In case you haven't heard, there is a wonderful gardening program on the radio each week that speaks to us here in Northwest Indiana. Its host, Mike Nowak, is funny and irreverent -- two reasons for dialing in to his show Sundays from noon to 2 p.m. on WCPT, Chicago's Progressive Talk Radio. Mike has been hosting a gardening show for 10 years and moved to WCPT a few months ago. It seems perfect for him, as it's billed as entertaining, informative, irreverent and chock full of smart, funny shows with a progressive perspective.
Jim Hitz, Executive Director of Taltree Arboretum, Maureen Phillips, marketing coordinator for the Porter County Master Gardener Association and I were on Mike's show Sunday to talk up this Saturday's sixth annual Gardening Show (pcgarden.info).
I'm so glad Mike's show is on the air because of his wonderful insights into gardening hype, plant-kill guilt and garden envy. Mike gardens for everyman.
His "let's get real" brand of gardening expectations wipes the plant-kill guilt clean off the table. If we were meant to grow big, deep blue hydrangeas, for instance, we'd live in Georgia. The subject came up after he mentioned I'd be talking about them at Saturday's show.
From questions phoned in we learned the frustration level in the Chicagoland area of gardeners who had bought into the claims of the 2001 introduction, Endless Summer. The plant is hyped as great for cold climates where the flower buds often freeze because it will bloom on current year's growth. While the claim, the colorful marketing and the stamp of approval by one of the country's top plantsman went a long way in making this a top-selling variety, the bloom seems to have dropped from the proverbial rose.
Mike told one unsatisfied Endless Summer grower he refers to the plant as "Endless Bummer," and suggested she yank the slacker. He only gave the plant a reprieve after the caller admitted she had pruned it the previous fall, effectively cutting off all potential for blooms. And that's one of the reasons we need more garden shows like Mike's. While we all admit to the depth of our obsession with plants we aren't meant to grow, when the ensuing relationship turns sour, Mike is there to tell us it's not our fault -- that the plant wasn't good enough for us to waste our time with.
While he understands the call to a new challenge we insist upon answering, Mike carries a healthy shield of skepticism combined with small but mighty measure of hope. He hasn't given up on growing non-native hydrangeas and planted one of my favorites last year after it was recommended by Wayne Gruber of Gardens on the Prairie in Lowell. As important as broadcasting horticultural tips to a wide audience is, many of our tried and true successes come by word of mouth.
The Mike Nowak Show on Chicago's Progressive Talk can be heard in Northwest Indiana on 820-AM or 99.9 FM from noon to 2 p.m. Sundays.
The opinions expressed are solely the writer's. Reach her at jeanstarr@verizon.net.
