As a kid, I can remember feeling dubious whenever my parents tried to convince me that something educational could also be fun. I felt like they were trying to dupe me into doing the “smart” thing rather than hanging out with my friends or playing with my toys.

As an adult, I’ve learned that fun and educational don’t have to be mutually exclusive and as senior publicist I get to combine both by organizing bookstore events for my authors.  I attended one such event last week at Powell’s Books with David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth (or, “The Plant Doctors”, as we call them around the office), authors of What’s Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?).

We were a little concerned that turnout would be hampered by the pelting rain and wind, but Portland gardeners rarely let the rain deter them. If they did, Portland wouldn’t be such a thriving gardening community. The crowd was lively, asking lots of questions:

“Why are my camellia buds brown?”—Probably because of last week’s cold snap.

“How do you get rid of mealy bugs?”—Sanitize the plant by removing affected leaves then spray with insecticidal soap several times a week until the pests are gone.

The audience had fun passing silk roses around with various maladies painted on them and following the flow charts in the book to “diagnose” them, and we learned a bunch of new tricks to prevent plants from going the way of the compost pile.

David and Kathryn are currently on tour along the West Coast.  Keep up with their schedule here if you are interested in a little educational fun!

There was a glorious blue day, filled with columns of flowering trees.

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As a member of the Official Group of People Who Like Succulents, I was as pleased and inspired as anyone when Debra Lee Baldwin’s new book, Succulent Container Gardens, came out. (I had the added perk of seeing the book far in advance of the actual publication date, too. Ah, the advantages of working in publishing.)

Part of my job in the marketing department at Timber calls for me and my fellow marketers to come up with ideas for how to spread the word about a new book. After all, if no one knows about a book, no one buys a book — a fact that never even occurred to me previous to this job. (People find out about books via osmosis, right?)

For this particular book, we decided that a “how-to” video would be a fun project. We thought that if Debra could give a quick demonstration on how to put together a succulent container garden, people would see how easy (and gorgeous) it can be, and be inspired to plant their own containers. And we would start a SUCCULENT REVOLUTION!!  (You have to think big.)

So that’s what we did, and we are very pleased with the way the video came out.

¡Viva la succulent revolución!

I love the title of this book. It lends itself to all sorts of vocal inflections, from “arch” to “zoned out”. And it’s tough to abbreviate, meaning that when it is spoken of around the office it often comes out really fast, as in: “SoYouWannaBeAGardenDesigner.” That, or every word is pronounced carefully, distinctly, with perfect enunciation.

But the title is purely a bonus. I’ve never personally felt the urge to be a garden designer, but I was thoroughly impressed by this book. Love Albrecht Howard’s writing is so clear, friendly, and informative — I felt that I could apply her excellent advice to any creative or business venture and  have a better chance of success. Ms. Howard manages that difficult combination of being encouraging, tactful, and practical. She does not pretend that it will be easy, but she makes you believe that even the hard stuff is important, and that you can make it through the hard stuff, and do it well.

Here’s the table of contents. She even has chapters on leaving the business, and how to deal with self-doubt. I don’t think I have any friends who aspire to be garden designers, but the minute I discover that ambition, I already know exactly what to get them.

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Thanks to all who participated in our macro photography contest. It was such a pleasure looking through all the wonderful pictures that were submitted, and while many of you commented that you “really needed some help”, I think you’re selling yourselves short.

Here are the photos taken by our three finalists:

Elephant Ear by Ron Perry

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This guest post was written by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth, authors of What’s Wrong with My Plant?, and originally appeared on their blog.

Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, hosted our first bookstore appearance of the Great ‘Here Come the Plant Docs’ Book Tour of 2010. There is something very comforting about beginning such a venture talking about a book surrounded by good books, in the company of bibliophiles and phytophiles.

On this, my first trip to Bellingham, I discovered what a delightful town it is. Kathy, at the Village Inn, greeted us with an enthusiastic, “Oh, I should have recognized you. I have your book.”  Making us feel a little like the Olympic athletes who were also staying there (overflow from the games in Vancouver, just across the border).

Naturally this welcome warmed my heart immediately and made me very predisposed to love Bellingham.

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Spring is a lovely season, full of flowers and briskness and things growing. My only beef with spring is that it goes by way too fast. Nascar has nothing on spring. I’ve scarcely had a chance to see that the plum tree in my backyard is budding:

When WHAM!! It is in full flower and starting to drop petals like faux snow.

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This guest post was written by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth, authors of What’s Wrong with My Plant?, and originally appeared on their blog. Kathryn and David are currently touring the West coast to solve plant problems and promote their book.

Spring is here. Friends already lay out their soaker hoses, sow seeds indoors, and move seedlings out into their cold-frames. We’re going to miss all that this year, as we travel to talk about our book, and other topics from the green world. We won’t bemoan the loss too much. Surely an exciting journey lies ahead. David and I love a road trip.

The second event on our book tour is behind us. David and I gave a talk at the Port Townsend, WA public library. This low-key chat with our “homies” in the town where we live was a perfect send-off for the tour.

At the library we talked about how we developed the book –- our book –- from inchoate thoughts about the questions we must ask when someone else asks us, “What’s Wrong With My Plant?” A very common question, by the way.

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I have wanted to make a terrarium for a while now. They’re suddenly so popular—you can buy them in cute boutiques, at nurseries, and can even use them as ornaments!  They are uniquely stylish—a perfect mash up of science experiment and 1970s houseplant kitsch. Just what I need to brighten up my living room.

The first step was finding the right glass. A true terrarium should be fully or partially enclosed. And though I found several pieces of glassware at a thrift store that fit the bill, only one of the two pieces was even partially enclosed. The second piece was the wrong shape, but too beautiful to pass up. And it was a perfect fit for the teak bowl I had bought on a prior thrift store outing.

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I was whiling away some time on our Twitter feed a few days ago when I came across a conversation between Annie’s Annuals and Fern from Life on the Balcony. Fern had written a “tulips vs poppies” post (referred to by Annie’s Annuals as a “smackdown”), and was wondering what other plants could square off with each other. One thing let to another, and then Gardenfix mentioned that it could be an Olympic event, and then… Well.

The Plantolympics, of course.

Commentator 1: “Welcome to the Plantolympics, folks, we’re in for a spectacular display of skill and foliage here.”

Commentator 2: “That’s right! Top plant athletes from all over the world have converged on this field to compete for a medal in sports like Curling for Vines, Best Display of Shade Foliage, and Leaf Dancing.”

C1: “Not to mention the Quadrathlon. This is a really tough event undertaken only by the sturdiest plants — in order to qualify they have to look good through all four seasons of the year!

C2: “Let’s go right to the Shade event now, where Hosta and Heuchera are neck and neck! Hosta was thought to have an advantage due to its ability to brighten dark spots with neon green foliage, but Heuchera have put on a tough fight with bright new cultivars, and Hosta still has to get through the Slug Resistance event. Hosta’s trainer has talked about Hosta’s struggles with slugs before — it’s still recovering from an injury at the last Plantolympics.”

C1: “Yes, slugs are bad news, and Heuchera might have an advantage there. But let’s move on to the Leaf Dancing event. Now, Quaking Aspen has won this event for the past 600,000 years, but this year there are some gorgeous Silver-Leaf Linden that are really pushing the boundaries of the sport of Leaf Dancing! It remains to be seen if Quaking Aspen will rise to the challenge and make this year its 600,001st win.”

C2: “Breaking news, folks!  Poppies have won the Flower Quadrathlon! The crowd is going wild!”

C1: “Very exciting news for Poppies!  Love-in-a-Mist gets the silver medal! They make a handsome pair standing there on the podium. An excellent combination!”

C2: “Well, that’s it for today’s events. Tune in tomorrow for the Most Pernicious Weed event! Kudzu and Garlic Mustard will go head-to-head!”

C1: “Mmmm, garlic mustard.”

C2: “Shhh! We’re still on the air!”