If you live in Mississippi (or some parts of Alabama and Louisiana), Listen to Mississippi Public Broadcasting (aka MPB), or are from Mississippi State University, then you have probably heard of this guy. I emailed him awhile back to ask if it would be ok to blog about him, after all I don't want to be sued, and I finally heard back from him last night. I have been a fan of him, his radio show, and his garden for awhile now, and I feel honored he gave me permission to write about him on my little blog.
Today's Friday Favorite is non other than the Gestalt Gardener himself,
Felder Rushing. If you live in the MPB listening area, you can hear the Gestalt Gardener Fridays at 9:00 am. with rebroadcast on Saturday at 10:00 am. If you are not where you can listen to his show on MPB, you canonline.
According to the bio on his website,
"Felder Rushing is a 10th-generation American gardener whose pioneer ancestors settled across the Southeast, bringing many plants with them. Rushing's overstuffed, quirky cottage garden has been featured in many TV programs and magazines (including a cover of Southern Living), and includes a huge variety of weather-hardy plants along with a collection of folk art. There is no turfgrass, just plants, yard art, and "people places."".
He has written or or co-written "15 gardening books (including several national award winners) and former Extension Service urban horticulture specialist has written thousands of gardening columns in syndicated newspapers, and has had hundreds of articles and photographs published in regional and national garden magazines, including Garden Design, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, Organic Gardening, and the National Geographic."
"Felder has been featured three times in full-length articles in the New York Times. He has hosted a television program that was shown across the South, and appeared many times on other TV garden programs.
He has served many years as a distinctly non-stuffy board member of the American Horticulture Society, national director of the Garden Writers Association, and member of the National Youth Gardening Committee. Felder gives over a hundred lectures a year, coast to coast and overseas at flower shows, horticultural and plant society meetings, and Master Gardener conferences."
Felder is university educated and specializes in turf grass, but you won't see much if any grass in his cottage garden. Many varieties of plants, statuary, and water featured adorn the garden. Bottle trees shine and glisten in the sun, and the porch roof, is actually a rainwater collector.
Felder also sports a rolling garden in the back of his truck.
Known as his truck garden, he actually drives around with the garden in the back of the pick up truck. Such a great way of always being close to something you love, don't you think?
Felder gives great advice to everyone from the beginner or novice gardener all the way to master gardeners. He believes that you can garden any way you like, there are no rules of gardening, if you like it, it will grow where you live, and you can keep it alive, then it is fine with him to do it. So what if you plant corn in your front yard. As Tim Gunn on Project Runway would say "Make it work!" Be creative, artistic, and go for it, after all, you never know if it works for your garden if you don't try it.
This year I am taking Felder's no rules approach to heart and attempting to grow several plants and vegetables that I have never grown before. A few newcomers to my garden are carrots, eggplant, brussel sprouts, broccoli, corn, and miniature dahlias.
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