-minute job—tops.

Painted Rocks and One Good Reminder

Painted rocks are the easiest, most fun thing to do with kids. They make great garden decorations, and it’s something you can do together.

I had a young person, maybe eight years old, ask me if he could buy 8–10 smaller stones at the nursery. I asked him what he was going to do with them. He said he was going to paint some for his grandpa. So I gave him the rocks for free.

A week later, he brought me one that said “Gratitude” to thank me. It sits on my desk as I write this. It’s been a decade, and I still touch it every day to remind myself to be grateful.

Tree Straps and Growing the Right Way

One year. That’s how long a strap should stay on a tree. Maybe even shorter if it’s a fast grower like an Autumn Blaze maple or an elm.

And don’t tie it too tight. Trees grow through movement. The swaying from wind stimulates the roots. That’s why growers use fiberglass stakes instead of steel or bamboo. Fiberglass lets the tree stay upright but still move. When growers made the switch to fiberglass, it reduced the time to maturity from five years to four on many trees.

Pro tip: set a reminder in your phone for six months out to check the straps and stakes. Just one more way to help the tree succeed.

Cold Beer and a Job Well Done

I’m not a big drinker, but I will say there is nothing better than a cold beer after a hard day in the yard.

I’m not sure why it tastes so good—maybe it’s the earned reward feeling. Hard work just seems to pair well with cold beer. I’m thankful not every day is a spring day, with ten hours of digging, mulching, hauling, or I’d be an alcoholic. Fortunately, my wife is from Rockford IL, where beer doesn’t need a reason. If the sun comes up, that’s reason enough for a beer in Wisconsin (or just south of it) .

Why I Can’t Live Without Peonies

I feel sorry for people who can’t grow peonies. That’s why I don’t live in Southern California, South Florida, or Thailand. (White Lotus did make me want to visit.)

It’s too hot in those places. You can’t grow peonies without a winter chill. And if you can’t grow peonies, I can’t live there. Those are the rules.

Peonies have so many colors, amazing fragrance, and spring just isn’t spring without them. It’s funny—we drag warm-climate plants inside for the winter so they’ll survive, keep them as houseplants, and baby them all year. Makes you wonder if California or Florida gardeners have a “dormancy room” where they keep it cold just so a plant can take a proper nap. Because I can’t imagine spring without peonies.

You Want Bugs? Then You Want Bugs.

If you want plants for pollinators and nature, then you want bugs. You don’t get one without the other.

One of the best plants you can have in your yard is Asclepias tuberosa—butterfly weed. Monarch caterpillars feed on the leaves, and the butterflies feed on the flowers. But you know what else loves it? Aphids.

And you know who loves aphids? Birds.

This plant is the full package—food source, habitat, and all-around ecosystem builder. It’s everything you want if you're serious about creating a yard that supports life.

I can't tell you how many people used to come to the counter, decked out in full "I love the environment" gear, and say:

"Do you have any insecticidal soap to get rid of these?"
or
"I just wanted you to know your asclepias is covered in aphids."

And I'd say

"Awesome. I’ve been trying to get those loaded with all three colors of aphids this year. One-third of the way there!"

A Picture is Worth a few Hundred Words

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