Michler's News: Flowers, Gardens & Design

If your life includes a furry friend or two, that doesn't mean you can't also enjoy some indoor greenery.  Many popular houseplants are nontoxic for cats and dogs.  Whether you're looking for vining tendrils, compact foliage, or even colorful blooms, there's a plant on this list (and in our greenhouses) for you.

Keeping houseplants healthy through the winter can be a challenge for even the most experienced plant enthusiasts.  Here are some ideas to give your plants what they need when the weather turns chilly.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We have added a unique gift to our Christmas Collection this year--a box including a Christmas centerpiece and a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Champagne to pop open on New Years.  This centerpiece and champagne gift set is available seasonally during the month of December and can be picked up or delivered anywhere in Lexington, KY.

There is no mark of approval more satisfying for the gardener than that of the butterfly. And there is no plant more attractive to the esteemed Monarch butterfly than Asclepias. Asclepias, named after the Greek god of healing, is commonly known as milkweed, and is a vital link in the lifecycle of the Monarch butterfly.

The best terrariums are made or given in the spirit of a memory or place and contains objects you have collected on your travels.  The magic happens when there is a dialogue between the terrarium and a person.  Learn how to make and take care a little world of your very own.

We had the great honor of having Ryan Gugeler, local bonsai artist and collector, demonstrate shaping a Blue Alps Juniper bonsai.  As Ryan worked, the crowd asked some really great questions about the general care and maintenance of bonsai.  Ryan's answered with his basic principals and are recounted in this post.

This was our tastiest talk yet!  Chef Dan Wu, Culinary Evangelist and Head Chef at Atomic Ramen, came with a whole grocery isle of new-to-us produce that originates from Asia.  Armed with a deep fryer and pre-cooked samples all of our senses were engaged.  Chef Dan's general advice for any unknown food? "Don't let the differences intimidate you, let the similarities draw you in."

Emily Ellingson, Curator & Native Plants Collections Manager at University of Kentucky came to the Potting Shed to speak about the beautiful ecological communities of Kentucky.  The following are some of her choices among Michler-grown crops to use in your garden.

An herbarium is a systemic repository of pressed plants - a little museum or collection that any Natural History Museum or research facility will have.  The collection at the University of Kentucky, where Rob Paratley is head curator, has 50,000 specimens which has aided in the identification of countless plants, the publication of books and surveys of plant locations in the state.

To hear Jim Embry talk about horticultural therapy is to hear about how humanity is inextricably connected to the environment.  In our times, nature is often thought of as separate from the human world, but in Embry’s words, “we need the environment, it doesn’t need us” and horticultural therapy is all about reconnecting people to the elements that we cannot live without: air, water and soil.