Hot or Not?

Takoma Gardener has a great round-up of gardening trends. Hot: Dwarf evergreens and colored foliage. Not: shade trees and ornamental grasses.

Now, I get it about gardening trends--sort of. If someone asks me what an unfamiliar flower is, I can say, "Oh, that's cerinthe, it's sort of a trendy little annual right now." In other words, gardeners in the know have gone a little crazy over it and everybody's planting it.

On the other hand, what's a gardener to do with the annual hot-or-not list? Reminds me of those irritating stories in fashion magazines about hairstyles. Don't tell me long hair is in this year if you told me short hair was in last year. What am I supposed to do--grow it out just in time for you to tell me that short hair is back?

So for instane, ornamental grasses are on the "not" list. Well, dang, I just got my ornamental grass thing going. I actually want them to live. For a while. In the ground. What am I supposed to do with an out-of-fashion flower--donate it to charity?

Takoma Gardener: What's Hot, What's Not