INTRODUCTION TO MOSS ROCKS! Anne K Moore
Instead of trying to grow grass in damp shade, where it will not thrive, consider a moss lawn. It is a beautiful shade of green, needs no mowing, and is soft to bare feet. It is also very pettable, which might have helped inspire the new product, Moss Rocks! we learn about in this article, along with interesting moss facts. The author, Helen Yoest, is a garden writer and coach through her business, Garden With Confidence and she serves on the board of the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Moss makes me marvel at life’s simplicity. In a world where we are in a continual state of chasing something new, something bigger, brighter, bolder, moss patiently waited for us to notice. Moss is being embraced, as well. For the first time in my gardening lifetime, I see where moss is being viewed with delight, not disdain.
Moss makes me curious. I like it; I want to touch and feel it. I even think it holds some ancient wisdom. Emerald green, rolling mounds, stillness enticing, and barefoot begging, mosses evoke a special feel, like no other plant on earth.
Primitive plants, evolving 450 million years ago (70 million years before ferns and tens of millions more years before the first dinosaur); mosses are finally getting their due.
Others are curious about moss, as well. As homeowners look to less maintenance and more environmentally friendly practices, mosses for a shady spot are the epitome of green. With few demands, moss, once established, rarely needs watering, needs no fertilization, plus it will eventually knit together, suppressing weeds.
David Spain’s goal is to reach out to people to educate them about moss. He is co-owner of Moss and Stone Gardens Where Moss Rocks!™ His blog and website are full of very useful tidbits about moss, sites where you’ll find information on mossology and on-line educational posts demystifying moss.
Beyond his teachings, he created a gift item with care instructions to meet moss’ cultural needs. Moss Rocks! can be enjoyed at home, inside or out, on your desk or deck.
According to David Spain, “Never before has a living moss product, with a suitable container, designed solely for sustaining and displaying such a beautiful species of moss, been developed and available for easy care and transport.”
It was important to David Spain to have moss accessible to everyone, not just for the people with the perfect outdoor conditions to grow moss. Moss Rocks!, as a container plant, fits that bill perfectly.
Moss Rocks! can be purchased on-line. They are shippable year-round. For ideas on how to use Moss Rocks! in your decor, check out the blog filled with inspiring photos by co-owner Ken Gergle. From the sofa table to the kitchen sink, from the garden bench to the garden house, Moss Rocks! makes the perfect companion plant -- as in a companionfor you.
David Spain is all about moss education. He takes time to answer questions about moss on his blog and Facebook page. How fortunate the gardening community is to have a moss expert at the ready to share accurate moss information just as moss is trending. It’s also handy to have David speak in terms non-moss experts can understand. This is important, given most of us know so little about moss.
I’ve made Moss Rocks! my first moss garden. Today Moss Rocks!; tomorrow moving moss mountains.
Helen Yoest is a garden writer and coach through her business, Garden With Confidence and she serves on the board of the JC Raulston Arboretum, in Raleigh, NC. Catch up with Helen on her blog. Helen also blogs for the North Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association and for Moss and Stone Gardens - Where Moss Rocks! She is working on her first book, 50 Ways to Garden With Confidence.
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By Dan Heims, President, Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.
Photographs courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.
Terra Nova’s breeders have created a series of outstanding world-class echinaceas that are consistent in size, bloom power, color intensity and are a pollinator buffet. What’s not to like.
To learn more, click here for an interesting article.
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Moss makes me curious. I like it; I want to touch and feel it. I even think it holds some ancient wisdom. Emerald green, rolling mounds, stillness enticing, and barefoot begging, mosses evoke a special feel, like no other plant on earth.
According to David Spain, “Never before has a living moss product, with a suitable container, designed solely for sustaining and displaying such a beautiful species of moss, been developed and available for easy care and transport.” 
