Thursday, May 22, 2014

New York Times: You are planting that old thing? By Michael Tortorello

You are planting that old thing?


May 14, 2014 by Michael Tortorello

The Catalpa Tree Appreciation Society needs fresh blood. There are no meetings to attend and no dues to pay. All you have to do is appreciate the catalpa tree. Maybe plant one in the yard.

And that’s the hitch. Almost no one appreciates the catalpa tree, and few gardeners have planted one since the financial crisis. The one in the 1930s.


[…]

So why should the “cigar tree” have become less popular than a cigar? And if a plant as congenial and durable as the catalpa could vanish from the country’s nurseries and catalogs, what other horticultural treasures might have faded with it?

[…]

In a broad sense, American homeowners have stopped spending money on all types of trees and shrubs. Bruce Butterfield, the market research director for the National Gardening Association, recorded a 46 percent drop in landscaping purchases in the four years after the financial panic (the 2008 edition). During roughly the same period, food-gardening sales increased 40 percent.

[…]


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