Gardening

• Most Topular Stories

• Shopping Bags, Part Two

  Plant Whatever Brings You Joy

  Kathryn

  7 May 2013 | 2:36 pm

  Hello, dear readers, Way back in 2009 I did a quite thorough post about bags, meaning the ones we carry to the market or to stores to bring our purchases home in, so as to be very responsible in helping to reduce plastic bags and paper bags use. At that time I was not in the habit of always bringing bags along, and I knew that if I did a post about bags, and researched consciously my choices, I would find the best solution for my own needs. And I thought I had. At that time I concluded I would be most likely to use the big ones that have a flat bottom and handles on top. But, in fact, I ended…

• Iris Has Been Around The Block

  A Leafy Indulgence

  Swimray

  11 May 2013 | 7:01 pm

  This bearded iris (Iris germanica) gets around. Not like it's been sleeping with another, but it has had lots of offspring. It was a quick pickup up a few years ago at our neighborhood bar, or maybe it was a spring plant swap. Someone from the adjacent neighborhood brought it and has not attended since. Planted in the spring, it did bloom the following year. I occasionally drive through that neighborhood and see two houses where this iris is flourishing in the front yard. I would guess one of those owners gave another some divisions in the past. Being it is a very good hardy grower, I divided…

• Bloom Day: Almost Ready For My Close Up

  A Tidewater Gardener

  Les

  15 May 2013 | 2:15 am

       As of this Bloom Day I have only 3 days to finish getting my garden ready for a tour this Saturday.  I have been working off and on in my garden all winter and spring, but everything can't be done ahead of time, and there will be lots of last minute tweaking, deadheading and weeding. Though bloom-wise I am in a minor May gap, there should still be plenty of things for the group to see

• Plan Ahead for Midsummer Vegetable Crop Rotations

  GrowBlog

  24 May 2013 | 3:49 am

  From spring to fall, vegetable gardens undergo constant change. A big transformation takes place in midsummer when spring crops are ready to harvest, creating space for new plantings. But what should they be? What to plant after early potatoes? What to plant after peas?

• How to Grow a Vertical Garden

  Veggie Gardener: Organic Vegetable Gardening Tips

  Brenda

  21 May 2013 | 11:45 am

  Verticle gardening is basically an extension of the “bean tepee” idea. It’s a method of growing more with less space by using vertical structures. Obviously not all vegetables can be grown this way, but with a little creativity more than just vining plants can be grown vertically. Many vegetables and herbs can be grown vertically [...]

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  You Grow Girl

• The Fentastic Voyage: Part 2 Oliphant Fen

  Gayla

  23 May 2013 | 9:17 am

  The following is part 2 in a series on a trip I took up north to Ontario, Canada’s Bruce Peninsula to see carnivorous plants growing in the wild. We left the beach area, and doubled back to the Oliphant Fen, which we had passed on the way in (see map here). Note that there is no real parking area for the fen, just a little divot in the road alongside with space for 2 cars. If you’re looking for a public bathroom, there is a porta-potty at the beach. That’s about it for amenities so I suggest packing water and a picnic lunch and/or snacks. I was barely out of the car before I…

• Edible “Weeds”: Lamb’s Quarters and Orach

  Gayla

  22 May 2013 | 1:37 pm

  Left to Right: Lamb’s Quarter (Chenopodium album) and Garden Orach (Atriplex hortensis). It was overcast and warm this morning, so I took advantage of the mild conditions to harvest and wash greens for salad. A combination of rain and warmth has the greens going gangbusters over the last few days and I am starting to really reap the benefits of several, generous sowings that I did early in the season. In among the greens that I harvested were two nutritious greens that I did not need to sow. The first (shown on the left in the above photo), lamb’s quarter aka goosefoot…

• The Fentastic Voyage: Part 1 Oliphant Coastal Wetland

  Gayla

  21 May 2013 | 12:46 pm

  This journey began with a mystery. More than a decade ago, on a long weekend cottage trip with friends, I was told that there was a place, somewhere north of our destination on the Lake Huron shoreline — no one seemed to know where it was for sure — where there were carnivorous plants growing wild. The thought of seeing some of my favourite plants growing wild sparked a desperate need to find this elusive place. It stayed on my mind for quite some time until, on another visit to the area, I asked Davin’s dad about it. A few hours later I was standing on a boardwalk looking…

• Tiny Vases

  Gayla

  20 May 2013 | 6:00 am

  This is what passes for a flower bouquet at my house. As a small space gardener I can’t grow the volume required to create large and frothy bouquets. I need to work with what I’ve got since we’re not growing cut flowers in Oprah quantities around here (I followed her Instagram account for a few weeks and could not believe the buckets upon buckets of roses that are harvested from her gardens). There wouldn’t be a whole lot left to enjoy in the garden were I to pilfer from it regularly. Instead, I harvest little bits of this and that and display them in tiny vases…

• Growing Summer Bulbs in Containers with Dugald Cameron

  Gayla

  16 May 2013 | 10:27 am

  I believe it started with a small pot of Albuca shawii, a diminutive yellow flower that dances on thin stems in the breeze. It’s delicate leaves and stems are slightly rough to the touch and they have an unexpectedly nice, somewhat herbal scent. As a garden plant, it serves no real purpose except that it looks good and makes me happy, a fact that is neither here nor there now, but one that mattered a lot then. I’m still a small space gardener, but back then I was an even smaller space gardener and my primary garden space was a roof. There was no ramshackle shed or basement in…

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  Shawna Coronado

• Garden Friends: Carolyn Binder of Cowlick Cottage Farm

  Shawna

  24 May 2013 | 4:43 am

  Because so many gardeners I know are doing  inspirational gardening I wanted to introduce you to them. In 2013 I am continuing my series all about garden friends who are interesting, amazing, and have fascinating garden stories. Here’s my friend Carolyn Binder – Cowlick Cottage Farm is one of my favorite blogs ever. Filled with great garden and foodie tips by my good friend Carolyn Binder, Cowlick Cottage Farm is all about fabulous photos of amazing recipes and to-die-for gardening ideas like a country fountain with a view of the pecan orchard next to her home. She centers her home…

• Planting Combination For Verbena, Bacopa, Colocasia, and Zinnia Annuals

  Shawna

  20 May 2013 | 4:42 am

  Mix it up with a fun annual combination – I planted several containers with purple and green mixes I adore and tucked them on tables and benches for a shock of unexpected color. Above the container was in full sun and below the container was in shade. You see a tropical plant from Plants Nouveau, Colocasia ‘Red Eyed Gecko’ PPAF, planted in the center of each container surrounded with annuals;  Bacopa ‘Calypso Jumbo Lavender’, Zinnia ‘Profusion Yellow’, and Verbena ‘Imagination’. Creative and bright, these containers get more florific and…

• Summer Lovin’ Green Shoe Review – Birki’s Sandals Give-Away

  Shawna

  17 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  Summer is here, my peeps, and my feet need to be happy. It’s all about the summer lovin’! Your little footies need some green summer lovin’ too. At the bottom of this post enter to win a contest for a free pair of shoes. When we discuss shoes we must discuss a problem: sustainable shoes made from renewable resources which are actually really-truly comfortable are nearly impossible to find. Birki.us has come up with the perfect solution in building their shoes with natural cork – a renewable resource. Birki’s contacted me and asked me to put these greener than…

• Dear UPS You Forgot Which Direction Is Up

  Shawna

  16 May 2013 | 12:05 pm

  Dear UPS Corporation, Today I received a delivery of fresh young test plants that were sent so that I am able to try them out in the garden. I am a test gardener and plant arrival is always an exciting moment for me. My readers, and I’m sure your delivery team, know that categorically I have a deep and passionate obsession with gardening, right? It’s like a love affair with none of that messy controversy, except when my city gets upset with me (but that’s another story).  I actually work out in my garden in the spring at night with a head lamp on because I MUST get the…

• A Photograph: Crapapple Snow and Orange Geum Smiles

  Shawna

  16 May 2013 | 7:59 am

  Today I woke up and the front lawn was smothered in crabapple snow. I have horrid allergies to tree pollen, so every day of gardening while the 35 year old white tree is in bloom is painful for me. Yet when I walked out this morning, coffee in hand, and saw this orange Geum ‘Sea Breeze’ smiling at me in the middle of all that snow, I was overcome with garden happiness. Geum loves a rich, moist, soil in full sun. They blend well with Salvia’s and are a great bloomer from April through June.  Most geum reach 24″ high and about 12 to 18″ wide. Plant a Geum this…

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  Cold Climate Gardening

• Trilliums In My Garden: Wildflower Wednesday

  Kathy Purdy

  22 May 2013 | 4:05 am

  Trillium grandiflorum was one of the first wildflowers I learned to recognize.Trilliums have charmed and fascinated me ever since my days as a Girl Scout, when I learned to identify a few wildflowers. With three leaves and three petals, trillium practically named itself (tri = 3) and was easy to remember. I never set out to have a trillium collection, but I’ve never turned down an opportunity to acquire a new one, either. With my recent purchase of T. luteum, I now have five, possibly six, different trillium growing in my garden, and I thought I’d share them for Wildflower…

• Spring Ephemerals: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day May 2013

  Kathy Purdy

  16 May 2013 | 8:41 pm

  Spring ephemerals typically bloom in May here. We have many growing at our new home that didn’t grow wild at our old home, plus there are many that I acquired through purchase or trade while at the old house that I brought over with me.Here are a few of my favorites.I don’t know what magic makes bluets grow in a lawn, but we have that magic here.Bluets grew in the lawn at my husband’s childhood home, great patches of sky-blue in grass a little on the long side. Several times I took a chunk of bluets (Houstonia caerulea) from my in-laws’ lawn and transplanted it into…

• The Front Walk: Excavation Begins!

  Kathy Purdy

  11 May 2013 | 8:13 pm

  Last Saturday, May 4th, work on the front walk began! First my son Rundy marked out the edges of the walk with string and stakes.Then Rundy used a spade to cut the edge of the walk along the string.Then he used the spade to cut sections of sod, sliding the spade under the roots. The hen is inspecting his work to make sure it is not harboring any worms or other tasty morsels.After a section is cut, he folds it over and carries it to the pile. (This part is easier if you have lifted weights for years.)Next he uses a mattock to break up the grass that was growing too sparsely to lift as sod.Then…

• Cottage Garden Discoveries

  Talitha Purdy

  10 May 2013 | 6:07 pm

  One of the lovely things about gardening is that no matter how long (or short) you’ve been doing it, there’s always so much more to learn and discover. Lately, I have been discovering “cottage gardening”–that serendipitous combination of flowers and vegetables and herbs, with the flowers being largely traditional and very fragrant. Last year was my first real foray into cottage gardening; I’ve loved the idea for quite some time, but the opportunity (or the persistence and pig-headedness) to actually practice it only presented itself just now. I’m…

• Hepaticas on the Home Front

  Kathy Purdy

  3 May 2013 | 7:05 pm

  This Hepatica acutiloba seems almost identical to the one I saw in Tennessee, and it’s growing within walking distance of my house. Almost a month after I visited Tennessee, I walked down our country road to the same general area where I had seen trilliums and other spring ephemerals in abundance last year, and discovered hepaticas growing there as well. I must have visited this area too late to see them last year. Besides white, I saw various shades of blue-purple and pink, often growing right next to each other, so I don’t think the pH of the soil caused the different colors.

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  A Way to Garden

• birdnote q&a: crow or raven?

  margaret

  23 May 2013 | 5:49 am

  PERHAPS NO BIRDS are more familiar than crows and ravens—but which is which in these similar-looking members of the genus Corvus? And who’s smarter? Ellen Blackstone of the popular BirdNote public-radio show is our guide again as we look skyward in this latest installment in our collaborative series. And watch out, there’s a crow-or-raven quiz at the end of this one (which is why I’m not telling you who’s who in the photos along the way). “Out of the 810 species of North American birds, only crows and ravens are completely black,” says Ellen. “But they have much more…

• a botanical whodunit: r.i.p., yellow magnolia

  margaret

  21 May 2013 | 8:43 am

  I OFTEN SAY how the only thing I know with certainty about gardening, even after 30 years of experience, is this: Things will die. Just before my open garden day last week, a giant yellow magnolia called ‘Butterflies’ in the front yard decided quite unceremoniously that it was time to go. R.I.P., ‘Butterflies.’ But what felled you, I wonder? It was all so sudden–before I knew it, you were on the ground, and being carted away (above).  I’ve always thought of this particular magnolia as perhaps a bit too energetic, and somewhat unrefined. It shot up fast a decade or so ago when…

• growing hellebores and more, with barry glick

  margaret

  20 May 2013 | 9:18 am

  I’M OFTEN ASKED by frustrated gardeners how I managed to get my big old hellebore plants to grow so lustily—as if they are finicky, or difficult.  To me they seem easy, but since reader questions persist, I decided to ask the guy with 6 acres of mature plants and decades of hellebore-breeding experience, Barry Glick of Sunshine Farm and Gardens. In my latest radio-show (transcript highlights are on the jump if you prefer to read, not listen) we also covered when to divide woodland wildflowers, and some deer-resistant recommendations for the shade garden, too. Background: Barry…

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  About.com Gardening

• Wilting Cucumber Vines

  22 May 2013 | 2:30 am

  Your vegetable garden is probably looking good right now. Yay! The usual problems often don't show up until summer sets in and brings the insects and fungal spores with it. But if you experience the same problems year after year, now is a good time to start keeping watch for the culprits....Read Full Post

• Garden Scents

  21 May 2013 | 2:30 am

  The lilacs are finishing up and the Lily of the Valley are kicking into gear. My garden smells wonderful. There are a lot of fragrant flowers, but most of them are old fashioned varieties that have become hard to find. Fragrance has yet to make a comeback. Breeders are still focused on lots of blooms and disease resistance....Read Full Post

• Magical Manure

  20 May 2013 | 2:30 am

  There are a lot of dairy and horse farms near me and manure used to be free for the taking. If you had a truck and a shovel, you could have a nice pile of manure, slowly rotting and getting ready to enrich your soil. We also have a lot of gardeners in my area, and these days several stables charge a fee for their manure. Not everyone was pleased about being charged to clean out the barn, but it was the periodic E. coli scares that had gardeners wondering if it was worth it....Read Full Post

• Matches and Peppers

  19 May 2013 | 3:30 am

  You've probably heard of adding a dash of Epsom salts to the planting hole for peppers. Epsom salts provide some supplemental magnesium which is thought to help peppers set flowers and fruits, especially during hot weather....Read Full Post

• Is Organic Rose Gardening an Oxymoron?

  18 May 2013 | 3:30 am

  Can roses be grown organically. Of course. Growing roses organically is really no different than growing any type of plant with organic techniques - except that roses are notoriously prone to problems. It certainly helps to start with disease resistant rose varieties and there are a lot to choose from, including some new introductions and many of the older species roses. But even if you're devoted to hybrid teas, all hope is not lost. Organic rose gardening means more than just not using chemicals. It means giving the plant what it wants and needs to grow well. Do that and you'll have a…

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  Plant Whatever Brings You Joy

• Shopping Bags, Part Two

  Kathryn

  7 May 2013 | 2:36 pm

  Hello, dear readers, Way back in 2009 I did a quite thorough post about bags, meaning the ones we carry to the market or to stores to bring our purchases home in, so as to be very responsible in helping to reduce plastic bags and paper bags use. At that time I was not in the habit of always bringing bags along, and I knew that if I did a post about bags, and researched consciously my choices, I would find the best solution for my own needs. And I thought I had. At that time I concluded I would be most likely to use the big ones that have a flat bottom and handles on top. But, in fact, I ended…

• Book Notes: The Outermost House by Henry Beston

  Kathryn

  13 Apr 2013 | 2:44 pm

  A recent trip to the vet on behalf of one of my kitties found me waiting in what serves as the acupuncture room. Quietly awaiting I began to explore the room. A framed quote caught my eye and as it was mounted quite high, I pulled it off the wall to read more carefully. Here is what it said: We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize…

• Contest! Name These Plants and Win a Book!

  Kathryn

  6 Apr 2013 | 7:54 pm

  Dearest Readers, Okey dokey. Contest time! For the last two weeks I’ve been scouting around for plants that just might elude ready naming! I might be wrong. There are probably whiz kids among you who can Name Them All. Well, that would be a good thing for YOU, as you would be the winner of a copy of Plant Whatever Brings You Joy: Blessed Wisdom from the Garden. And this contest is open to everybody everywhere, so whoever is first able to name accurately all the plants pictured below will receive a free copy of my book, shipping covered regardless of where you live on planet Earth. To be…

• Entering a New Decade!

  Kathryn

  21 Mar 2013 | 1:44 pm

  Well, dear friends, I have taken the step over the threshold into my 8th decade on planet Earth! If I lead you to think I am blithely announcing this, I would be lying. I thought about it. However if the Pope can be known to the world as now 76 I can be known as officially 70, was my reasoning. And, as he enters the next phase of his work and service on behalf of those us and those who live among us, I embrace the mantle of my own humble next steps, continuing to dedicate my life’s work to making a difference. Not to mention that anyone who has read my book carefully will note my birth…

• Book Notes: The Snow Child

  Kathryn

  1 Mar 2013 | 11:46 am

  The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey caught my attention recently while looking for a new book to read against the cold of winter. At that moment snows had captured the surrounding mountain tops where I live and spring seemed too far away. Surrendering to the inevitability of the season I ordered the book and was delighted when it arrived. I liked the book immediately. (Oh, joy!) Set in Alaska in the 1920′s the story focuses on a childless couple named Jack and Mabel who have left family and familiarity to brave the harsh realities of homesteading. Their relationship, as you might imagine, has…

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  Brambleberries in the Rain

• A New Chapter

  Cynthia

  17 May 2013 | 5:27 pm

  I never meant for the long delay since my last blog post. Life has been very full and very crazy this past month or two. I know in my last post I hinted at some sort of change coming my way. I really wanted to write a follow up post to that but each day [...]

• Out to Sea

  Cynthia

  10 Apr 2013 | 3:16 pm

  Anymore these days just feel like one giant whirlwind spinning around and sucking me into it. I feel like I just blink and a week has passed. For instance, last week was Spring Break for my middle schooler and now here I find him back at school this week like he was never home. When [...]

• .:Yarn Along:.

  Cynthia

  12 Mar 2013 | 7:31 pm

  Joining Ginny for this week’s Yarn Along. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ My goodness how the last week sure flew on by me! I’m so busy catching up that I never got another post published after my last Yarn Along. March is going crazy fast for me right now. I need it to slow down a little. We’ve got [...]

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  NYT > Home & Garden

• T Magazine: On View | Koloman Moser’s Viennese Vision

  By PILAR VILADAS

  23 May 2013 | 6:00 am

  At the Neue Galerie, works from the prolific, late Austrian artist and designer go on view today.    

• The Details: At the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, Going for the Remix

  By JULIE LASKY

  22 May 2013 | 3:58 pm

  The International Contemporary Furniture Fair and its coterie of New York design week events showed that design is all over the map, its contours muddled and its direction uncertain.    

• Highlights from New York Design Week

  22 May 2013 | 3:47 pm

  The International Contemporary Furniture Fair and satellite shows offered a range of new work from the high-tech to the hands-on.    

• Currents | Open: Doris Leslie Blau Opens at ABC Carpet & Home

  By JULIE LASKY

  22 May 2013 | 3:38 pm

  Doris Leslie Blau, the New York-based vintage rug company, will have a new home on the sixth floor of ABC Carpet & Home in Manhattan.    

• Market Ready: Add a Handrail to a Tricky Staircase

  By TIM McKEOUGH

  22 May 2013 | 3:37 pm

  Our home has a precarious staircase with no handrail. Is it worth the trouble to add one before trying to sell?    

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  This Garden Is Illegal

• Proven Winners Plants Postulations

  Hanna

  23 May 2013 | 8:37 am

  This week I received a shipment of flowers from Proven Winners. Which is really cool, and really nice that they contacted me about it ahead of time to tell me they were doing this. Last year (when I wasn’t putting… Read more › The post Proven Winners Plants Postulations appeared first on This Garden Is Illegal. This is just a part of this article. Visit my site to read the rest of this article and much more.

• 10 Things You Should Know About Containers (But Probably Don’t)

  Hanna

  13 May 2013 | 6:01 am

  I love my container plantings.  When I was younger, I use to drag my whole garden around with me from apartment to apartment in containers. These days, I have greatly pared down my container collection, but I still have several… Read more › The post 10 Things You Should Know About Containers (But Probably Don’t) appeared first on This Garden Is Illegal. This is just a part of this article. Visit my site to read the rest of this article and much more.

• Tree Falling: The Deserved End Of Another Black Walnut

  Hanna

  6 May 2013 | 5:32 pm

  I don’t know about you, but I spent my weekend murdering a tree. And it felt good! The specimen in question was a black walnut. I think they call them black walnuts because calling them evil walnuts, death walnuts or… Read more › The post Tree Falling: The Deserved End Of Another Black Walnut appeared first on This Garden Is Illegal. This is just a part of this article. Visit my site to read the rest of this article and much more.

• Vertical Gardening Class @ Geauga County Master Gardener

  Hanna

  29 Apr 2013 | 8:10 am

  Just a quick note to let everyone know that I will be presenting a class about Vertical Gardening in conjuction with Geauga County Master Gardeners on May 4th. I will be exploring the possibilities for growing UP in the garden… Read more › The post Vertical Gardening Class @ Geauga County Master Gardener appeared first on This Garden Is Illegal. This is just a part of this article. Visit my site to read the rest of this article and much more.

• The Garden Is Always Greener

  Hanna

  28 Apr 2013 | 6:46 am

  This is the view from my picnic table this week. Look up and you are looking into the blossom filled, galaxy like interior of the massive magnolia tree that resides in my back yard.  I love this tree and I… Read more › The post The Garden Is Always Greener appeared first on This Garden Is Illegal. This is just a part of this article. Visit my site to read the rest of this article and much more.

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  May Dreams Gardens

• Wildflower Wednesday: Where's the Baptisia?

  Carol

  22 May 2013 | 2:33 pm

  Let's play a new gardening game called "Where's the Baptisia". Baptisia australis, which has the common name of Blue False Indigo, is a native flower in the eastern United States.  Well-planted in the garden, it can provide a stunning display of purple blooms in mid to late spring. Here in my garden, Baptisia is not well planted. Can you find it in the picture above? Let's go in a little

• Today's plant obsession - Aquilegia

  Carol

  21 May 2013 | 5:55 am

  Today's plant obsession is Aquilegia, common name Columbine, though some species are also called Granny's Bonnet. We have enough Granny's Bonnet here at May Dreams Gardens to open up a hat shop, a milliner's delight of color. This is mostly due to allowing Aquilegia to self-sow about the garden because at least in this garden, I believe it is a sin to weed out Aquilegia. As a result, we have

• I really must stay clean today

  Carol

  18 May 2013 | 7:48 am

  I really must stay clean today because I am going to my niece's wedding and it just won't do to be other than clean. This means that I must stay out of the garden. Even though I think the containers and plants waiting for new homes on the front porch could use a splash of water, I'm afraid to water them. I know if I get out the watering can, fill it up, carry it to the plants, and then water

• Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2013

  Carol

  14 May 2013 | 9:05 pm

  Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for May 2013. Ah yes, the merry month of May, the month when  the sky is blue, the grass is green, the sun is warm and the garden is all new again.  I dream of the days of May...  Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, we are still enjoying a relatively slow start to spring.  I can see from looking at  past bloom day posts that many

• Blue skies over and in the garden

  Carol

  12 May 2013 | 7:20 pm

  Camassia quamash Blue skies touched my garden today and left their color on these flowers.  This is quamash, Camassia quamash, a spring-flowering bulb.  It grows in Plopper's Field, which is starting to fill in nicely. There aren't many spots left in the garden border I call Plopper's Field where I generally plop in perennials wherever they will fit.  I'll have to do some sorting out in this

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  Backyard Gardening Blog

• Carpet/Creeping Phlox, A Great Groundcover, Round 2

  Administrator

  18 May 2013 | 1:32 pm

  I previously blogged about this plant in 2009 and it just looks so good this year I wanted to blog about it again. This will be a picture heavy post. Creeping Phlox Emerald Blue, Back Garden Creeping phlox, also called carpet phlox, phlox sublata is a great typically evergreen groundcover native to the eastern US. It spreads, yet is easy to control, seems to tolerate a variety of soils and drought, and puts on a really showy display of flowers in the Spring. I originally had bought and had used ice plant as a ground cover for most of the locations where I now use phlox, and while the ice…

• Set Your Garden on Fire

  Administrator

  23 Apr 2013 | 8:14 am

  I’m being quite literal, the title of this blog post is “set your garden on fire” and I literally mean that. Burn it down. Why? Well, let me explain…. In the vegetable garden weeds are horrible, no one likes weeds, they compete with our crops. Also, unless you’re practicing no-till, you’re going to turn the soil every Spring to loosen it up and aerate it, giving plant roots an easier time of things. Unfortunately this soil turning brings new weed seeds to the surface, and you might particularly be susceptible because you bought a bag of questionable compost…

• Cleaning up the Garden for a new Season

  Administrator

  16 Apr 2013 | 2:58 pm

  One of the tasks a gardener must do yearly, or more often, is clean up the garden. In the ornamental garden you’ll have old dead perennials that must be cut down and dealt with to make room for the new season’s growth. In the past I’ve used a lawnmower for this, it can be hard getting it up into the bed, and it is an indiscriminate shredder, and it does go low to the ground sometimes impacting green foliage, but in the fall, before the snow blankets everything, it is a decent tool. It also finely chops up everything into mulch onto the bed itself. In Spring I do not like it…

• Extend the Harvest: How to Freeze Kale

  Administrator

  26 Jan 2013 | 8:51 am

  I’ve blogged about kale a lot here, I really like it as a crop. It is a super food, incredibly healthy, and easily tucked into many many dishes. It is also easy to grow, and easy to harvest all summer long just a few leaves at a time. It also lasts through some serious cold weather, down into the 20s at least. Maybe, when I move south to Chattanooga, I’ll be able to grow it all year round (in my future greenhouse at least) but here in Michigan I can’t. So, in the cold winter months, if I want to eat it I need to store it somehow, and for kale I think the best method for…

• How to Store Butternut and other Winter Squash

  Administrator

  19 Jan 2013 | 8:23 am

  I recently reorganized my pantry to make more room for canned goods. This left me with an issue in regards to my winter squash. I can put up, maybe 30 a year in the fall with my current small city lot. I was putty them on shelves but they take up a lot of shelf space, and I would lose a few to rot. Also, as I eat them, the shelf space empties out, but I can’t put anything long term there, and organized it, because the space the squash use is variable and changes constantly. I couldn’t put in a can rack, I’d have to expand it as I ate the squash and then remove it entirely…

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  Garden of Eatin'

• Raised bed & tub gardening

  Amy

  21 May 2013 | 1:25 am

  What a difference a thousand miles makes. In Oregon, the garden (and weeds) was growing like crazy by the end of May; here in Alberta it’s only just warmed up enough to take a chance at planting outside. We were too busy this year to start seeds indoors, so we had to wait until we [...]

• Holiday Ideas

  Amy

  15 Dec 2012 | 6:35 pm

  Before I get into my holiday post below, I wanted to express that the school shooting in Connecticut has left myself and my family in shock; it’s too terrible to express in words the depth of my sorrow for the friends and family of those who lost their lives, and the community of Newtown. Just [...]

• Straight to the Butt Cinnamon Rolls

  Amy

  28 Sep 2012 | 8:19 am

  Straight to the Butt Cinnamon Rolls   Print Yes, it will go straight to you butt. It’s worth it, I promise. Author: Amy Garrett Recipe type: Dessert Serves: 12-14 Ingredients 1 teaspoon white sugar 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast ½ cup warm water ½ cup milk ¼ cup white sugar ¼ cup butter 1 teaspoon [...]

• Pinterest Thursday : Decorating

  Amy

  27 Sep 2012 | 2:00 am

  I am a lousy decorator. I know what I like, but being able to create the look I want in my home has made it so that for too many year, the most decorating my homes have gotten is new shower curtains in cute or fun patterns. Like, I don’t even put up pictures or [...]

• Pinterest Thursday

  Amy

  20 Sep 2012 | 7:51 am

  Pinterest has fast become the go-to place for ideas and inspiration. We’re building a house and will have a large garden next year, so most of my pins are garden and house design! My top picks for this week from my Gardening Board So I can plan where to plant: Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Amy on [...]

• 

  Plant Talk

• Morning Eye Candy: A Quarter Century of Orange

  Matt Newman

  23 May 2013 | 3:00 am

  Celebrating 25 years of orange pants, photography, and one enduring beard.

• Wildlife Photographer’s Journal: Great-Horned Owl Nest 2013

  Patricia Gonzalez

  22 May 2013 | 8:00 am

  The appearance of two fuzzy Great-Horned owlets is always cause for celebration in the Thain Family Forest!

• Morning Eye Candy: Good Eats

  Ann Rafalko

  22 May 2013 | 3:00 am

  It's radish season in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden!

• At the Guggenheim, In the Garden of Good and Evil

  Ann Rafalko

  21 May 2013 | 10:00 am

  In art as in science, plants have the distinction of being both helpful and harmful, healing and deadly.

• Should I Mettle with a Nettle?

  Sonia Uyterhoeven

  21 May 2013 | 8:00 am

  As reputations go, the stinging nettle's health benefits are as potent as its bite.

• 

  Old Country Gardens

• Love at Sagamore Hill

  Melanie Vassallo

  14 May 2013 | 8:28 am

  In March Andy bought a brand new Harley Davidson Road Glide. It was chilly out for riding but we bundled up and went for some rides here on Long Island. Last Saturday he suggested we visit some places on the north shore, near us. The first was the Vanderbilt estate in Centerport, then we decided to visit Teddy Roosevelt's home, Sagamore Hill. The flowering trees were in all their glory and as we drove into the parking lot we drove right past a female turkey.It's courting season and soon we saw the male turkey, trying his best to gain the female's interest. I took a photo even though the…

• In retrospect

  Melanie Vassallo

  28 Jan 2013 | 5:42 pm

  The end of January, bitter cold winds and temperatures but suddenly one notices the days getting longer. Winter still has it's icy grip on us but Spring is just around the corner.Beauty can still be found in the ice formations along the water front but brrrr, how much nicer to look at something green.I thought I'd choose a few old photos from the past to get our imaginations flowing...From the smallest frond unfurling to color in all it's glory, I love ferns!Fuzzy drumstick heads...Fat prickly fronds...Airy and delicate lady ferns...None of them are here in my new home but oh to dream that…

• Raised beds & Edging materials

  Melanie Vassallo

  25 Nov 2012 | 5:12 pm

  Raised garden beds...  There's a million and one reasons why, where and how, here's a few of my ideas. It was many years into my gardening craze before we built the raised beds I longed for. Rock and stone hold a fascination for me, I remember many walks with my Dad where he'd find a cool stone and put it in his pocket (I still have a few!).Stone walls last longer than wood and many other materials. If built well they are also much sturdier. My new neighborhood here in Centerport is chock full of amazing rock walls I'll be photographing in the spring. This opening shot was in my old…

• Hurricane Sandy...the day after

  Melanie Vassallo

  17 Nov 2012 | 3:58 pm

  As the world knows, the north eastern region of the USA was struck by Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. These photos were taken as the storm subsided, October 30th. I've continued taking photos and will share them in a timely fashion.This first shot was taken right in front of my house, facing the corner of Garfield and Jackson Crescent.Power was out here by early afternoon.This was the first time I have ever been alone during a storm and frankly, I was scared. Dinner though was an adventure. I took some left overs from the fridge, cooked ravioli, pulled pork, homemade tomato sauce and put…

• Step onto the road...

  Melanie Vassallo

  12 Nov 2012 | 3:11 pm

  "You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to."  Gandalf (JRR Tolkein)With much of the fall foliage gone due to Hurricane Sandy, I took advantage of today's bank holiday and went on a hike. The first stop was Twin Ponds park right here in Centerport. Just a small walk around one of the ponds, but enough to whet the appetite for more. The sun came and went behind big fluffy clouds and cast the most delightful hues through what was left of the autumn foliage. The ground is quite saturated in spots, the moss was the…

• 

  Bloomingwriter: Gardening in Nova Scotia

• The very busy season!

  Jodi DeLong

  13 May 2013 | 6:22 pm

  Hi faithful readers and fellow gardeners. It is THAT season, when there aren't enough hours in the day, week, month...lots has happened in the past few weeks, including relocating to a great place in Wolfville that is much easier for me to manage and much more suitable for all kinds of purposes. We're still in the process of moving, so it's a challenge to keep up with non-urgent stuff. But there are a couple of very neat upcoming events to tell you about here in Nova Scotia.  The first one is the Pugwash Communities in Bloom Gardening Fair, coming up in less than 2 weeks, May 25 9am-4pm.

• A chocolate garden for spring

  Jodi DeLong

  21 Apr 2013 | 9:22 am

  It's been a very busy April, with garden talks and nursery openings and all the chores of spring. So I've been somewhat remiss in doing blog posts, opting instead for chattering on bloominganswers.com and on my open page on Facebook. Now it's the rush to get ready for the annual Saltscapes East Coast Expo, which is next weekend. I'm very fond of chocolate, but it has to be dark, good quality chocolate. And one shouldn't eat too much of it, so, I'm opting to turn some of my fascinations to Maybe a better idea is a chocolate garden, featuring plants with deep, rich,…

• No lilies indoors! An Easter warning & other options

  Jodi DeLong

  30 Mar 2013 | 2:01 pm

  "Hello. My name is Tiny Timbit, and I have an important message for all you cat owners out there. It's about keeping us safe during Easter (and during other times of the year."  "There are all kinds of plants that you can have in the house when you have kitties. We usually won't bother most plants that might not be tasty, like Hydrangeas..." Read more »

• Green Flowers for the Irish (and for Green Flower-lovers)

  Jodi DeLong

  17 Mar 2013 | 10:07 am

   It's been quite a while since I did a colour-themed post, and what better day to do it than on St. Patrick's Day? Green flowers and/or Irish names for a late-winter, it's gonnna-be-spring-someday Sunday afternoon. (Above, clockwise left: 'Greenland' tulip; 'Irish Lemon' heath; 'Spring Green' tulips'; 'Green Envy' echinacea'; 'Green Eyes' echinacea)  I've heard people say they don't like green flowers, because foliage is green and how will a green flower show up against foliage? Well, in some cases they are somewhat subtle,…

• Farewell, Fellow Plant Addict

  Jodi DeLong

  12 Mar 2013 | 3:05 pm

   I've told the story many times of how I met Captain Richard Steele, and how he put me on the path to being fascinated with ericaceous plants. How he inspired me to be the best plantswoman I possibly could, and to rejoice in plants of all kinds. I met Dick's daughter Diana the same day I met him. In fact, it was Dinah, as her family call her, who took me up to the greenhouse to introduce me to the great man himself, and who made tea for all of us. Before we made it to the greenhouse, however, my late beloved came bursting out of a path at Bayport Plant Farm, where the Steeles planted…

• 

  Digging

• Wildflower Center magazine touts Lawn Gone!

  Pam/Digging

  23 May 2013 | 8:14 am

  Sometimes my publicist lets me know ahead of time that Lawn Gone! will have a mention in an upcoming publication. Other times it’s just a thrilling surprise. Like when I opened my copy of Wildflower (Summer 2013), the magazine of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center… …and spotted a recommendation for Lawn Gone! along with other staff picks from the garden’s gift shop on page 11. Woot! Thanks, Wildflower Center! While I’m basking in the glow of their recommendation, let me give a little love back. This looks like a particularly interesting issue of Wildflower.

• Screech owlets!

  Pam/Digging

  22 May 2013 | 2:55 pm

  We knew that the screech owl in our owl box was raising at least one chick and that it was getting big. Mama owl had moved out but was still roosting nearby, as was papa owl. But any chicks were being shy about showing themselves, so this week I staged a post-dusk stake-out on the deck with my camera. The first evening I got nothing, mainly because I lack patience, but also because the parent owls knew I was there and were shy about feeding with me so close. The second night, though, I finally got a good glimpse. So cute! Only one owlet was brave enough to gaze at me through the entry hole.

• Hot summer color and Chocolate Chips manfreda in bloom

  Pam/Digging

  20 May 2013 | 7:38 am

  Austin’s lovely, unexpectedly extended spring appears to have faded into summer’s mid-90sF heat and humidity. While I may be complaining about the sauna-like conditions, my garden doesn’t mind. Take this cute little cactus for example. Last year it resided on a sunny windowsill in the kitchen, but this spring I moved it into the garden. Now it’s thanking me with a stunning orange flower. Why, you’re quite welcome, little guy. Water lilies love the heat, and in the stock-tank pond ‘Colorado’ is revving up with new, starry blossoms. Continuing the peach…

• Lawn Gone! mentions in Woman’s Day and Seattle Times

  Pam/Digging

  19 May 2013 | 1:12 pm

  I’m always excited to see a mention of my book, Lawn Gone!, in a magazine or newspaper article, and this week there are two. On page 41 of the June 2013 issue of Woman’s Day magazine, you’ll see an article about freshening up your patio garden, which references my advice in Lawn Gone! to cut down on lawn by laying paths through your garden. My photo of Tait Moring’s inspiring patchwork path accompanies the tip. And in today’s edition of the Seattle Times, in an article titled “Green, green grass of home,” writer Tom Watson reminds us that even in the…

• Gardens on Tour 2013: Bonnell Garden

  Pam/Digging

  19 May 2013 | 12:18 am

  Our final stop last Saturday on the Wildflower Center-sponsored Gardens on Tour was the Curt Arnette-designed Bonnell Garden in west Austin. If it looks familiar, yes, I posted about it last fall after the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Tour; check out my earlier post for images of this garden in bloom with billowy fall grasses, daisies, Philippine violet. On this spring visit, spineless prickly pear, dwarf pomegranate, and red yucca flowers added their extravagant color to the mostly evergreen garden. Imagine a bowl of lawn surrounded by a bermed perimeter of drought-tolerant,…

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  blithewold.org

• Marjorie’s dove tree turns 40

  Kristin Green

  16 May 2013 | 1:16 pm

  It’s a lucky visitor whose gaze turns east along the path between the mansion and the Enclosed Garden, instead of west across the blooming North Garden and Great Lawn to Narragansett Bay. The western view is a compelling one to be sure and even I am caught up short by it every time I walk [...]

• Perennial planting spree

  Kristin Green

  13 May 2013 | 9:01 am

  I think we outdid ourselves. In the last couple of weeks Gail, Betsy, the volunteers, and I planted about 700 perennials and a handful of shrubs. Going into our planning season this past winter, Gail and I both thought that we wouldn’t place big perennial orders this year. Then the catalogs arrived and we couldn’t [...]

• Friends don’t let friends plant impatiens

  Kristin Green

  7 May 2013 | 1:09 pm

  I have bad news and good news. The bad news is there’s a fungus among us. Impatiens downy mildew (Plasmopara obducens), the mysterious ailment that denuded and killed almost every busy Lizzie (Impatiens walleriana) back in July or August of last year, is here to stay. It’s in our soil now and unlike other downy [...]

• Tulip days

  Kristin Green

  1 May 2013 | 11:28 am

  Just because Daffodil Days are over doesn’t mean the daffodils are done (especially this year). But we’re onto the next thing. Even though there aren’t anywhere near 50,000 tulips, they are doing their best to steal the show from the daffodils. Clumps of 10 or 20 here and there is all it takes, plus a [...]

• Fairy wings

  Kristin Green

  26 Apr 2013 | 12:55 pm

  Daffodil Days culminates this coming Sunday with our annual Fairy Festival and we expect all of Blithewold’s fairies to come out for the party. Conditions should be just right. A warm and sunny day is in the forecast and there will be plenty of believers on the property… I’m pretty sure I know where they’ve [...]

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  Ellis Hollow

• Bloom day scans

  Craig

  14 May 2013 | 4:14 pm

  The deer left the tulips alone (so far) and the daffs have been blooming their pants off.

• Pulmonaria … I think

  Craig

  5 May 2013 | 5:03 pm

  Not sure where this plant came from. I think it's a pulmonaria. There are some faint markings on the leaves -- which is what you really what you really look for in a pulmonaria. The plant is butt ugly. But I've never seen one with better flowers from anything in this genus.

• April bloom day scans

  Craig

  14 Apr 2013 | 3:38 pm

  So my old scanner is unusable because our last Windows XP laptop bit the dust and you can't get drives for this circa Y2K scanner for Windows 7. But I scored a cast-off scanner at work that will run with 7, but spent all morning trying to clean the platen glass (every household spray, mineral spirits, acetone, plutonium) and the glass is still streaky. Oh well. Don't have $2,500 for the scanner I want. Too cheap to spend $60 for something that would work OK. Guess I'll have to start doing more camera work. Despite all that, this one didn't turn out too bad: A selection of spring ephemerals…

• Lawn and garden tips …

  Craig

  10 Apr 2013 | 4:46 pm

  ...from ExxonMobil and Monsanto, via Comics section at DailyKos. Larger version available via this page.

• Ephemerals

  Craig

  8 Apr 2013 | 4:46 pm

  With the warming temps, the spring ephemerals are coming on. Eranthis, a special variety though I don't know its name. Iris histrioides 'Katharine Hodgkin' (Thanks Lynn.) Crocus Iris reticulata

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  Flatbush Gardener

• My Plant Giveaway

  Flatbush Gardener

  29 Apr 2013 | 6:30 pm

  2013-04-30 UPDATE: Full house! Sorry, but the response was enthusiastic. I already have all my availability booked for this weekend. If I have any time on subsequent weekends, I will post another update here. I'm reorganizing some of my planting... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• A Busy Flatbush Gardener's Weekend

  Flatbush Gardener

  19 Apr 2013 | 5:34 pm

  I'll be out and about in the community at two events this weekend. Stop by and say hello! And maybe pick up some tips and plants while you're at it. Saturday, April 21, 9:30-1:30 Sustainable Flatbush Church Garden - Earth Day Open... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Great Flatbush Plant Swap 2013, Sunday, 4/21, Noon-3pm

  Flatbush Gardener

  17 Apr 2013 | 4:44 am

  This Sunday, April 21, from noon to 3pm, join your fellow green-thumbs, and brown-thumbs, for the 2013 Great Flatbush Plant Swap. Got some extra seed-starts you don't need? Leftovers from dividing perennials? No place for that shrub you just dug... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Off-topic: 20 Years

  Flatbush Gardener

  25 Mar 2013 | 7:54 pm

  Today is the 20th anniversary of my sobriety. Sobriety, abstinence, and recovery are often conflated. They're not the same things. I got sober because drinking was interfering with my recovery. I say "I got sober," not just "I stopped... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Sekijoju, Acer buergerianum, by Stanley Chinn

  Flatbush Gardener

  9 Jan 2013 | 4:31 pm

  Acer buergerianum, Bonsai, Root over rock style (Sekijoju), Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a photo by Flatbush Gardener on Flickr. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• 

  Ledge and Gardens

• Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - May 15, 2013

  Layanee DeMerchant

  15 May 2013 | 5:27 am

  In May, the question is not 'what is blooming' but 'what is not' which seems more appropriate. It has been a very cool spring which has been easy on the flowers. They last much longer with cool temperatures and while many plants are blooming a bit later, there is more overlap of bloom and more time to appreciate those blooms. The crabapples are blooming and none is prettier than this 'Prairie Fire' above. I love  the lipstick magenta color along with the subtle scent of the flowers. The Carolina Silverbell is blooming as well. Its white bells light up the garden…

• Fabulous Foliage

  Layanee DeMerchant

  8 May 2013 | 9:09 pm

  I know, spring blooms are in full swing but, for a garden devoid of green five months of the year and for the gardener who tends that garden, the emergence of foliage is as welcome as any finicky flower. After all, the flowers last but a short time while the leaves stick around all season. The above Cimicifuga r. 'Brunette' is cuddling with a simple sweet fern which will have a short life in that position but for now it is a lovely pairing. Japanese maples have wonderful foliage and the dissectum varieties whether red or green are always welcome here. This red one pairs well with…

• The First Mow

  Layanee DeMerchant

  3 May 2013 | 5:45 am

  The weather has changed to full spring ahead here at Ledge & Gardens and the lawn, the freedom lawn which is complete with ajuga and dandelions, needed a shave. The first mow is the best mow of the season. The scent of freshly mown grass permeates the air with the first mow. It signals the start of a new cycle in the garden. Spring brings with it a velvety green lawn. No dry patches show at the time of the first mow. There has been an April rain deficit here this spring but, right now everything looks green and clean. Has your lawn had the first mow yet?  

• 

  A Leafy Indulgence

• Iris Has Been Around The Block

  Swimray

  11 May 2013 | 7:01 pm

  This bearded iris (Iris germanica) gets around. Not like it's been sleeping with another, but it has had lots of offspring. It was a quick pickup up a few years ago at our neighborhood bar, or maybe it was a spring plant swap. Someone from the adjacent neighborhood brought it and has not attended since. Planted in the spring, it did bloom the following year. I occasionally drive through that neighborhood and see two houses where this iris is flourishing in the front yard. I would guess one of those owners gave another some divisions in the past. Being it is a very good hardy grower, I divided…

• A Patriotic Spring

  Swimray

  5 May 2013 | 8:27 pm

  It's been almost a month since the last post - there is little happening in the garden at this time of year. And, Google dumped me into Google Plus requiring information that screwed up my blog, Blogger profile, settings, and name that I cannot correct. (Was that Wordpress option still open?) This mess also prevented me from commenting on other blogs, (unless authored with my 'new' Google Plus account.) The back yard looks like the 4th of July - red, white and blue. The white 'snow' azaleas were planted under the magnolia and dogwood when both trees and shrubs were small. I tried moving one…

• Pieris Survives The Graveyard

  Swimray

  13 Apr 2013 | 5:44 pm

  Another plant given, another plant taken. And, this one survived. Last year a friend requested I pick out one pieris for my yard from three that she had purchased to give away. This was my first introduction to the plant. Not knowing anything about it (nor did my gardening friend) I greedily selected a 'Canadian grown cultivar.' "Clusters of spring blooms resembling lily of the valley cascade near ends of branches. New spring growth is bright red or pink when emerging. Mature foliage is lustrous dark green. Requires rich acidic soil and ample moisture; protect from hot winds and sun."None of…

• Spring Fell From The Sky

  Swimray

  31 Mar 2013 | 6:25 pm

  You know it's springtime when there is snow on the daffodils. Welcome to the new normal. On Monday March 25, we received the biggest snowfall (or slushfall) of the winter. Alexandria woke up to one and a half inches (4 cm) of wet snow and slushy walks. Added to the previous snowfalls, we received a total of 3-1/2 inches (9 cm) of winter for 2012-13. Hyacinths were stopped in their tracks, turning purple with cold, shivering under their new white blanket. The white forsythia was almost finished with its song, but was startled. The indoors amaryllis, planted to flower at Christmas, thinks it…

• Winter Walk Off

  Swimray

  18 Mar 2013 | 5:13 pm

  My walk is around a three block radius of my office in historic Old Town Alexandria. A bit of history lesson: Alexandria is on the Potomac River, was settled and became a thriving city in the 1700s through 1800s. It was a shipping (sugar and tobacco) and trading port with refineries and warehouses. It's old city homes reflected the very conservative population, and not the "flamboyant extravagance" found in Savannah and Charleston. Yes, George Washington lived down the road, had an overnight cottage in town, and not only slept here, but shopped and partied here. This is my walk off, wishfully…

• 

  A Leafy Indulgence

• Iris Has Been Around The Block

  Swimray

  11 May 2013 | 7:01 pm

  This bearded iris (Iris germanica) gets around. Not like it's been sleeping with another, but it has had lots of offspring. It was a quick pickup up a few years ago at our neighborhood bar, or maybe it was a spring plant swap. Someone from the adjacent neighborhood brought it and has not attended since. Planted in the spring, it did bloom the following year. I occasionally drive through that neighborhood and see two houses where this iris is flourishing in the front yard. I would guess one of those owners gave another some divisions in the past. Being it is a very good hardy grower, I divided…

• A Patriotic Spring

  Swimray

  5 May 2013 | 8:27 pm

  It's been almost a month since the last post - there is little happening in the garden at this time of year. And, Google dumped me into Google Plus requiring information that screwed up my blog, Blogger profile, settings, and name that I cannot correct. (Was that Wordpress option still open?) This mess also prevented me from commenting on other blogs, (unless authored with my 'new' Google Plus account.) The back yard looks like the 4th of July - red, white and blue. The white 'snow' azaleas were planted under the magnolia and dogwood when both trees and shrubs were small. I tried moving one…

• Pieris Survives The Graveyard

  Swimray

  13 Apr 2013 | 5:44 pm

  Another plant given, another plant taken. And, this one survived. Last year a friend requested I pick out one pieris for my yard from three that she had purchased to give away. This was my first introduction to the plant. Not knowing anything about it (nor did my gardening friend) I greedily selected a 'Canadian grown cultivar.' "Clusters of spring blooms resembling lily of the valley cascade near ends of branches. New spring growth is bright red or pink when emerging. Mature foliage is lustrous dark green. Requires rich acidic soil and ample moisture; protect from hot winds and sun."None of…

• Spring Fell From The Sky

  Swimray

  31 Mar 2013 | 6:25 pm

  You know it's springtime when there is snow on the daffodils. Welcome to the new normal. On Monday March 25, we received the biggest snowfall (or slushfall) of the winter. Alexandria woke up to one and a half inches (4 cm) of wet snow and slushy walks. Added to the previous snowfalls, we received a total of 3-1/2 inches (9 cm) of winter for 2012-13. Hyacinths were stopped in their tracks, turning purple with cold, shivering under their new white blanket. The white forsythia was almost finished with its song, but was startled. The indoors amaryllis, planted to flower at Christmas, thinks it…

• Winter Walk Off

  Swimray

  18 Mar 2013 | 5:13 pm

  My walk is around a three block radius of my office in historic Old Town Alexandria. A bit of history lesson: Alexandria is on the Potomac River, was settled and became a thriving city in the 1700s through 1800s. It was a shipping (sugar and tobacco) and trading port with refineries and warehouses. It's old city homes reflected the very conservative population, and not the "flamboyant extravagance" found in Savannah and Charleston. Yes, George Washington lived down the road, had an overnight cottage in town, and not only slept here, but shopped and partied here. This is my walk off, wishfully…

• 

  Garden Rant

• The Animals and Garden Amenities of Plantsman David Culp by Susan Harris

  Susan Harris

  24 May 2013 | 5:19 am

  David Culp with co-author Adam Levine and photographer Rob Cardillo Not long ago I confessed that I was scheming to see David Culp’s Pennsylvania garden, made glorious in his book The Layered Garden.  And yesterday that blogger pushiness paid off when I attended his book (re)launch in the very same garden, which did not disappoint. David’s makes his living as a plantsman, especially in the world of perennials, but he also designs gardens for folks.  To me that explains the presence of so many nonplant elements in his garden – he knows that a plants-only garden misses the…

• Got Gnomes? by Susan Harris

  Susan Harris

  22 May 2013 | 9:22 am

  A great ad goes viral. For some reason it won’t embed,  so click here to watch. Via Jane Milliman.

• The Drunken Botanist Goes to Manhattan… by Amy Stewart

  Amy Stewart

  22 May 2013 | 5:05 am

  …and Buffalo.  And Brooklyn.  See you there?  As always, please check with the venue before heading out to confirm details.  Also, there are lots more events coming up around the country–go here to see the complete list. June 06 2013 06:30 PM — The Horticultural Society of New York, New York, NY Doors open at 6 and there will be drinks! June 09 2013 02:00 PM — Sycamore Bar & Flowershop, Yes, it’s a flower shop AND a bar. So naturally, I’m doing an event there!  $15 gets you a cocktail, a bouquet of cocktail-friendly plants and flowers, and a $5…

• Cats in the Garden – Solutions Only by Susan Harris

  Susan Harris

  21 May 2013 | 6:50 am

  Cat-loving readers will no doubt remember our recent dust-up over the issue of cats in the garden.  That post was prompted by a cat-in-garden photo illustrating a magazine piece about wildlife-friendly gardens – a strange juxtaposition, at least to my eyes. Well, I was happy to notice Horticulture Magazine addressing this issue head-on, but in a solutions-oriented way, not a controversial one.  (Though Lord knows, the topic is controversial no matter how it’s handled.)  Their article, 4 Ways to Keep Cats out of the Garden, summarizes the problem – that our beloved cats…

• Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? by Susan Harris

  Susan Harris

  17 May 2013 | 5:38 am

  Veganism has been creeping into my consciousness for a while now, but it was the recent vegan festival in my town that makes me wonder if it’s now mainstream.  The festival, modeled after the successful Garlic Festival  in California (now in its 35th year), and billing itself as the first-ever Kale-a-Rama, managed to draw over 1,000 people, and was a blast. Who’d have thought a vegetable could be so much fun?  Well, not me. But a bunch of activists for veganism and animal rights in the DC-Baltimore area dreamed up the festival, put together a roster music and vendors, and…

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  Life In Sugar Hollow

• Transformations and Ch-Ch-Changes

  Tracey Crehan Gerlach

  13 May 2013 | 8:34 am

  20112012Early spring 2013(I am posting something I wrote last summer but never published and am just updating it with a recent photo. My writing ability is highly challenged these days. I actually spent five minutes the other day searching for a particular word and upon finally remembering the word, I managed to completely forget the sentence I needed it to complete. The word, by the way, was 'hapless.')---------------Do you remember a post from a-ways back about our doggie dustbowl and how things needed to change?They did! {Click on each photo for bigger views.}The roses, butterfly bushes,…

• Plant This: Big Root Geranium

  Tracey Crehan Gerlach

  10 May 2013 | 7:16 am

  I gathered pots of this last year and they have filled out a dead zone nicely.

• Weeds? What weeds?

  Tracey Crehan Gerlach

  2 May 2013 | 7:35 am

  Dandelion poofs. I never see them as weeds. Neither does Willa May.Also - random - I just *found* a huge patch of rhubarb on our land.  How did it get there?We went for a hike around Mint Springs yesterday morning and I am thinking that I need a good, portable Virginia butterfly guide and a moss/lichen identification book.

• Typing With One Hand

  Tracey Crehan Gerlach

  30 Apr 2013 | 1:53 pm

  Thank goodness you can blog in your pajamas and typing can just require one hand.We are in the middle of a big developmental stage for Samuel and it is hard on him. Lots of cuddling and feedings while he makes a great leap forward. I find that chocolate helps me cope with the fussing. During a somewhat pathetic moment the other night, I wearily glanced as a piece of a 100 Grand bar wrapper fell out of my shirt as I changed into my pajamas. The plant sales have started. (The local Ruritans down the road were selling divisions from their own gardens - I scored a wiegela and a quince as well as…

• To Be Scattered

  Tracey Crehan Gerlach

  25 Apr 2013 | 12:19 pm

  For the cutting garden:Cleome,knee-high cosmos,nasturtiums andLOTS of old-fashioned zinnias.

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  Lois de Vries' Garden Views

• Making Your Creative Mark In Gardening – Part 1

  Lois J. de Vries

  15 May 2013 | 1:56 pm

  <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 <![endif]--> I’m pleased to share with you an excerpt from a new book by America’s foremost creativity coach and my writing mentor, Dr. Eric Maisel. It’s called, Making Your Creative Mark. While Eric works primarily with authors and fine, craft, and performing artists, I’ve always found his approach to be directly applicable to my work with Cultivating

• It’s National Public Gardens Day!

  Lois J. de Vries

  10 May 2013 | 5:19 am

  <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 <![endif]--> Lilacs at Willowood Arboretum A big shout-out goes to all of the folks who delight gardeners through their daily work at public gardens across the country and the benefactors who had the foresight to understand how important these spaces are to soothing the human spirit. Staff and volunteers will be working special events this Mother’s

• What Gardeners Know

  Lois J. de Vries

  11 Apr 2013 | 7:04 am

  Cinqo de Mayo Rose It seems that the medical establishment is just catching up with what inner gardeners everywhere already know: Mindfulness meditation is good for us and can reduce stress-related illnesses and boost the immune system. According to Dr. Hillary Campbell, as quoted in a recent Sacramento Bee article, http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/01/5306627/medical-establishment-ponders.html ,

• Book Reviews: Orchids

  Lois J. de Vries

  7 Apr 2013 | 10:03 am

  Miltoniopsis can perfume the house for weeks. This year, my inner gardener has had to back-pedal a bit and take a break from large outdoor gardening projects since we’re focused on cleaning up more than 35 trees felled by Hurricane Sandy. Still chomping at the bit to get out there and get going, I decided to temporarily turn to an on-again, off-again indoor gardening pursuit: Orchids. If you

• Inspiration For The Inner Gardener

  Lois J. de Vries

  16 Feb 2013 | 5:40 am

  Although Dr. Mays did not have garden design in mind when he said this, the spirit of his thought is a suitable one for us to incorporate when cultivating our inner gardener practice: "It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a

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  Transatlantic Gardener

• Chelsea Flower Show Plant Of The Year Winner: Mahonia 'Soft Caress'

  Graham Rice

  22 May 2013 | 7:01 am

  The winner of the Chelsea Flower Show 2013 Plant Of The Year was announced late on Monday. The award goes to Mahonia eurybracteata subsp. ganpinensis 'Soft Caress'. A selection of a Chinese species, made in Georgia, I feature it on my Royal Horticultural Society New Plants blog in September last year. This is what I said:Mahonias are amongst the most impressive and dependable of flowering shrubs – but they have a problem. They’re spiny, sometimes viciously spiny. Not any more.Mahonia eurybracteata is a modestly sized evergreen shrub that grows wild in five provinces of south…

• Plant Of The Century

  Graham Rice

  19 May 2013 | 5:55 am

  It’s a hundred years ago this year, in 1913, that the most famous flower show in the world, The Chelsea Flower Show, was first staged and to mark the centenary of the show the Royal Horticultural Society is asking gardeners to vote for the Plant Of The Century.They’ve chosen a plant from each decade, and each is introduced on video by a gardener of the appropriate generation - from a 92 year old ex-paratrooper to an eight year old schoolgirl. Anyone can go online and vote for their favorite. These are the plants.Saxifraga ‘Tumbling Waters' (1913-1922) Pieris formosa var. forrestii…

• Actaea rubra: Powerhouse Plant For All Seasons

  Graham Rice

  13 May 2013 | 1:00 am

  Powerhouse Plants are Plants For All Seasons, plants which don’t simply do their one thing and then sit there looking dull for the rest of the year. These are plants with impact at two, three or perhaps four different seasons. They provide so much more than just a few short weeks of flowers. So when you look at a plant in flower at the nursery or in a catalog, always ask: What else does it do?You can find details of over five hundred plants that do something else at another season in my new book Powerhouse Plants. And every month in Gardener’s World, Britain’s top-selling garden…

• Have you seen these double primroses?

  Graham Rice

  7 May 2013 | 1:00 am

  In the last ten years, many of the old, double flowered primroses have vanished from our gardens, on both sides of the Atlantic. A combination of virus disease and relentless weevil attack has led to the disappearance of many of these captivating, and very hardy, spring perennials. Grown in Britain. Brought to America they’re part of our horticultural heritage. But they’re disappearing. The British garden plant conservation charity, Plant Heritage, once oversaw three National Collections of double primroses in private gardens. These too are gone. But Caroline Stone, a keen gardener from…

• What’s this scilla doing in a wood in New York?

  Graham Rice

  29 Apr 2013 | 1:00 am

  Nosing around in the spring woods yesterday, near the east branch of the Callicoon Creek in Sullivan County, NY, I spotted a speck of sparkling blue, amongst fresh foliage and the flowers of Dutchman’s breeches, Dicentra cucullaria. Seemed odd. Took a closer look, and it was a scilla. There were a few leaves and three stems with one flower on each.The map on the USDA Plants website reveals that the Siberian squill, Scilla siberica (left, click to enlarge), has been found in seventeen north east states but, according to the New York Flora Atlas, never before in Sullivan County. The little…

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  WashingtonGardener

• Fenton Friday: Seeing Red!

  WashingtonGardener

  24 May 2013 | 5:00 am

  I was so excited to arrive at the garden plot on Tuesday to see the strawberry plants covered in ripe fruit. What a change in just a few days! I sat right down and ate a handful -- just heavenly. I have picked a cup of fruit for my breakfast each day since. I found a few berries chewed on with ants on them. Sacrificing a few is alright, but any more than that and I will have to pull out the garden guns.In the rest of my plot everything is up and growing well, except my okra. No sign of them at all. If they do not surface soon I will plant a new batch from Landreth Seeds.New this week were…

• Washington Gardener Magazine Book Club: Farm City

  WashingtonGardener

  23 May 2013 | 2:32 pm

  For our next selection Washington Gardener Magazine Book Club, we will be reading Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter.I have reserved a meeting room at the Takoma Park* DC Neighborhood LibraryRoom in the downstairs Meeting Room on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. The room allows food and drink and you may bring your dinner and/or snacks to share.I have made sure that the DC library and other local library systems currently have several copies available for borrowing of Farm City.The book club meetings are FREE and…

• Video Wednesday: Prof. Doug Tallamy on Sustainable Landscaping

  WashingtonGardener

  22 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  Prif. Doug Tallamy at University of Delaware, the author of the award-winning book Bringing Nature Home, has identified the top 10 native plants for butterflies and moths in the Mid-Atlantic region. More information at: http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2013/may/landscaping-plants-050713.html.

• Cicada Tips

  WashingtonGardener

  21 May 2013 | 11:40 am

  The Brood II cicada invasion have arrived in parts of Virginia and Maryland. The females can cause damage to some young and small trees and shrubs, such as lilacs, crepe myrtles, and ornamental cherries. Experts from Davey Tree say there are several things you can do to protect your trees:1. Delay pruning your trees until the cicadas are gone. This can help remove some of the limbs they have damaged.2. Protect smaller trees is by covering them with a breathable covering like cheesecloth, Reemay fabric, or tulle.3. Put out additional bird feeders because birds naturally…

• A Special Note to Our Loyal Readers...

  WashingtonGardener

  20 May 2013 | 1:16 pm

  I posted the following note in the latest Washington Gardener Enews:Some of you may be aware, but most of you are not, that my father went into hospice care with Colorectal Cancer last fall and passed away in the winter. I suspended publication of the magazine for those two quarters. The Spring 2013 issue is in production and will go out shortly. I sincerely apologize for the delay.   Current subscribers have had their records adjusted to extend their subscriptions by two additional issues.    New subscribers will start their subscription with the Spring 2013 issue and…

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  A Tidewater Gardener

• Bloom Day: Almost Ready For My Close Up

  Les

  15 May 2013 | 2:15 am

       As of this Bloom Day I have only 3 days to finish getting my garden ready for a tour this Saturday.  I have been working off and on in my garden all winter and spring, but everything can't be done ahead of time, and there will be lots of last minute tweaking, deadheading and weeding. Though bloom-wise I am in a minor May gap, there should still be plenty of things for the group to see

• Another Day at the Races

  Les

  5 May 2013 | 6:22 am

       Though it may not feel like it, spring is here, and it is busting out at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Some days I get so wrapped up in my work it takes a conscious effort to notice all the beauty around me.  Fortunately, I get to visit when I am not working, and last week I was there all day while my son's crew team was participating in one of the last regattas of the season.  Between

• Hoffler Creek

  Les

  27 Apr 2013 | 3:16 pm

       As I mentioned a few posts back, I am participating in the Virginia Master Naturalist training program, which includes classroom time, but also includes field trips.  One of these was a trip to Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve in Portsmouth, Va. This place was once a waterfront farm owned by the Ballard family. Since the mid 1800's the family made a comfortable life for themselves raising

• Grandmother Malus

  Les

  19 Apr 2013 | 4:37 pm

  We have an ancient crabapple (Malus sp.) at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.  To part the foliage and stand under the shelter of its branches is to enter another world.

• Bloom Day - And It's a Busy One

  Les

  15 Apr 2013 | 1:15 am

       Even though this is the first spring in 16 years in which I am not working 6 days a week, there has been little time for blogging. When the weather is good and I have the energy, I am in my garden, and it is such a nice change to have that time in spring. I am also trying to get ready for a tour that is coming to see my garden next month, which has put much on my to-do list.  When the

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  clay and limestone

• Wildflower Wednesday: Scentless Mock-Orange

  Gail

  21 May 2013 | 11:00 pm

  The Scentless Mock Orange caught me by surprise, I hadn't noticed it was blooming. It's lovely white flowers were draped over the garden gate and waving at me to pay attention. Small bees buzzed around the  4 petaled flowers. It lit up the shady spot behind the patio gate. But, even out of bloom, it has a lot to recommend it. William Cullina says this about them: "In a favorable spot, the whole plant is wreathed in white and it is quite lovely in a loose and delicate way"They were here when we bought this house nearly 28 years ago. They are not the straight speciesbut are most likely…

• Pretty In Pink~Showy Evening Primrose

  Gail

  20 May 2013 | 3:50 am

   I love this pushy little flower! Call me eccentric, but I appreciate a plant that likes to romp around my garden and make a big statement.  Showy evening primrose does make a big statement...Some gardeners might say it makes too big a statement!But, not me.Flowers and plants that can thrive in my shallow, clay soil are very much appreciated. Oenothera speciosa does that and more. It is a pink ground cover that lights up the Susans garden mid-spring and combines beautifully with the foliage of later blooming wildflowers.I like rough and tumble plants that can take care of themselves…

• Bloom On for May 2013

  Gail

  15 May 2013 | 10:31 am

  Practically Perfect Pink Phlox pilosa is blooming on for Bloom Day~It's my favorite spring plant and I am happy to say it's made a marvelous comeback from the last years droughts. Although, it's an adaptable plant it needed more moisture than we have had the last many summers to set seed and spread around the garden. This year has more than made up for those disappointing years.Next up is Penstemon. I am having a marvelous love affair with P 'Prairie Twilight' and P 'Prairie Dusk'.  Both plants rescued from a big box sale rack last summer. Experts often tell you not to buy late in…

• The Best Gift For A Mom Who Gardens

  Gail

  12 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  My son Matt called to talk to me about tomatoes, never mind that I know zippo about veggies and only grow a few herbs, his heirloom container grown beauties were already sporting fruit and he wanted to share his excitement with me. He has pepper plants, basil and, be still my heart, Phlox paniculata and Echinacea purpurea, also in containers. The kid who refused to help do any garden work is now gardening and calling his mother to chat about it. Thank you Matt for the best Mother's Day. Seriously, the best gift ever. I will carry this one in my heart forever. xoxoPS Hoping this…

• My New Crush~Two-Flowered Cynthia

  Gail

  8 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  You're probably asking yourself, "What ever does she see in that flower?" Come on admit it, you are!Ray flowers, no disk flowers do remind me of dandelionsIt's been beaten down by rain and blown about in the wind and I still find it delightful and charming. I wish I had been able to capture the nice contrast between the orange tinted golden flowers and the bluish-gray foliage~It pops in the garden.The orange tinted flowers pop in the gardenYou'll have to take my word for this~Two-flowered Cynthia is a keeper!It's a delightful native flower that blooms for a long time, is tolerant of all,…

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  Dirt Therapy

• More roses

  Phillip Oliver

  22 May 2013 | 6:37 am

  I promise to have photos of other plants besides roses before the week is out! This is the David Austin rose "Pat Austin" - beautiful salmon color but the blooms always nod and you have to knell down to see them. "Marchesa Boccella" - my favorite rose name. "Marjorie Fair" - a "Top 10" rose for sure. Always excellent! "Marjorie Fair" is also known as "Red Ballerina". It is related to "Ballerina" but I find that "Marjorie Fair"  isn't as prone to blackspot This photo of "Marjorie Fair" was taken last year.   Another David Austin rose that performs really well in our garden is "The…

• New Dawn - the perfect rose?

  Phillip Oliver

  21 May 2013 | 9:43 am

  Is there such a thing as a perfect rose? Perfect blooms, most definitely but what about the plant itself? Over the years I've grown a lot of roses and while there are a handful that I would rate a "10", the majority are finicky (blackspot anyone?)  and require retirement time on your hands to keep them looking good. I gave up on hybrid tea roses long ago. The roses in our garden are now mostly older varieties and they must survive on their own with no chemicals or else they get the shovel prune heave-ho. Roses have a reputation for being sun-loving but I can attest that you can grow them…

• May Roses

  Phillip Oliver

  17 May 2013 | 8:35 am

  Now is the time to see our garden. The roses have just started to bloom and "Rambling Rector", the monster rose that covers most of the pergola is phenomenal. The fragrance in the garden is wonderful. The confederate jasmine on the patio, the roses and the privet perfume the air. I love this time of year. One of the rose highlights every year is "Veilchenblau", one of the most beautiful roses in my opinion. Looking through the pergola, it covers the archway in the distance. Text  "Veilchenblau" has just started to bloom - by next week you will barely see the foliage, just a blanket of…

• A visit to John's Native Gardens

  Phillip Oliver

  14 May 2013 | 9:31 am

  On Saturday, we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to take a trip to Scottsboro, Alabama (about 2 hours away) to visit John's Native Gardens. Eve at Sunny Side Up had written to me and suggested this garden for an article. The garden features native azaleas and rhododendrons so I knew I needed to get on the ball to get the required photos. Despite leaving in a heavy drizzle and even some brief downpours, the weather in Scottsboro was dry and perfect. It turned out to be a wonderful trip. Not only were the gardens fantastic but we also received a warm welcome from LaRue Anderson, the garden…

• Abutilon (Flowering Maple)

  Phillip Oliver

  10 May 2013 | 12:40 pm

  Abutilon megapotamicum (aka Flowering Maple) This is a plant I bought last year at Plant Delights. Abutilons are popular plants for containers and I had never heard of anyone growing them in the ground. At Plant Delights Nursery, they were perfectly happy and healthy in the ground. There are cold hardy varieties that do fine thought and this one survived the winter, even planted on the north side of the house. They are native to Brazil and related to the Hibiscus family. It is loaded with blooms at the moment. Planted in mostly shade, it has produced stalks that have shot up to 2 ft. (they…

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  Natural Gardening

• An almost full moon

  Lisa

  23 May 2013 | 6:16 pm

  An sojourn outside this evening as it was becoming dark surprised me with an almost full moon.  It was high in the sky as dusk descended, so was easily visible. I remembered that the April full moon hike was on the 25th -- the full moon date for May is also the 25th, although tonight's moon looms large!an almost full moon (May 23, 2013)

• Swapping out cool-season to warm-season veggies

  Lisa

  16 May 2013 | 6:27 pm

  It's been a strange spring, for sure.  But it's finally time to harvest the last of the greens to make room for the tomatoes, peppers, and squash in my mountain raised beds. The early planted tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers have survived, but they vary in how they've coped with the unseasonably low temperatures, too.The early spring cole crops (direct-seeded) are bolting, although the lettuce that I put in via transplants is still looking great (and it's tasty, too, thanks to cool weather).I'll be putting in more tomato plants this weekend, as well as sowing beans, squash, etc.!

• Swiss chard

  Lisa

  9 May 2013 | 6:20 pm

  I wish I had a photo to go along with this post! I harvested lots of chard from the mountain beds earlier in the week (they were starting to bolt).We had part of it (the harvest) cooked a couple of days ago, but I included the final harvest in a chard salad to take to a local foods potluck this evening.  Yum. I'd not made a fresh chard salad before, amazingly, but chard (chopped finely) is mild in taste, and with some vinaigrette, onions, chives, chive flowers, and some diced purple sweet potatoes -- it made a lovely, colorful, and delicious dish.

• Enjoying waterfalls

  Lisa

  7 May 2013 | 6:25 pm

  My gardening companion has been visiting great wildflower and waterfall areas, as part of his field work for a new project.Here's our boy Woody, enjoying the research!Woody at Jones Gap Falls

• Waiting for monarchs

  Lisa

  4 May 2013 | 6:27 pm

  I brought some Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) shoots and (dug-up) plants to share with a friend in the mountains.  She's "fostering" monarch caterpillars through Monarch Watch (I think).  What a great thing to do!I had plenty of milkweed in the Piedmont, but the chilly spring has meant slow emergence in the mountains.  And the numbers of monarchs overwintering was at a really low point this year, so help (for the successive broods as they come north) is especially important.Planting milkweeds of all sorts, but particularly common milkweed, is especially important, as it…

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  Outside Clyde

• Today In The Ridge Top Garden

  Christopher C. NC

  23 May 2013 | 7:17 pm

• The Babbling Brook Gets Green

  Christopher C. NC

  22 May 2013 | 6:48 pm

  The greenery around the babbling brook has woken up and started to grow. I also added another dozen short to ground cover type perennials. Some plants were chosen hoping they will creep over and into the crevices of the rocks to soften the overall appearance. All the new pond plants have settled in and are growing too. I need those to also help hide some of the exposed

• Things They Might Have Seen

  Christopher C. NC

  21 May 2013 | 7:36 pm

  If the weathers had cooperated. It was a year ago that garden bloggers from across the country came to the low spot of a North Carolina mountain top to see the wild cultivated gardens. They arrived for the peak of the lull between the rhododendron show and the onset of summer bloom. Nature had rescheduled spring that year. Then it delivered a one two punch of hard freezes. This year spring is

• Iris

  Christopher C. NC

  20 May 2013 | 7:40 pm

  In the garden

• Why Wait

  Christopher C. NC

  19 May 2013 | 7:07 pm

  I was in Indian Paintbrush territory today and stopped to gather a few more. They are on a steep road embankment under utility lines that was recently clear cut and regularly sprayed. I don't feel bad about relocating them to a safer environment. The new ones were planted on the same slope as the others, further down slope in a bit more sun. Mine are smaller than the

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  Growing The Home Garden: Gardening in the Home Landscape

• The Choice to Garden Organic

  22 May 2013 | 8:53 am

  I decided several years ago that I didn't want to mess with chemicals in my garden.  It was an easy choice for me.  We had kids and I didn't want to risk their exposure to dangerous substances.  I didn't want to eat food covered in chemicals at the dinner table.  A tomato with a side of pesticide just wasn't a recipe option here.  While my choice was mostly for family reasons there exist a number of other reasons just as important to avoid the chemicals in the garden. Maybe I should be more specific though, rather than just chemicals lets say synthetic chemicals.

• Garden Photo Updates from the Weekend

  20 May 2013 | 5:15 am

  Here's a quick look at my garden from the weekend! The 'Diablo' ninebark is in bloom.  It has beautiful purple-copper hued leaves and flowers with these clusters of white flowers each spring. In the vegetable garden the lettuce is coming along - finally.  It's taken a while this year to get some good germination.  I think the weather fluctuations have influenced things significantly. The strawberries are eaten more often outdoors than indoors...what a great snack to have available while weeding! I have 13 pepper plants planted now ranging from spicy to sweet.  Yep I…

• Propagating Stevia from Cuttings

  18 May 2013 | 5:00 am

  There are some plants that are tricky to propagate but stevia isn't one of them! Stevia rebaudiana is an herb used as a substitute sweetener for sugar.  It isn't reliably hardy here in Tennessee even though I did have a plant come back one year.  Since then I've kept a plant in a pot to bring indoors for the winter.  I've tried to grow stevia from seed but had a lot of difficulty in getting good germination which is why I turn to cuttings.  Taking a cutting of stevia is as simple as it can be.  I trim a stem or branch just above a set of leaves, leave two leaves on…

• Selling Plants at a Farmers Market

  17 May 2013 | 7:20 am

  It's been a couple weeks since I updated the series on starting a nursery business and since yesterday was my first sales date at a farmer's market I thought today would be a good opportunity to talk about that experience.  Going to the market is pretty much an all day affair.  It takes time to pick the best looking plants to bring, load them, and if you haven't already done so labeling them. To set up it takes about 30 minutes once I make it to the market.  I have a 10'x10' tent that I set up but there are so many trees where we are that additional shade is not necessary. I…

• Tennessee Blooming in May

  15 May 2013 | 6:43 am

  Today is the 15th of the month which means that it is also Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  Stop by to see a bounty of blooms from across the blogosphere.  Today here are a few things that are blooming in my Tennessee Garden. The irises are taking the stage. 'Loop the Loop' Unkown variety - smells like grapes! 'Caesar's Brother' 'Solar Fire' Iris Our snowball viburnum is in full bloom.  This plant gets huge clusters of blooms every year.  Another unknown iris.  I like the burgundy and yellow combination of colors. Our new peonies are…

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  Sharing Nature's Garden

• Kids love beautiful gardens, too...

  Diana

  24 May 2013 | 6:34 am

  I just came from morning assembly at Kallie's elementary school where they honored me for designing their front garden -- donating all the plants and creating the bed at cost. It was so special - they gave me this GIANT card and beautiful sunflowers and are putting up a sign recognizing the work. We planted tough, xeric plants in the school colors - gold and purple -- lantana, damianita, Indigo spires, grasses, blackfoot daisies and a lovely tree.    I  love working with such a great school. 

• Summer comes early to Central Texas gardens...

  Diana

  21 May 2013 | 8:16 am

  Although it's technically still spring, we've already had our first 100-degree day here in Central Texas. That means our tough-as-nails perennials are being asked to show their stuff. Many of them are answering the call in my garden this week. Thryallis, euonymous, salvia greggii, Mexican oregano, lamb's ears, dianella, indigo spires salvia and Mexican feathergrass surround this agave franzosini with soft, billowing blooms.This pineapple guava is full of stunning blooms that will soon turn into a yummy snack for us (if the dogs don't get them before we do!)Pops of yellow and blue fill this…

• Blow me away bottle brush blooms ...

  Diana

  10 Apr 2013 | 5:56 am

  As I was making the rounds through the garden this evening, I was struck by the uplighting into the bottle brush tree, Callistemon rigidus. I have been overwhelmed by the healthy, growth and year-round blooms on this tree.  With a growth habit of 10-12 feet, it is drought-tolerant and attracts bees, butterflies and birds.This is the freeze replacement tree from Bottlebrush tree #1.  Then the next bad freeze came and wiped this one out.  Or so I thought.  It came back from the roots after last winter and I let it grow like that for a little while to determine what the…

• Garden fest delights...

  Diana

  8 Apr 2013 | 6:14 am

  A gaggle of garden geeks took over the Zilker Botanical Gardens on Saturday and Sunday for the annual Zilker Garden Fest.Mom and Dad and I were there bright and early when they opened at 10 a.m. Saturday.  Two wagons in tow, we were prepared to fill them to the brim.The festival includes everything garden, not just plants.  These gourd planters were among the most creative things I saw.Love these little birds -- I keep thinking I want one hanging in my garden and wish I'd gotten one now that I see my picture!And then there are the beautiful gardens -- being surrounded by all the…

• Plants that love cool spring evenings...

  Diana

  27 Mar 2013 | 5:20 am

  While Euryops (Euryops pectinatus), or yellow bush daisy, struggles through the dog days of summer here in Central Texas - it bursts forth with perky little blooms when nights and days are cooler here in late fall and early spring.  In this raised bed with good soil, this one is in its third year -- done with sleeping and creeping and leaping into a beautiful plant.  In addition to being showy right now, it's clearly working hard to compete with the monster Franzosinii agave.  And with a mature height of 4-6 feet, it will likely soon have to find a new home somewhere else in…

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  The Transplantable Rose

• Garden Bloggers Bloom Day May 2013

  Annie in Austin

  16 May 2013 | 2:56 pm

  This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.The May garden has few surprises, but unexpectedly cool nights, days under 90°F  and some rain in the last month have made the garden look greener than usual. Funny thing - although the rain wasn't heavy enough to refill the reservoirs and it didn't sink deep enough for the trees and shrubs, there was enough near the surface to pump up the grass paths around the Trapezoid Walk. In other years the daylilies have been in full swing by mid-May. In this odd year, the passalong dwarf daylily 'Vi's Apricot' has some…

• A Chilly January GBBD with Foliage Added

  Annie in Austin

  17 Jan 2013 | 12:39 am

  May Dreams Carol started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in February 2007 and I joined in right away. Sometimes I've skipped a few months and sometimes I put a list on Annie's Addendum without a post. A funny thing happened... taking bloom photos around the 15th of the month has become a habit. Even when there was no post or list on the blog, it's quite likely that I have taken pictures, images stored in a file, ready to inform and remind me what happened that month. The weather has been chilly for Austin - not unreasonably cold but with enough freezing nights to knock off tender plants. I wasn't…

• Grandma Anna's Pfeffernusse

  Annie in Austin

  19 Nov 2012 | 4:45 pm

  This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.  When I was a child, my grandmother made pfeffernusse cookies. My younger brother liked them better than I did, but he also liked licorice - which I hated. Anise may not be quite the same as licorice, but the flavors and scents were similar enough to turn me off. And pfeffenusse were hard! No wonder the nickname was Pepper Nuts. Adults liked them with coffee but the children preferred chocolate chip cookies.  We didn't have the recipe after Grandma Anna died so my mom tried recipes from cookbooks and the kind…

• Blue Clerodendons & Pecans for November GBBD

  Annie in Austin

  14 Nov 2012 | 10:57 pm

           This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.Our Austin gardens have flirted with Jack Frost a few times, in the hours just before dawn on clear dark nights, but Mr. Frost has not yet done the deed. The Forsythia Sage/Salvia madrensis still spreads her blossoms unmolested in the big front bed. One Blue Butterfly Clerodendron cavorted with a Mutabilis rose a few weeks ago but their romance faded as the sun's angle changed and the shade from our two pecan trees deepened. The rose stopped blooming and the Blue…

• It's Good to See You Again

  Annie in Austin

  22 Aug 2012 | 12:59 pm

   Written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog The ground is already covered in leaves and twigs and pecan husks so that August looks like Autumn, but the days are still hot. An inch-and-a-half of rain last weekend brought a few surprises this week, including flowers that were not seen last summer.One clump of Schoolhouse/Oxblood lilies in the front woodland/seep garden is in bloom - and the flowers are Rose-red instead of dark red. This is the earliest date yet for these bulbs, which usually come in September.  A few flowers opened the expected Oxblood color in…

• 

  Kiss my Aster!

• Seed ba-bomb: misfire!

  Kiss My Aster!

  27 Apr 2013 | 7:51 am

  I left some freshly-made, wet seed bombs in my car all week with something on top of them so they couldn't air dry... So basically a nice greenhouse environment. Oh well, these wont go to waste. I know just the spot...

• We Can Dress Real Neat From Our Hats To Our Feet...

  Kiss My Aster!

  24 Apr 2013 | 8:08 am

  I figure it shows my age that I made this, but hey. It shows your age if you like it. So I took a shot...

• When the flood waters recede...

  Kiss My Aster!

  18 Apr 2013 | 3:12 pm

  Gifts left by Mother Nature Bells are mine, teeth are a "gift"

• New post at FineGardening.com

  Kiss My Aster!

  15 Apr 2013 | 11:10 am

  It took me long enough. I think I just survived my midlife crisis so the blog post should be coming more fast and more furious for now on.... New post right here.

• Product Review: Grow Your Own Flamingo

  Kiss My Aster!

  4 Apr 2013 | 8:26 am

  This really happened. 600%? My SuperBirki....

• 

  Mr. McGregor's Daughter

• Photo of the Week: Arisaema triphyllum

  11 May 2013 | 5:08 pm

  The stripes on the unfurling jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) grabbed my attention. Even though I've seen Arisaema thousands of times, this was the first time I really paid attention to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Mmmm...Magnolia

  7 May 2013 | 1:48 pm

  How I love my Magnolia stellata* in the spring, there's nothing else quite like it. Big, multi-petalled fragrant blooms, white with pink at the base create an extravagant display... except when they... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• What Wildflowers Want

  27 Apr 2013 | 6:47 pm

  Hepatica nobilis var. acutaIt sounds like a no-brainer, grow wildflowers, all you have to do is plant them and stand back. If only it were that easy. But just because a plant is indigenous to your... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Surprising Paperwhite Science Experiment Results

  24 Apr 2013 | 9:25 am

  Well, the results are in (actually they've been in for awhile), and I must say both the boy and I were pleasantly surprised. From the beginning to the end, the results have been dramatic. As can be... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• April '13 Bloom Day

  15 Apr 2013 | 9:50 am

  Helleborus x hybridusHappy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens! This is a special Bloom Day for me, as today is the 20th anniversary of living here at Squirrelhaven.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• 

  My Skinny Garden

• On Buying Ugly Chairs Then Wanting To Run Away From Home

  4 May 2013 | 11:19 am

  Please have a seat in the lobby and I'll be right with you. Oh wait, that's my living room! Here's a design tip I learned today. If you are thinking of purchasing any piece of furniture and you find yourself sending urgent emails to decorators, posting pictures on social networks asking all your friends and family to please help you decide if you should buy it, you shouldn't buy it! In these chairs' defense, they are in impeccable condition. The ad said they were high end chairs with high end fabric and I believe it. They seem brand new. But my God! Please send me back to earlier this morning…

• White Thrift Store Sofa

  30 Apr 2013 | 7:17 am

  Since I have nothing to say about gardening these days I thought I'd show you a picture of my new thrift store sofa. $250 from Brown Elephant thrift store in Andersonville. I am so in love with it that it's actually embarrassing. It's old and white and long, 96 inches. 96! It was built in the 30's by a Chicago Furniture maker called Homer Brothers which was started in 1912 by 5 Russian immigrant brothers and closed sometime in the 90's. One day I'll tell you the story about how this sofa entered my life but today I am just thankful to have it. But I'm also kind of terrified of it. I've never…

• Learn To Take Better Pictures: I'm Taking a Photography e-Course!

  7 Aug 2012 | 6:30 pm

  Finally! Somebody has come up with the perfect way to teach me how to take great pictures! I'm super excited that my friend Katie is conducting an online photography course she calls "Photo Mojo". The six week course will include easy to understand explanations of the settings on your camera, simple picture taking projects and a flickr group where we'll all upload our pictures so that Katie can make comments and recommendations on what were doing right as well as how we can improve our shots. I am so in love with this idea! I want to take great pictures but I don't want to go sit in some…

• Troy-Bilt Reel Mower Contest Winner!

  15 Jul 2012 | 9:29 pm

  Congrats to Annie in Austin who won the 18" Troy-Bilt Reel Mower and a selection of gardening tools. I hope you love it, Annie!

• Giveaway: Troy-bilt Reel Mower and Hand Tools

  4 Jul 2012 | 8:36 am

  You can't get more environmentally friendly than a reel mower when it comes to cutting grass, right? This morning a person I'm connected with on Facebook posted that she was sure her neighbors were going to hate her because she was about to cut her grass at 8:00 am. I have a battery powered electric mower that's pretty darn quiet but my neighbor uses a reel mower which makes zero noise with zero emissions. I love these mowers for their retro look and earth friendliness so I'm super excited to be able to give one away this week. Being able to give readers a chance to get free gardening…

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  Our Little Acre

• One Flower's Point of View

  Kylee Baumle

  17 May 2013 | 8:39 am

  In light of yesterday's post, this strip from The Other Coast by Adrian Raeside presents an interesting point of view... (Click to enlarge)

• Forcing Myself to Enjoy the Flowers

  Kylee Baumle

  16 May 2013 | 8:30 pm

  You must think the title of this post is strange. I mean, what kind of gardener has to force herself to enjoy flowers? Well, it isn't that hard for me to enjoy them; in fact, I enjoy them a little too much - in my gardens. I'm one of those people who has a hard time cutting flowers and bringing them inside. I've tried to figure out why this is so difficult for me to do and it's pretty simple, really. I enjoy seeing plants and flowers in their natural environment. Not that our flowers grow naturally in well-defined spaces that suit our tastes, but natural in the sense that the blooms are still…

• Wordless Wednesday: Tree Peony 'Shimanishiki'

  Kylee Baumle

  15 May 2013 | 8:30 pm

  Seen in the Smiley Park Children's Garden in Van Wert, OH... Paeonia suffruticosa 'Shimanishiki'

• Lowe's Creative Ideas: A Rainbow of Color For a Partly Shady Garden - and a Deck!

  Kylee Baumle

  14 May 2013 | 8:30 pm

  Our average last frost date here at Our Little Acre in northwest Ohio is May 15th, but it's been a long time since we've had a frost that late. This year, spring has taken its sweet time getting here, although we've had some nice weather here and there. Frost two nights in a row this week didn't make some things in the garden very happy - the gardener either. My April Lowe's Creative Ideas project is just a bit late, due to the cold weather and a lot of rain.  It's hard to plant in mud. But finally, we got it completed!  Sometimes I dream a little too big.  But I'm a…

• Perky-Pet® Bird Feeder - NO SQUIRRELS!

  Kylee Baumle

  7 May 2013 | 1:08 pm

  Thankfully, we aren't bothered by squirrels trying to eat at our bird feeders here at Our Little Acre.  It's not that we don't have squirrels, because we do.  We even had one in our house once.  (THAT was fun.)  But for some reason, they keep to the big oak tree in the front yard and the smaller nearby maple. Mmmm!  Acorns! We think it's probably the herd of cats we have that discourages them from coming closer to the house, although undoubtedly the squirrels would win if they were to stage an invasion of the turf that our cats consider to be theirs.  We also…

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  Our Twenty Minute Kitchen Garden

• Serviceberry Tree in Bloom

  Jardinier

  21 May 2013 | 1:00 pm

  Here is the serviceberry tree at the height of bloom. That picture was taken on May 5th, and the blooms are now gone. Still, it’s a lovely tree, very graceful and shady. I’m checking it every day for progress because, as previously noted, this year we’re getting the berries. Related posts: Name The Bloom ...some lovely blossoms and blooms have made an appearance lately... Reasons to garden: Hope Last summer, we planted a stick in our front yard–... On the lookout for the berries Last summer was a disappointing season for Michigan fruits in...

• On the lookout for the berries

  Jardinier

  20 May 2013 | 11:25 am

  Last summer was a disappointing season for Michigan fruits in many ways. We had a early warm spell followed by a killing frost that wiped out most of our Michigan apples. Our own teenage apple tree might have been ready to come into its own and produce a crop, but the weather made sure that [...] Related posts: Black Raspberry Harvest ...one unfortunate issue in the timing of the ripening of... Black Raspberries: A Taste of Things to Come The black raspberries are almost ripe. We are watching the... Tucked in for Winter "...We're supposed to get a few more inches before Santa's...

• 5 Tips on how to shop for a garden in 20 minutes

  Jardinier

  18 May 2013 | 6:17 am

  If you want to put a small vegetable garden in your yard today, it can be done. Let’s say your ground is prepared and you are ready to go– all you need is some plants. You could spend a leisurely Saturday wandering around various garden centers or the Farmers’ Market, but maybe you’ve got a [...] Related posts: Plant an (almost) Instant Kitchen Garden this Weekend Maybe this was the year you planned to have a... Six Tips for Planting Roses The theme of our gardens is, broadly speaking, growing what... 3 tips for making progress in the garden when there is “a thousand things…

• Thoughts on Earth Day: 6 Simple Changes to Celebrate the Earth

  20 Minute Jan

  22 Apr 2013 | 8:30 am

  When I was a kid back at Oxford Elementary in Dearborn Michigan, the annual Clean Up Parade in the spring was one of the high points of the school year. Seriously. We made float and signs and costumes and marched through the neighborhood encouraging people to “Clean Up, Fix Up, Paint Up.” Everything was simpler [...] Related posts: Cleaning Cast Iron Cookware: Salt Method Few clean-up activities will make you feel like a genuine... 20 Minute Clean-Up ...meaningful work can actually be accomplished in 20 minutes segments......

• Whither Spring?

  20 Minute Jan

  21 Apr 2013 | 3:39 pm

  “The daffodils in the yard sprouted and bloomed… and were nipped by the hard frost we’ve had the last two nights. They’re lying down as if taking a nap while wearing their party dresses, grins on their bright yellow faces.” –An excerpt from a letter by 20MinuteJim describing this particular spring in Michigan to our [...] Related posts: Rhubarb and Forcing Spring I knew they’d arrive soon and the other day, I... Rites of spring gardening like cleaning-up and shredding leaves The past weekend saw us dashing into the yard between... Spring ahead on next…

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  The Gardens of Petersonville

• Sprinkler Head (Aches)

  Sheila

  20 May 2013 | 8:53 am

  This has been the story of my spring - leaking sprinkler heads! I can't count how many we have replaced this year and every time I turn around there is another one! My sprinkler expert suspects it is caused by a plumber that installed an overflow valve at the property line last fall and didn't properly flush the system when he was done, resulting in lots of dirt and debris making it to the sprinkler heads and clogging them up. In Southern California we rely on our underground sprinklers to keep everything alive, especially in dry years like this one. I am hoping we won't have anymore problems…

• A Front Door Feast

  Sheila

  16 May 2013 | 7:46 am

   I must admit one of the favorite parts of my gardens is the small area right outside my front door in SJC. It was a small patch of grass when we moved in which I promptly ripped out and planted a birch tree. The color scheme in this area is one of my preferred - purple, chartreuse,  and gold. Roses, iris, euphorbia, heliotrope, hardy geraniums, flax, status, lavender and many other annuals in addition to background shrubs, grasses and annuals make it a feast for my eyes and nose.

• Beverly and Abraham

  Sheila

  14 May 2013 | 1:01 pm

  Two of my favorite things about this time of year - 'Abraham Darby' roses and 'Beverly Sills' iris. If my gardens had only these two beauties I would be a happy woman, at least for the spring!

• Easy, But So Pretty

  Sheila

  11 May 2013 | 10:00 am

  I'm sure everyone has a spot like this in their garden. One that is almost no-maintenance, but makes them smile every time they walk by, at least for most of the year. This is one of those spots for me. Two native-ish plants that are drought tolerant and reseed easily every year. The pink ones are Mexican evening primroses (oenothera speciosa) and the little daisies are Santa Barbara daisies (erigeron karvinskianus) although I have seen many other common names for both of these plants in different parts of the country. They can be invasive in small gardens, so either plant them in a contained…

• My Secret Clematis

  Sheila

  9 May 2013 | 8:12 am

  Things don't always turn out as planned in any garden. I had planted this pretty white clematis vine an a wire obelisk in a new flower bed I had dug out in the Moonlight Garden when we first moved in to the SJC house. As my vision for the area clarified, I modified the bed and created a path and seating area in the middle of it that winter, while the clematis was dormant. I had forgotten about it, although I doubt I would have attempted to move it since they have such delicate stems and roots. The determined vine not only survived, but blooms like crazy along the ground behind the seating…

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  The Blogging Nurseryman by Trey Pitsenberger

• How will you compete with this?

  Trey Pitsenberger

  23 May 2013 | 7:47 am

  We talked a couple of days ago about, “The Day Your Supplier Sells Direct to The Customer”.  It was about the inevitability that some of our suppliers will sell direct to the public, rather than using the traditional  sales chain of wholesale, to … Continue reading →

• Where do you fit in?

  Trey Pitsenberger

  22 May 2013 | 8:28 am

  Does that customer buy all their gardening goods from you? Some customers do, but I think the majority buy some of their gardening supplies from you, but also spread their gardening dollar around to other businesses. When a customer shops … Continue reading →

• The day your supplier sells direct to the customer

  Trey Pitsenberger

  21 May 2013 | 8:50 am

  The day the vendor you have bought from for so many years starts selling direct to the public, what will you do? Don’t think it will happen? Remember all those wholesale nurseries that promised to only sell to Independent Garden … Continue reading →

• The British are worried about horticulture

  Trey Pitsenberger

  18 May 2013 | 8:50 am

  It appears the British are concerned because, “research has suggested that many teenagers believe careers in the sector (horticulture) are for those who have failed academically.” According to The BBC, “72% of horticulture firms cannot find skilled workers, with teens viewing … Continue reading →

• Avoiding the real work

  Trey Pitsenberger

  17 May 2013 | 8:45 am

  Here is a great 20 minute video from Seth Godins recent talk at Creative Mornings/New York. The key takeaways for me. Most people who are over using the social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook are doing so in an … Continue reading →

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  Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping blog

• Terra Nova made runner up in Good Times poll and Gold in the Santa Cruz Weekly readers poll in the same month! Thank you Santa Cruz!

  ken

  2 May 2013 | 8:38 am

  We are very honored to receive these two acknowledgements from our community. Thank you Santa Cruz!                                  

• IF you want to have your voice heard on this issue Please join us at the Leaf Blower Task Force Santa Cruz Meeting Thursday, April 25th, 3:00PM at the Ecology Action meeting room.

  ken

  22 Apr 2013 | 8:27 pm

• Terra Nova Wins Gold In Santa Cruz Weekly readers poll!

  ken

  3 Apr 2013 | 3:44 pm

• Terra Nova’s check list to help assess the ecological health of a site.

  ken

  29 Mar 2013 | 10:13 am

  Ecological Landscape Management check list An ecologically healthy landscape   Soil Health How is the soil health over all? Compaction? Over or under watered? What % of organic matter is in soil ? Are leaves allowed to create natural mulch when possible? What type of soil is on site? Mycelium inoculation needed? What is the health of the Soil Food Web ? Jar soil test conducted? Is there a need for a soil test? Is there sufficient mulch to cover soil? Water management Irrigation controller schedule? Irrigation efficiency? Coverage uniform? Hydrozones? Is the irrigation plant appropriate?

• Ken’s ride to the Eco Farm Conference 2013.

  ken

  27 Jan 2013 | 7:01 pm

  A photo essay of Ken’s ride to the annual Eco Farm Conference. Terra Nova owner Ken Foster is on the planning committee for the conference and has ridden his bike there since the year 2000. Ken on his thirteenth ride from Santa Cruz to the Eco Farm Conference in Pacific Grove. A few sights along the way: a couple of heritage goats and swallow nests under a bridge. Amigo Bob Cantisano, the founder of the Eco Farm Conference. Josiah Raison Cain at a workshop that Ken moderated called Edible Architecture.   Some of Josiah’s projects.  A good crowd showed up for the Edible…

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  North Coast Gardening Blog

• Gardening Article: Creating a Critter-Friendly Garden

  North Coast Gardener

  22 May 2013 | 8:00 am

  Not all critters that may wander through your garden are bad. Some can actually benefit your garden by fertilizing flowers and plants, by keeping bad bugs away and by making your landscape more attractive. Cut down on your garden maintenance by planting flowers, shrubs and green plants that attract the right kind of animals to your garden. The Garden Guest List Where are several animals that get along well with garden plants, you may not enjoy having all of these creatures in your garden. Choose among species on the guest list for help keeping pests out of your garden, but don't feel like you…

• Gardening Article: Painting a Picture of Your Dream Garden

  North Coast Gardener

  15 May 2013 | 8:00 am

  Most gardeners and even aspiring green thumbs have fanciful visions of what their dream garden would look like. Without the constraints of cost, space and a lack of free time, most gardeners would adore fleshing out their current space into something fit to be a photographer's muse. But it's those constraints that force gardeners to pick and choose what’s most important — or so they may think. While some limits are hard to overcome, creativity goes a long way in the garden. Colors, plant combinations, foliage types and other factors can all be manipulated to change your garden space and…

• The LAShop - Patio Furniture Wood Market Umbrella Review

  North Coast Gardener

  8 May 2013 | 8:00 am

  The LAShop.com was kind enough to send me a sample of their outdoor furniture to review. I chose their Wood Market Umbrella for the review. The LAShop.com sells a wide variety of unique and quality products, including a number of outdoor and gardening products at great prices. I received the Wood Market Umbrella via UPS, it was packaged in a long box covered in plastic and securly wrapped. When opening the package the Wood Market Umbrella was in excellent shape, the material was sturdy and the green color was the same as the photos of the product online. The wood pole was made of heavy wood,…

• Deer Resistant Groundcovers

  North Coast Gardener

  1 May 2013 | 8:00 am

  Republished from my blog gardeningbytes.com. Deer will eat just about anything if they are hungry enough, so be prepared to see nibbles on your plants if food is scare. Here are some plants and shrubs that will help keep the deer from being interested in eating them. Low growing heathers are a good choice because they always look good with only a trim of old flowers off the stems, they tend to be strong growing shrubs. Kramer’s Rote is a beautiful green leaf heather with abundant pink and cream flowers that looks good all year long and grows about a foot tall and twice as wide. Catnip may…

• Time for Trimming in the Spring Garden

  North Coast Gardener

  24 Apr 2013 | 8:00 am

  We've been able to get out in the garden over the past few weeks and mowed the overgrown lawn. I did some trimming of the fuchsias in the back yard; these two-toned pink fuchsias grow really big and are covered with flowers during the summer months. My heather barrel near the dining room window is doing well; the heathers seem to be full-sized finally and are just the right size for the barrel. There have been some blooms but I'm hoping they will bloom better this coming year. The barrel in the back yard near the parking pad where our car is parked has herbs and heathers in it. Unfortunately…

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  Garden Porn

• May in the Pina Colada garden

  Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle

  5 May 2013 | 7:47 pm

• 12 Apr 2013 | 5:21 pm

  Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle

  12 Apr 2013 | 5:21 pm

  Modern Exterior by Washington Architect WNUK SPURLOCK ArchitectureLandscape Design by Michelle Derviss Landscape Design

• Gardens by the Bay in Singapore

  Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle

  27 Jun 2012 | 8:00 am

  A preview of 'Gardens by the Bay' in Singapore - two weeks until we leave on our trip.

• Pacific Orchid Expo

  Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle

  26 Feb 2012 | 10:44 pm

  The Pacific Orchid Expo hit San Francisco this past weekend.Lots of beautiful orchids .The San Francisco Bromeliad Society was invited to install a display table top garden and to have a sales booth.I just got home from packing up the show ... I'm bushed.Here are a few photos of the display garden that several members of the club worked on. From bromeliad table-scapeFrom bromeliad table-scapeFrom bromeliad table-scapeEntrance vignette to the show : it was in celebration of the golden gate bridgeFrom bromeliad table-scapeFrom bromeliad table-scapeOne of the orchid exhibitsFrom bromeliad…

• Mock ups for the upcoming Garden Show in S.F.

  Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle

  6 Feb 2012 | 2:34 pm

  Slowing chipping away at building the modular units for the upcoming S.F. Garden show that is opening its doors to the public in late March.The space that I am working within is a tiny 4x8 area. There will be about 8 or 10 of these spaces and they are being called " Small Space Gardens".The basic layout :3 boxes - A plinth for the buddha, a 2x6 planter and a small water basin.From 2012 garden showA preliminary planting mock up using plants from my container garden collection :From 2012 garden showThere will be a simple overhead arbor that I will hang tillandsias from and mount some lighting…

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  Am I Bugging You Yet?

• More on Pomegranates

  vanessa cardui

  17 May 2013 | 10:16 am

  Since winter the state of my pomegranate tree (Punica granatum 'Nana') has improved.  The majority of its leaves are healthy and uncurled by the pomegranate leafroll mites (aceria granati) that I assume have been the cause of deformed leaves and greatly reduced plant vigor for the past several years.  The tree is also full of flowers and buds, many more than last spring.  So clearly the tree is doing better and has energy to pump into flower production.What happened?  Since I haven't treated the tree with insect- or miticides, I think the chief player in mite control…

• Borage: Two Views

  vanessa cardui

  5 May 2013 | 11:00 am

  Borago officinalis is pretty photogenic. In color. Desaturated.Or saturated in gin, I hear.  Need to try that someday.

• Swarm

  vanessa cardui

  4 May 2013 | 2:25 pm

  There's a spot in our driveway-- just east of the fence, under the overhanging melaleuca branches, north of the neighbor's camellia trees and above the disused spray rig, trashcans and miscellaneous detritus --where small flies gather at sunset and swarm.I think they look really cool glowing in the angled sunlight.  Is it the sunlight bouncing off the tree branches or the fence top that is their swarm marker?Their behavior resembles the description on of Dance Flies on bugguide see excerpt below.  Yeah, I should net one or two of them and attempt to identify.

• Spring, with a Side Order of Juan's Aeonium

  vanessa cardui

  4 Apr 2013 | 4:17 pm

  This is actually Daughter of Juan's Aeonium (Aeonium arboreum): a cutting from the original plant which flowered this spring.  The mother plant also flowered; it seems like an every other year or so event with this plant.Anyway the honeybees are glad because they seem to love these flowers that appear to be rich in nectar.Other buggies enjoying the aeonium are carpet beetles (Anthrenum verbasci) feeding on flower parts.  Remember, the larvae of these beetles are the potential pest since they feed on animal fibers such as wool (hence the common name) but also spider web.  But…

• Chair-lotte's Web?

  vanessa cardui

  2 Apr 2013 | 7:54 am

  I found an unusual web on the back of a patio chair the other day.Some Chair!The chair, which I am planning to restrap, was stored in a back room indoors.  When we brought it out into the light, the web was revealed.  I couldn't find a spider in residence, though there were a few small (+/- .25") shed spider skins and some dessicated prey.I also haven't been able to find any image of a web that resembles this, especially the double-strand zigzag motif.  Aside from the fictional weavings of Charlotte, the closest thing is images of the webs of drugged spiders, part of a couple…

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  Skippy's Vegetable Garden

• pear blossoms for mother's day

  kathy

  12 May 2013 | 6:42 am

• working on my community garden plot

  kathy

  11 May 2013 | 7:50 pm

  I would have taken "before" photos of my plot, but I was overwhelmed looking at it this morning. I knew how late I was getting it in shape and how much should be done. After accomplishing a day's work, I'm now enjoying the "after" photos. It was a drizzly day. I weeded, transplanted rogue strawberry plants, moved salt marsh hay from beds to paths, set up a tomato pole, screened compost and turned it in under a couple beds, top-dressed my asparagus bed, transplanted onion seedlings and dahlias tubers. I didn't get to everything: lettuce and cabbage seedlings need to go in and more compost is…

• Juha's challenge

  kathy

  11 May 2013 | 10:43 am

  Juha is a new gardener who lives in Finland. A couple weeks ago we helped him by recommending gardening books for a beginner. Not being so familiar with gardening books myself, I gave him this advice, ... messing it up is a way of learning, as long as you don’t get disappointed. And there are many ways to grow every food crop. You may find a new one that works best for you by just getting into the dirt and trying. Most important is soil preparation, water and sunlight. Make sure your location has full sunlight. Mark it off. (If there is a chance it has toxins in the soil, like lead from…

• rainy day

  kathy

  9 May 2013 | 6:09 pm

  Its a rainy day. The garden is soaking it up. I'm inside looking out and admiring. All of the beds are read to go. Little trays of seedlings are waiting for transplanting. The fig tree has been re-potted to a bigger pot. Tulips are fading, small iris in full bloom, and summer perennials growing fast.

• compost screen

  kathy

  5 May 2013 | 6:44 pm

  My husband made me a compost screen today. It is a big frame that fits nice on top of a wheelbarrow. The mesh is made from doubled chicken wire. I've seen many ways to make a compost screen. The main thing is that the wire mesh is well supported by a frame and the mesh size is not too small. Over the years, my compost bins have been accumulating things that don't compost so well (branches, avocado seeds, Christmas trees, oyster shells, plastic plant labels...) Instead of returning them to the bin this year, they went into the trash. We screened about 10 wheelbarrows full of fresh compost and…

• 

  A Garden Journal Diary of Ilona's Garden

• The Big Chill: It was a Late Spring

  Ilona E

  16 May 2013 | 11:58 am

  Wall flowers from flower mix planted last year As I write this I still have heat on, a fire in the woodstove, although we are promised a summer-like, near-eighty degree temperature today. I covered my basil and the container plantings the last couple days against the frost warnings. Even for Ohio, this fluctuation in temperature is a little untoward. I went to a plant sale last weekend that turned out to be quite disappointing for me. I overpaid for two weak, tiny pepper plants and didn't get any of the heritage/heirloom tomatoes I was hoping for; however, my husband and I went ahead and…

• Do You Grow Herbs? 10 Reasons To Love Them

  Ilona E

  14 Apr 2013 | 8:27 am

  My Lavender Walk  There are so many ways to enjoy herb plants, that they are not for herb gardens only. I do I enjoy thee? Oh, Herb, Let me count the ways! In companion plantings, herbs often repel harmful organisms through their volatile oils. Delicious when culinary herb choices are grown in the garden. Herbs make delightful bouquets, either alone or mixed into your favorite flowers. Tussie Mussie, anyone? They are usually easy to grow. Their soft coloring, whether in foliage or flower, make garden color harmony. Herbs smell heavenly. You can make crafts out of them. You can grow them…

• Do You Think Of Your Garden Journal As A Tool?

  Ilona E

  10 Apr 2013 | 8:48 am

  Source: heartofwisdom.com via Robin on Pinterest  If someone mentions the basic garden tools that every gardener should have, they tell you about hoes, trowels, shovels, and weeding tools, but how many list a garden journal? It is relegated to garden paraphernalia; peripherals for most gardeners, an after-thought jotted on forgotten notebooks. That is how I thought of a garden journal for years. That is, until my ironclad memory for trivia and detail began to fail me. Names of favorite bulbs I'd planted or even where I planted them, a particular cultivar of perennial that I was sure I…

• Spring Flip Flops

  Ilona E

  9 Apr 2013 | 11:54 am

  I'm not talking about the shoes, but about the weather and also my ability to get things done. I have been writing, and one of the things I wrote was a Squidoo lens on Making Fairy Houses. And ever since I keep thinking about putting together at least one, and possibly more Fairy Houses, which inpired me to do some collecting while out on a much needed walk in the park. If you live in Ohio you know that it has been a cool spring, but on my walk and today it has been actually hot. Hot as in near 70 degrees when I was at the park, and today.... when I should be outside, but have a million…

• Great Garden Blog Reading

  Ilona E

  15 Mar 2013 | 8:22 am

  Photo credit: SarahBelham from morguefile.com  Here are some great garden blogs and websites for you to visit and enjoy. Some you may know already, and some may be new to you.  A Sense of Place Green Forks Balcony Gardener The Sage Butterfly Eli's Place Grow It Eat It Blog Do you like cottage gardens? I love them, and Pam's English Cottage Garden located in the Poconos is just the blog that will delight us with her animals, and cottage flowers. A side note: So many garden blogs are begun in earnest and then left. It is like a metaphor of many a garden plot. Not everyone is suited…

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  Gardener to Farmer

• Everyday Roses and The Four Seasons Farm Gardener's Cookbook

  Jean Ann Van Krevelen

  1 May 2013 | 8:07 am

  The past few days have been warm and sunny, here in Chicagoland. But the rain is supposed to start tomorrow and go on for a few days. So, I've decided that now is the perfect time to review a couple of the books I've received this spring: Everyday Roses by Paul Zimmerman and The Four Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook by Coleman and Damrosch. Let me start by saying that Paul Zimmerman is a new client of mine, I give him a little marketing advice now and then. So, it's only natural that I would want to read and review his book. And though you might think me biased, I truly do love Everyday Roses.

• Container Gardening Ideas

  Jean Ann Van Krevelen

  5 Apr 2013 | 7:52 am

  You know from previous posts that I am someone who loves to use unusual containers for my patio garden. It's not that I don't have plenty of traditional garden pots, I do. But I LOVE to scour the thrift shops in search of vessels for my veggies. Obviously, there are green benefits to reusing and recycling materials to create planters. But it is also a great way to push your creative limits and to create lists and lists of container gardening ideas. Roaming the isles of the second-hand store is much more thought provoking than staring at endless rows of multi-colored plastic pots. Not to…

• Vegetable Garden Planners

  Jean Ann Van Krevelen

  8 Mar 2013 | 12:24 pm

  Getting started with a new vegetable garden is a bit intimidating. There are vegetable garden planners and other tools that you can use to help you get started. But before I talk about those, I want to bring up a couple of things to keep in mind. First, whatever size you think you want your garden to be, divide that in half. More often than not, new gardeners underestimate the amount of work that goes in to an edible garden. Second, be realistic about your goals. If this is your first attempt, you probably won't be able to provide for your family's veggie needs strictly from what you grow.

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  Bananas.org

• Help

  NewbieNanar

  23 May 2013 | 9:17 pm

  Hello my name is Tiffany and I am a proud new owner of a grand nain banana tree. Well the place sold a 2 pack for twenty five bucks. So i took one and gave one to a friend. I live in Illinois and our hardiness zone is a 5-6. I decided to plant it in a pot so I would not have to winterize the tree. My plant is flourishing even though I am clueless about plants. I have about 9 beautiful leaves and is almost two feet tall. My leaves are growing like bananas lol. Anyways I am learning along the way the things he likes and dislikes because the leaves shrivel up when he is discontented. With that…

• Good Water Article

  servatusprime

  23 May 2013 | 2:07 pm

  Not sure if this has been posted before, but I found this article about banana irrigation very informative. (not that I can judge critically as an expert) I thought I would share. Thanks. FAO - Water Development and Management Unit - Information Resources - CD-Roms

• Abyssinian question

  blownz281

  23 May 2013 | 12:54 pm

  Bought a small plant last year and planted it where it would receive sun almost all day.Put out a few years after like two months. Then was kinda a dud. Dug for storage and found fire ants nest in the roots. Got rid of them and wintered stored it with light and it stayed above 60 all the time. Wasn't really happy,started watering it more and grew really great then stopped and looked crappy again. It's been sitting in the yard now planted in a new spot for months and still not taking off. Think it was a tc plant as the grower I got it from gets others as plugs,so figure the same with this. All…

• My banana Tree

  lifadely

  23 May 2013 | 6:11 am

  Hello, Just started my first ever banana plant, i live in Palmetto Florida, it appears to be doing well. Have water going to it once a day and feed every week. Its a Ice Cream Banana and i have been told it is one of the best.

• Red streaks in young dwarf brazillian?

  Cocoa Beach Jason

  23 May 2013 | 5:27 am

  I ordered a dwarf brazillian tc pup on the net. I received my pup in good condition. The pup had a few red streaks in the leaves similar to a zebrina. Is this not a dwarf brazillian or can they have red in the leaves when young? Thanks.

• 

  Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel

• The Bright Side of Gloomy Garden Days: Better Color Photos

  2 May 2013 | 7:59 am

  Container hosta nestled between nepeta and Japanese painted ferns,growing beneath a tree-form Encore® Azalea. May 2013 Gloomy. Misty. Chilly. Where do I live? Not Seattle. North Carolina is having a cool spring. To find a bright side to this weather, I walked in the garden with the camera. Colors show true in photos when the skies are overcast. On a typical, bright sunny morning in my south-facing garden, it is difficult to catch the true bloom colors as the rays of the sun cast a yellow-orange glow. I compared the two conditions in this photo post in 2009. So, I'll stop complaining about…

• Weeded, Mulched and Waiting for Blooms in the Cottage Garden

  28 Apr 2013 | 7:50 am

  The cottage garden, bare compared to previous springs,  is ready and waiting for blooms. April 27, 2013. Any complaints about the weather where you garden? The cool temperatures, while delaying the blooms, provided the perfect weather for preparing the garden. I don't feel as rushed this year and gardening has been more enjoyable. It isn't ninety degrees already. Sixty and seventy degree weather could be worse as other parts of the country have been flooded and experienced late snows. Looking at photos from 2006-2012, peak spring bloom in the cottage garden happened in the first week of…

• Easy, Safe Way to Carry a Phone in the Garden

  12 Apr 2013 | 5:20 pm

  Losing or breaking my iPhone while in the garden has been a concern when I carried it in my back pocket. Turns out, a travel accessory that I've had for ten years turned out to be the perfect way to carry my cell phone and seed packets in the garden. My undercover travel pouch keeps my phone handy, dry and free from dirt. Mine is old enough to be made of nylon and has three compartments (intended for a passport, foreign currency, etc.). Newer styles are typically in silk and I have one of those, but decided the nylon is easer to wipe off. Made to wear around the neck, I wear the pouch in a…

• The Orange Garden

  22 Feb 2013 | 7:27 pm

  It's not a secret. I'm not embarrassed by it. I have an orange section in the deer resistant garden—seldom mentioned on the blog because it's so darn difficult to photograph the plantings together as one unified design. When one bloom looks great, another is declining. Orientation: To the left of the plants in the photo below, is the red and white garden seen here. The yellow St John's Wort divides the two color themed gardens. Not because I planned it that way, but because I didn't want to move this glorious shrub. Bees literally bathe in the pollen of the St John's blooms. It self-sows…

• The Deer Resistant Garden 2012 Review

  23 Jan 2013 | 7:59 am

  Deer resistant garden. May 2012. I've been gardening with my deer friends since September 2005 when we built our home. Deer resistance varies according to the availability of food in the wild and the population of both the deer and humans (new construction removes habitat).  My definition of deer resistance is this: If the deer nibble the plants, but the plants bounce back for my enjoyment in the bloom season, the plant passes the test. See that pretty Yucca 'Color Guard' in the photo above? The deer nip the tips in January and February when food is scarce. But the leaves recover and the…

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  North Coast Gardening

• Providing Water for Wildlife: How Not to Screw It up

  Genevieve

  21 May 2013 | 12:25 pm

  There’s little that irritates me more than going to the garden center and seeing an array of gorgeous, well-made bird baths that are all completely and utterly useless. It seems that the manufacturers of such things have never really researched or even given the most cursory amount of thought to what qualities a bird might actually like to see in a birdbath. It’s the same with ponds. Most commercially-available ponds have steep, slick sides which make the water tough to access and limit the pond’s value to wildlife. Since providing water is one of the easiest ways that you can not only…

• Monday Miscellany: Cost of Landscaping, Fave Shrubs, and Fine Landscape Maintenance

  Genevieve

  13 May 2013 | 12:15 am

  Springtime is always good for gardening, but it’s often not so great for finding rad articles around the web, since most of us gardeners are out and about actually gardening, rather than talking about it. I know that’s been the case for me! But a few sites have bucked the trend and put out some amazing stuff lately that’s been worthy of adding to my bookmarks list and Evernote stash. How much does backyard landscaping cost? Landscaping Network just put up a fantastic resource page about how much backyard landscaping will cost to have professionally installed. They have tabs across the…

• The Latest Gardening Apps for iPhone and Android

  Genevieve

  8 May 2013 | 12:05 am

  Since I joined the modern world in getting a smart phone last year, I’ve been on the lookout for great gardening apps that can help me explain landscape design ideas to clients, get plant ideas on the go, or just give me a productive way of killing time when I’m stuck in line at the post office. Unfortunately, my first forays into gardening apps turned up some shallow and disappointing picks – things that would be great for the weekend warrior crowd at Home Depot who want to know whether they should plant primroses or violas, but pretty useless for anyone who actually cares about…

• Grassy Favorites, New and Old

  Genevieve

  3 Apr 2013 | 9:02 pm

  While I won’t go so far as to recommend you take gardening advice from your cat, ornamental grasses comprise such a broadly useful array of plants for the landscape that it’s almost impossible to avoid falling in love with at least a few of them. Some are wispy and rustle in the wind, some are bold and sculptural, while others have a flowing appearance which softens the look of shrubs. New ornamental grasses are coming out every day, with exciting foliage colors, interesting forms, and improved vigor. I recently wrote to some of the growers involved in developing ornamental…

• A Public Service Announcement From Your Cats

  Genevieve

  25 Mar 2013 | 12:22 am

  Please plant more grasses. They are excellent to gnaw on:   Great for playing hide-and-pounce: And they provide the perfect vantage point from which to relax and survey our fine backyard: Also, once you fill our garden with grasses, you are not allowed to become cross with us for laying on them, even if a few blades get crushed. The grasses will recover; our injured dignity at being chided will not. Love, Your cats Photo credits: top kitty by dichohecho and last kitty by Wylie-Young. Middle kitty is my Tamir.

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  High Altitude Gardening

• Worldless Wednesdays ~ Slovenia

  22 May 2013 | 12:09 pm

  For more Wordless Wednesday participants click here!Follow @Kate_HAGardens

• Ciao Bella

  18 May 2013 | 1:13 am

  I'm a wee bit sad ~ to say good-bye to Italy. Such a beautiful country. Why must travel time fly by so quickly?But, I'm a lucky, lucky girl. To have seen this magical area in the first place and also to see it through the eyes of a local! I have a close friend who lives here. She met, and married, an Italian 6 years ago. Perhaps I should have been shopping for an Italian, instead of hanging out in the Rose Gardens! ;)I visited her in 2011. A dark time for me. My brother had passed away, very suddenly. And, I was having a tough time dealing with that. We were pretty close.Sarah wisely…

• To the Salt Mines... Literally!

  16 May 2013 | 7:00 am

  On my last night of our international sales meeting in Germany, we were treated to the most amazing thing.Deep below the Salzberg mountain is a working salt mine.It's been in operation since the 1500's. (I was educated to the fact that salt mines always 'employed' slaves, hence the reference to all of us working stiffs...) I dressed pretty sharp for this dinner. Which was a waste of time. Because they make you put on miner's suits!Then, you hop on a little train that takes you down into the salt mine..From there, we sailed across an underground lake in the near pitch dark. Next up! We use an…

• Wordless Wednesday: Pruning the Petunias

  15 May 2013 | 10:02 pm

  In South Tirol, ItalyFor more Wordless Wednesday participants click here!Follow @Kate_HAGardens

• The Hike to Cinderella

  13 May 2013 | 4:44 am

    Greetings from Bavaria! Where I have been working for the last week. {Seriously.} I freelance for a hiking boot company based in Germany and I was invited to their international sales meeting.I've been taking pictures all along the way and posting them to Facebook but Google won't let me do the same thing on the blog. So, today is catch up day for posting.It is soooo beautiful here! The weather is warm. The fragrance of bright, flowering trees fill the air. (Haven't a clue what they are ~ do you know?)English Daisies were popping up all over the place (perhaps they call them German…

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  Ewa in the Garden

• 15 photos of garden of Italy - Giardino Giusti in Verona

  23 May 2013 | 10:33 pm

  Italian Giusti family, owners of the palace of the sixteenth century, was given permission from the Emperor of Austria-Hungary to change their original family name to "Giusti del Giardino" due to the importance of gardens. Palace and Garden Giusti (Palazzo e Giardino Giusti) are located in the eastern part of Verona, a short distance from Piazza Isolo and close to the city center. When you are

• Vegetable Gardening For Beginners

  23 May 2013 | 1:20 pm

  There are infinite possible reasons for starting your own garden. For many, it's their love of the Earth and nature. For some, it is a resource to save money so that college tuition planning comes with less stress. For me, it's a lifestyle change. Better produce mixed with a little exercise and vitamin D makes for a healthier life and possibly a newly found green thumb. If you fall in any of

• Cute Green Living Walls Idea - Creative Clematis Planting

  21 May 2013 | 9:55 pm

  <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 21 false false false PL X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>

• 18 Best Garden Recycling Ideas - Hand Picked

  18 May 2013 | 8:30 pm

  It is never too much of garden recycling ideas, so I have prepared selection of great ideas and would like to share it with you. I hope you also like it. Under each photo there is a link to more photos, if you like to see or learn more.   Photo by Treasure Again Photo by  Gardening in a Minute  Photo by Diane Cordell  Hanging pallet, photo by pinprick  Photo by Gardening in a

• Hanging gardens found in silence...

  11 May 2013 | 1:25 pm

  I slowly went upstairs, walking around and wondering how truly skilled were those artists decorating rooms of Palazzo Ducale. Can you remember the last moment of immersing into different world and escaping from daily run of thoughts through your mind? That was the moment for me. There was nobody around. I heard my steps on beautifully decorated floors, bouncing from the walls of the empty rooms.

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  Your Small Kitchen Garden

• Rhubarb is Ready for Post Produce!

  Daniel Gasteiger

  21 May 2013 | 11:15 pm

  Rhubarb produces huge elephant-ear leaves on the ends of slender stalks. The plants naturally shade out undergrowth, so a rhubarb patch can do well with little more than occasional feeding. I try to rely on mulch to keep the soil rich, but rhubarb is happy to receive a generous helping of fertilizer in mid-spring. Rhubarb is in season! In most of my gardening years, this would be the earliest proclamation I’d make about harvest. Last year, instead, I wrote a sad story about three failures of my rhubarb crop. This year has been spectacularly “normal” climate-wise and the meager rhubarb…

• Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in Ithaca

  Daniel Gasteiger

  15 May 2013 | 10:35 pm

  For years, these grew densely among the periwinkles alongside our driveway. Now there are a few clumps of Lillies of the Valley just starting to blossom. I suspect mulching with compost for two or three years would dramatically revive these plants. I haven’t been home much in the past four months. My dad moved out of our family home and I’ve been in Ithaca making repairs and moving stuff out. I’m hoping to have the house ready to rent in June so a property manager can start showing it. All that to explain why I don’t know exactly what’s blooming in my garden. Still, I like to…

• You Can Grow Maple Trees

  Daniel Gasteiger

  5 May 2013 | 9:33 pm

  Maple leaves have such a distinctive shape that people in North America know what you mean when you say something is shaped like a maple leaf. My oldest son, when he was about five years old, collected four maple seeds and sprouted them in a Styrofoam cup. When my son Matthew was about five years old, he collected four maple seeds and planted them in a Styrofoam cup. The seeds produced four healthy seedlings and Matthew asked if we could plant them in the yard. Then we proceeded to try to kill them. Maple Seedlings on Vacation When the seedlings each had started producing leaves, we travelled…

• Dad’s Shovel

  Daniel Gasteiger

  2 May 2013 | 12:37 am

  I grabbed this shovel from my dad’s garage when I needed to dig in his yard. Using it brought back memories and gave me respect for the value of being able to “do it yourself.” Last week I needed a shovel to dig some holes at my dad’s house. As I had as a child, I found what I needed in the garage and went to work. Through an hour or so of digging, I put a huge load on the shovel’s handle. Repeatedly, I dug deep and pulled to pry soil and stones loose. The handle bent but it never cracked. It bent more than handles on my own shovels and garden forks when I dig in my vegetable…

• April 22, 2013 Post Produce: Almost There!

  Daniel Gasteiger

  22 Apr 2013 | 12:47 am

  These lettuce seedlings aren’t doing well under lights. My guess: the seed starting soil I used wasn’t very good. I bought a brick of starting soil at a nursery four years ago, and seeds I started in that have thrived. These lettuce seedlings are in soil I bought in Ithaca when I was desperate to get the growing season started. The seedlings will be far happier when I set them in the garden today or Tuesday. This month’s Post Produce isn’t about produce I’m eating from my garden. Rather, it’s about produce I WILL eat! We’re having a most “normal” spring in central…

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  Jennah's Garden

• Taking it slow.

  Jennah

  12 May 2013 | 6:03 am

  I’ve been not really in the mood for much of anything lately, hence my unfortunately negative recent blog posts and general viewpoint about the world. So I’m going to be taking it slow on the blog here for a while, and when I get around to it, I owe you a post about why my glass is very much half empty lately (hopefully written when it’s working on being half full). In the meantime, happy Mother’s Day to you all you wonderful mamas out there! I will also update Ainsley’s Weeklies soon – I have been taking them, I just need to get them up on here. You can…

• I love this house, but I hate it.

  Jennah

  1 May 2013 | 5:31 pm

  Allow me to complain for a bit. So I’ve been thinking this post in my head for a while, and then something happened. A blog I follow, Young House Love, revealed that they’d bought a new house. Ever since they moved into their current one about 3 years ago, I’ve been following along, jealous at all the things they are doing to it to make it their own and awesome and wonderful. Jealous because Sherri doesn’t have to bug John about changing the wall color again, because changing the wall color is LITERALLY their job and what they get paid for. Jealous because they get to…

• Lucy’s Canine Addison’s Disease Crisis

  Jennah

  22 Apr 2013 | 6:40 am

  (Forgive me for all the puppy and kitty pics in the post. Once you read, you’ll know why they’re there. Also, ugh I posted all these pics in the wrong size, but you can click each one for bigger until I go back and fix it.) We’ve had a rough few weeks here in the Jennah’s Garden household. A couple weeks back, a cold/sinus infection that I had been trying to ignore for quite some time turned into tonsilitis (probably Strep, but the ‘quick strep’ test was negative and the doc just gave me antibiotics for the obvious infection rather than wait for the longer…

• Making Your Own Laundry Soap for a Year in 20 Minutes for Under $50

  Jennah

  16 Apr 2013 | 5:47 am

  …and 15 minutes of that is just grating a bar of soap. I’ve been using this homemade laundry detergent recipe from Raising Colorado for a year and I love it. I even use it on A’s cloth diapers now and it works great. I actually had everything set up and was going to show you how fast it was to make via video. I was going to try to make it EVEN faster by using my blender to break up the soap bc someone had recommended using a food processor. Well, newsflash, blenders are not the same and it was an epic fail, but even with that screw-up I still got it done in 2 minutes by hand…

• Wordless Wednesday – Baby Foot Jinglies

  Jennah

  10 Apr 2013 | 5:43 am

• 

  Outdoor Decor Blog. Find the patio ideas you are looking for.

• Outdoor Living Furniture - Casual Living Outdoor Furniture, Outdoor Living Patio Furniture

  1 May 2013 | 9:59 am

  The Guide to Outdoor Living Furniture helps you choose the right furniture for your own personal retreat!

• Outdoor Decor Blog. Find the patio ideas you are looking for.

  23 Apr 2013 | 7:20 pm

  Outdoor Decor Blog. Make Your Escape! Bring your plants and outdoor living space and we'll show you the gazebos, patio accessories, and patio ideas.

• The Mexican Hammock - Outdoor Decorating Made Easy

  20 Apr 2013 | 7:09 am

  Easy Outdoor Decorating with a Mexican Hammock

• Outdoor Living Resources - Outdoor Decor - Outdoor Garden Decor

  7 Feb 2013 | 11:11 am

  Outdoor living resources - outdoor living furniture, grills, fire pits and fire places. Outdoor Kitchen Accessories. Outdoor garden decor, hammocks and fountains and more.

• Outdoor Kitchens Will Enhance Your Backyard

  23 Aug 2012 | 2:54 pm

  outdoor kitchens are a little different from conventional kitchens.

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  Dirt Du Jour Daily Blog

• Aussies win at the 100th Chelsea Flower Show

  cindymcnatt@gmail.com

  23 May 2013 | 1:00 am

  The judges turned their backs on tradition at the centenary of Britain’s most famous flower show. They said no to the clipped yews, and yes to the sustainable billabong. Will you be the first on your block to build a billabong? whatever The Telegraph—From dead trees to Prince Harry the garden designer, catch the rest of Chelsea here. Charlotte

• Yes you can….

  cindymcnatt@gmail.com

  16 May 2013 | 6:55 am

  Good idea: sink that barbeque into something that works with your rustic landscape. In this case, vintage cabinetry by the seashore in San Clemente. whatever National Geographic—Millions of cicadas will emerge on the East Coast in a 17 year cycle that counts 600 cicadas to every one person.

• If you don’t look good in red—

  cindymcnatt@gmail.com

  15 May 2013 | 2:35 am

  —you can still plant it in your garden. Try this Texas sage ‘Lady in Red’ to give your border some heart and bring the hummers buzzing in. The square-stemmed salvia is tender outside zones 8-10. Announcing the winner of the Living Picture Kit from Succulent Gardens, donated as a prize to honor the new book, Indoor Plant Decor—Brenda, who grew a small cactus as her first house plant! Congratulations!

• Rx when your variegated perennial reverts

  cindymcnatt@gmail.com

  14 May 2013 | 1:17 am

  The longing for plants with variegated leaves is said to be one of those stages all gardeners go through. So imagine the heartbreak when the beloved variegata or marginata changes its spots and reverts to solid green. What’s a grieving gardener to do? Valerie Easton has the answer—prune off the monochrome leaves. Photo of Variegated Hydrangea courtesy of Monrovia whatever Syracuse.com—-Tulip vandalism salvaged by flower lovers. Charlotte

• It’s not too late

  cindymcnatt@gmail.com

  13 May 2013 | 7:34 am

  To get thee over to the old country for the Chelsea Flower Show launch on May 21 when they’ll be celebrating their 100 year anniversary. One of this year’s features—then and now with vintage plant displays alongside what’s popular now. Speaking of jet-setting…. whatever Reuters—All the smart people gathered in Oslo say most native plant habitats will be gone this century due to climate change. 

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  BLOG.CHICAGOLANDGARDENING.COM

• Gardening for Your Taste Buds

  Chicagoland Gardening Blog

  7 May 2013 | 7:17 am

  In a few weeks, we can start planting tomatoes and peppers as well as sowing seeds of squash, eggplant, beans and other warm-season vegetables. When you're planning what to grow this summer, think about what you enjoy eating. There are plenty of cooking themes that can make it fun: a salad garden, an herbal tea garden, a pumpkin and squash garden, a Thai garden with lemon grass, Thai basil, hot peppers, and more. This year, I'm growing a salsa garden with a variety of peppers -- some hot, some sweet, along with onions, tomatoes, tomatillos and cilantro. It's inexpensive, fun and I…

• Dahlia Delights

  Chicagoland Gardening Blog

  20 Apr 2013 | 6:47 am

  Last summer, I had the pleasure of strolling through Cantigny Park in Wheaton, where the floral displays are always spectacular. Some of the loveliest plants there were the dahlias in shades of red, yellow, white and pink, some with burgundy leaves.  I realized then that my garden was sorely lacking in these beautiful flowers. 'Mystic Dreamer''Mystic Spirit'Liz Omura, curator of Cantigny's Idea Garden, provided these photos -- 'Mystic Dreamer', 'Fire Mountain Red' and 'Mystic Spirit' dahlias, and assured me that the plants are not that difficult to grow.  You can try them out…

• Rain, Rain Go Away!

  Chicagoland Gardening Blog

  18 Apr 2013 | 3:08 pm

  Our official National Weather Service rain gauge clocked in with 3.60 inches of rain at 7 a.m. this morning.  And more is falling. The daffodil flowers are nodding down toward the mud. The vegetable garden is a pond. There’s nary a robin in sight to feast on the hordes of worms migrating across the driveway in search of dry ground. And it continues to rain. What a difference from this time last year when gardeners were bemoaning the hot weather and how quickly all the spring bulbs flowered and dried up. But that’s ok. This is a good time to sow seeds indoors.This year, I’m test…

• A Blast from the Past

  Chicagoland Gardening Blog

  28 Mar 2013 | 5:58 pm

  Back in January 1906, the Gardener's Monthly Magazine featured these women perusing seed catalogs and magazines.The article that accompanied this photo, "How to Have a Better Garden" touted that "the whole point of a kitchen garden is this: You get better things than money can buy — fresher vegetables, better kinds. As to freshness, the home gardener can beat the grocer every time. Any beginner can do it. But the better kinds — the varieties that stand for quality, not for ability to ship round the word and last forever — that's where study and planning come in."Things haven't changed…

• Go to the Flower Show!

  Chicagoland Gardening Blog

  10 Mar 2013 | 8:13 pm

  The Chicago Flower & Garden Show opened this past Saturday at Navy Pier and I’m here to report that it’s worth the price of admission. The theme this year is “The Art of Gardening,” and the show is certainly artful. From the moment you enter and see the huge vertical panel draped with plants, accented with moving lights and a pair of bubbly fountains, you feel that you’re in for a treat. Vertical wall gardens are becoming a trend, but even if they’re never going to be something that you can do, the point of a flower show is to see new things, things that make you think outside…

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  Veggie Gardener: Organic Vegetable Gardening Tips

• How to Grow a Vertical Garden

  Brenda

  21 May 2013 | 11:45 am

  Verticle gardening is basically an extension of the “bean tepee” idea. It’s a method of growing more with less space by using vertical structures. Obviously not all vegetables can be grown this way, but with a little creativity more than just vining plants can be grown vertically. Many vegetables and herbs can be grown vertically [...]

• Growing Vegetables and Herbs in Shade

  Brenda

  8 May 2013 | 10:41 am

  Every gardener dreams of the perfect garden location; one with full sun, fertile soil and good drainage. The reality is that many of us need to work with what we have, which may include shaded areas. Can vegetable and herbs be grown in the shade? When a plant is grown for the fruit or the [...]

• How to Grow Rhubarb

  Brenda

  29 Apr 2013 | 10:31 pm

  Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) is a classic spring perennial that is long lived and easy to care for once it’s established. New plants, or crowns, are best planted in spring, for harvest the following year. Rhubarb is unusual in that only the stalks of the plant are edible. The leaves contain the toxin oxalic acid plus [...]

• Grow Cool Weather Mustard Greens

  Brenda

  29 Mar 2013 | 12:53 pm

  Mustard isn’t just a popular condiment. It’s also a nutritious green that can be eaten raw or cooked, and it’s easily grown in the vegetable or herb garden. The seeds are used in many Indian dishes, as well as Asian cuisine. Mustard is a cool weather plant, and can be directly sown into the garden [...]

• Front Yard Vegetable Gardens

  Brenda

  4 Feb 2013 | 10:59 am

  No matter how small a home’s yard may be, it’s always possible to grow vegetables, especially if the front yard is converted from a traditional green lawn to a colorful garden landscape. While the backyard is usually easy to convert into garden space, it’s often trickier to turn the front yard into a garden because [...]

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  Miss Rumphius' Rules

• Scout Regalia’s Contemporary Outdoor Style

  Susan aka Miss. R

  23 May 2013 | 4:14 am

  I’m a fan of contemporary design.  Because I work in a very traditional market, I don’t get to use it much in my landscape and garden design work.  San Francisco based Scout Regalia has created two sleek products that would be at home on many patios and in many gardens–even traditional ones. The first is really two products, both raised garden beds. One is available as a kit, the other pre-assembled.  Both have a simple, elegant design that would be at home in a traditional or a contemporary garden.  I’d love to see other colors added beyond the green used for…

• Field Trip: Urban Garden Center NYC

  Susan aka Miss. R

  21 May 2013 | 3:34 am

  Never have I seen so much done with so little.  A garden center under the railroad tracks with no running water and no electricity?  That’s Urban Garden Center in Spanish Harlem. Plants, seeds and tools happily co-exist with dumpster dive finds and new merchandise that is used with aplomb, humor and an a sense of style that typifies its can-do attitude.  It’s totally wacky and fantastic.  I loved it. Spanning two blocks under the elevated railroad tracks from 116th to 118th Street, Urban Garden Center is a multi-generational family business with a big heart.  They not only…

• Opiary: Garden Pots from Princeton

  Susan aka Miss. R

  20 May 2013 | 4:08 am

  Last year, one of the few things I liked at the Kips Bay Showhouse was Robert Canon’s planters. This year I at ICFF I liked them even more.  When I saw them again this past weekend, these planters were in my mind, one of the most original and creative outdoor products at the fair.  They had a original and quirky point of view that would be at home in so many gardens.  Opiary, Canon’s Princeton based studio is creating organic looking, well priced beautiful containers and garden accessories from recycled materials.  I’m going to try and arrange a studio visit.  All…

• An Addition-al Rant

  Susan aka Miss. R

  14 May 2013 | 3:51 am

  No pictures for this one… Do you know anyone who is willing to work for a 25% of the week for free?  Many in the landscape design industry do. Here’s how: they do not charge for the initial consultation or other visits to existing clients.  During the busiest months, April-May-June, when the phone is ringing with new clients, designers often meet with new potential project key holders 3, 5, sometimes even 10  times in a week.  Let’s do the math… Assume a 30 minute trip each way (this will also for the sake of argument include the time spent on the phone, emailing…

• Field Trip: The Litchfield Daffodils

  Susan aka Miss. R

  7 May 2013 | 5:19 am

  Last Saturday, after talking about garden design at White Flower Farm, I met up with an old friend and we spent the afternoon in Litchfield, CT touring about and catching up.  Our final stop of the day was Laurel Ridge.  There were tens of thousands of narcissus in bloom on fifteen acres of hillside deemed too rocky for farming.  The pasture was first planted in 1941 and is now supported by the Laurel Ridge Foundation.  It was a lovely spring afternoon ramble!

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  Journal

• Ten Vivid Pink Garden Plants

  Allan

  17 May 2013 | 7:54 am

  Pink is the most popular color in the flowerbed. In all its gradations and tones, it runs the gamut from baby pastel and amethyst to a very deep pink that almost borders on cold red.This family of colors seems to touch the hearts and minds of gardeners and their visitors. Except in climates where sun bleaches out its more pastel tones,pink is found in most gardens around the globe. Here are ten vivid pink flowering plants that caught my eye. Some have grown in my garden for many years, others are new for me; I found them in recent trade catalogues. Hydrangea macrophylla Abracadabra If you…

• Meet a New Garden Blogger & Awesome Photographer

  Allan

  11 May 2013 | 6:17 am

  A view of Pat Webster's garden.Please welcome Pat Webster. Her garden blog is titled Glen Villa: Sight and Insight Pat is a creative garden designer, erudite landscape lecturer, garden tour guide, amateur historian, artist, talented photographer and innovative sculptor. She inspires her audiences to look at their own landscapes with fresh eyes and demonstrates how local history, art, and personal stories may be incorporated into landscape design. Glen Villa Gardens is the name given to the grounds surrounding her home in North Hatley, Quebec. This bilingual region of Canada, located east…

• Plants That Need Companions Can Be Lovely

  Allan

  5 May 2013 | 6:46 am

  The setting for this plant composition enhances the appearance of yellow forsythia. I forsook my forsythia many years ago. In USDA Zone 4 where I garden, this shrub appears unpleasant when it flowers because it grows alone; no other tall shrub is in bloom at the same time and there is no other surrounding green vegetation to offset the seemingly harsh colors of its petals. Consequently, this plant stands out in dramatic starkness; in my growing zone, forsythia is appreciated solely because it is the first tall shrub to bloom - not because anyone thinks it is pretty. Perhaps more homeowners…

• Joseph and His Plants of Many Colors

  Allan

  25 Apr 2013 | 2:48 pm

  Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener, Joseph Tychonievich, Timber Press. When I learned that garden writing colleague, Joseph Tychonievich, had published his first book, I felt both joy and sadness. The joy I experienced was a culmination of several years of watching this young scientist’s career blossom – literally – before my eyes.   The sadness arose when I realized that I did not have the academic credentials to give his work, on plant breeding for the home gardener, the review it deserved. That is why it makes me happy anytime someone else reviews the…

• Should We Risk Our Health for A Beautiful Rose?

  Allan

  20 Apr 2013 | 4:31 pm

  Image:- gardenimport.com, a Canadian catalogue and online plant provider.Recently, the French language garden magazine Fleurs Plantes et Jardins published a pictorial review of roses that survive cold climates. Included in that article was a photo of the hybrid musk rose, Mozart. A continuous top seller at many retail and online nurseries, it caught my attention because it is striking and beautiful.   Researching this plant online, I discovered that it flowers profusely, producing a non-stop show of enormous sprays of small, single pink blooms with white centers and reddish-  pink…

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  Garden Therapy

• Modern Succulent Planter: Modernica Case Study

  Stephanie

  24 May 2013 | 6:06 am

  I love modern and vintage design. The mid-century aesthetic that has become timeless speaks to the functional form, simplistic beauty, and celebration of the natural world that I hold dear. This is why I was overjoyed to learn that distinguished manufacturer and designer of modern furniture, Modernica, has created some stunning ceramic planters available for indoor or outdoor [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Outdoor Table Makeover in Minutes

  Stephanie

  22 May 2013 | 6:17 am

  Does your outdoor table need an update? This quick makeover using waterproof oil cloth may be just the fix! This project from Martha Stewart Living‘s June 2013 issue features some stylish fabric but there seems to be an endless selection available from the vintage fruit and flowers and picnic red gingham to modern prints, faux wood, and [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Spotted: Bicycle Wheel Trellis

  Stephanie

  20 May 2013 | 10:44 am

  This bike wheel trellis is not only an ingenious recycling project, but also a great way to grow peas. I just happened to be walking by it and knew that I had to share the project here. Here is a Bike Rim Trellis by Suited to the Seasons that has peas already started. For more ideas on how to [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• The Many Shades of Lime

  Stephanie

  15 May 2013 | 9:58 am

  To be able to grow citrus in my climate is a dream. A dear friend passed on a tiny yuzu sprout that he started from seed that I have tucked away in my herb bed hoping for some of this deliciously sour and fragrant Japanese  fruit, albeit many, many years from now.  This month on the pages of [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Citrus Clear Giveaway!!

  Stephanie

  8 May 2013 | 5:18 pm

  Citrus is a group of scents that I just can not get enough of these days. I still make up this Mango Citrus Body Butter recipe and I have a whipped version that I will share with you one day soon. Until then, I was sent a group of cleansing products from Citrus Clear and [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

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  Living walls and Vertical Gardens

• Growing a Vertical Wall Garden of Succulents

  Gavin

  9 May 2013 | 10:48 am

  Do you have a boring patio or garden wall? Are you looking for a way to add some color and interest to the wall? If so, you should consider creating your very own colorful and living work of art to liven up that space – with succulents. A vertical garden, or a hanging garden made of living plants, is a fantastic way to turn a ho-hum space into a focal point. Succulents are an excellent choice for a vertical garden because they are hearty, they grow slowly and they come in a range of colors, sizes and textures. Blending a variety of these plants together to create a vertical garden will…

• Vertical Garden Installations

  Gavin

  18 Apr 2013 | 8:45 pm

  Vertical Garden Installations In today’s world, with limited space in cities, architects and gardeners are turning to a new concept in order to bring some green into the concrete jungle: vertical gardens. Unlike regular gardens, which lie flat on the ground, vertical gardens are designed to climb into the sky. This makes them more difficult to design. First, you have to deal with gravity. Secondly, you have to accommodate for the sunlight each portion of the garden will receive. A plant that thrives in sunlight won’t do well on the north facing side of a building. Likewise, plants…

• Framed Vertical Garden Video Installation

  Gavin

  21 Feb 2013 | 6:22 am

  This framed vertical garden is created using a Bright Green Grovert living wall kit. Below is a quick video showing to plant it up and hang it.  

• GroVert Plant Recipe

  Gavin

  19 Feb 2013 | 3:28 pm

  Here’s a fun way to garden vertically with a recipe of plants that fit perfectly in the GroVert Vertical Garden Panel from Urban Zeal. Many people often wonder what plants work well in a vertical garden. Really planting vertically is similar to growing plants in pots or containers. You have to watch out for the amount of light the plants get as well as the root depth the plants need. That’s it! The handy diagram below shows you a sample setup in a GroVert container that has room for about 4″ root depth. This plant recipe will do well in both indoors and outdoors in shade.

• Crunch Time – Create a Vertical Garden You Can Eat

  Alicia

  19 Nov 2012 | 9:05 am

    Foodies this is your chance if you don’t have a large garden – you can create your own vertical garden inside or outside and fill it with organic, home grown vegetables! Yum!  Growing vegetables in a vertical garden is probably one of the most practical usages of a vertical garden and has become increasingly popular especially since Amy Goldman created a wall of lettuce for the Philadelphia International Flower Show which was 9 feet high and 40 feet wide. Her wall included 6 different variety of lettuces with 3,000 leafy heads!     The creator of lettuce vertical…

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  urbanorganicgardener.com

• NEW! UrbanOrganicGardener.com is ranked #7 out of the Top 100 Gardening Blogs To Follow In 2013!

  UOG

  20 May 2013 | 10:17 am

  An infographic by the team at CouponAudit

• October Gardening: It’s Still Not Too Late To Start

  Mike Lieberman

  26 Sep 2012 | 1:24 am

  You might not have listened in the beginning of the summer… …Or in September when I told you it’s not too late to start your garden. It’s now October and guess what? It’s still not too late to start your garden For most of you in the US, your time is running out this year, but you still have some. Utilize it! The selection might be small, but there is a selection. Just grow one thing right now. Then come the spring, you’ll be more comfortable and be able to grow that much more. It’ll be easier to handle and much less overwhelming. What can you grow?

• 3 Simple Ways to Use Mint From Your Garden

  Mike Lieberman

  19 Sep 2012 | 1:09 am

  Mint is a weed… …that means it grows like crazy and should be kept in a container. If you are growing mint, you likely have more that you know what to do with. You can easily harvest it to encourage more growth too. There are lots of posts out there that give you dozens of ways that you can use mint. How many of them can you actually use everyday though? How to use mint from your garden…everyday That’s why I wanted to write this simple and practical post for you. Let’s begin. Here they are: Hot tea This is a simple one. Put some mint leaves in a mug. Boil up some…

• What to Plant in September

  Mike Lieberman

  12 Sep 2012 | 1:00 am

  Summer is gone and September is upon us. You think you missed your chance to start your garden and will start it next year… …That’s just a lame excuse though. You’ve made dozens of excuses why you can’t start. I’m sick of them and you should be too. It’s not too late to start your garden That’s true for most of you in the United States. Yes, your options are limited, but you can still start something. It’s all about getting over the excuses and starting. You’ve made enough excuses that have kept you from starting. Now is the perfect…

• Your Garden Shouldn’t Be Perfect

  Mike Lieberman

  29 Aug 2012 | 2:26 am

  Do you strive for perfection in your garden? Is it important for you for everything to be just so? Are these questions that you ask yourself and beat yourself up about? I don’t want an organic garden People will often tell me that my garden isn’t “organic” because I am growing in plastic containers and the containers might be leaching BPA in the soil. They will tell me that because of the water that I’m using and it’s not filtered in a certain manner that it’s not truly organic. People will say that they don’t want to start unless they have the…

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  Ecosystem Gardening

• Taking The Flower Show Home

  Carole Sevilla Brown

  9 May 2013 | 10:31 am

  A very different kind of project for me, but so very exciting! I was asked to do some studio photographs for the How-To section of a really beautiful book by my friends Bill Schaffer and Kris Kratt, the husband and wife powerhouse floral design team who head up Schaffer Designs. Taking the Flower Show Home: Award Winning Designs From Concept to Completion is a behind the scenes history covering 6 years of award-winning design by the Schaffer Designs team at the Philadelphia Flower Show. Publisher Schiffer Books describes it this way: Cutting-edge floral artists Bill Schaffer and Kristine…

• Dave Hunter on Attracting Native Bees

  Carole Sevilla Brown

  7 May 2013 | 10:12 am

  Bumble Bee © Beatriz Moisset Dave Hunter is the owner of Crown Bees, whose vision is simple: to ensure that we have food on our plates in 10 years. He’s accomplishing this goal by teaching people how to raise Mason Bees, and showing that you, the backyard gardener has a vital role to play in protecting our pollination services. I recently met Dave Hunter when he invited me to participate in a live webinar about the launch of his BeeGAP program, teaching people how they can attract and support native bees in their landscapes. [You can watch that webinar at The Ultimate Guide to Attracting…

• Carroll Cox Radio Show Native Bees

  Carole Sevilla Brown

  4 May 2013 | 4:11 am

  You may remember that a few weeks ago I appeared in a live webinar for Bee Action, with Dave Hunter of Crown Bees, Alisha Forrester Scott of Pollinator Support Movement, and several other bee experts. [If you missed that webinar, you can watch it at The Ultimate Guide to Attracting Native Bees] I’m so excited to announce that we’ll be taking Bee Action on the road to the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience (more on that later) and we discussed the plight of the Honey Bee, and how to attract and care for native bees on “The Carroll Cox Show” KWAI 1080 AM, on Sunday, May 5, 2013. The…

• The Tree Experience at Morris Arboretum

  Carole Sevilla Brown

  1 May 2013 | 3:12 pm

  Imagine peeking out from inside a giant birds nest, or walking through a squirrel walk net high above the forest floor, or peering out through the tops of the trees to see what birds and other critters are about. Fun, right? That is the interactive experience that Morris Arboretum has created for all of the nature loving kids in your life. For part 3 of my series about my visit to Morris Arboretum, please see The Birds Nest at Morris Arboretum: Seeing nature through a child’s eyes is one of the biggest joys of my life! This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Morris Arboretum with my 3…

• Big Bugs at Morris Arboretum

  Carole Sevilla Brown

  29 Apr 2013 | 11:15 am

  I had the immense pleasure of taking an outing yesterday with my favorite nature kids, Libby, Penny, and Emmet, and their Mom, Mary, our neighbors from across the street. We joined them to explore the Big Bugs exhibit at Morris Arboretum, where 11 huge sculptures of bugs made from natural forest materials are currently installed all around the grounds of the arboretum. These sculptures are the work of talented artist David Rogers, whose work first debuted at the Dallas Arboretum in 1994. Check out David’s portfolio to see all of his “bugs.” Libby stops to learn from one of…

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  The Garden Plot

• Join our e-Book Club TODAY

  kmdubow

  22 May 2013 | 8:00 am

  At Garden Media we know that without a good reputation, you’re sunk. As experts in creating brand leaders within the garden industry, we know a lot about the power of a good reputation, and we’re excited to share some of our insider secrets with you! Each month we have decided to release a new e-book featuring a case study that illustrates a specific public relations strategy, along with tips on building your reputation and strengthening your brand. “Branding The Knock Out® Rose”the first case study in the series, outlines the public relations strategies used to help launch The Knock…

• GMG's Friday Find: It's Cicada Crunch Time!

  Garden Media Group

  17 May 2013 | 7:00 am

  The cicada hype is becoming as deafening as the noises we'll hear when the Brood II eruption occurs.  This year, the 17-year old insects will emerge along the East Coast from North Carolina to Connecticut.  For anyone who hasn't heard the facts, here's a quick recap: * The cicada is not a locust; they are related to aphids and leafhoppers. * Brood II cidadas live underground for 17 years, going through several stages of youth into adulthood. * When the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees, it's party time! That's the signal for the cicadas to emerge from their underground homes where…

• Garden Media's new case study series is here!

  Garden Media Group

  15 May 2013 | 10:38 am

  Garden Media is set to release a series of six public relations e-books over the next six months.  Each e-book will feature a case study that illustrates a specific public relations strategy with tips and tricks to increase a company’s reputation and grow their business. Public relations starts by building a brand’s reputation. Without a credible reputation and solid brand, your products will fall flat. “Branding The Knock Out® Rose”, the first case study in the series, outlines the public relations strategies used to help launch The Knock Out Rose®, now one of the best-selling…

• Boost Your Memory with these 6 Brain Foods

  kmdubow

  13 May 2013 | 6:37 am

  What did I need from this room?  Where did I put my keys? What is her name? On any given day, we ask ourselves countless questions like these--all centered on mental lapses. Forgetting things is often a part of our lives and as humans age, we remember tasks less and less. Luckily, we have a solution, and no, it does not involve cluttering your desk with multi-colored sticky notes. It's easy, simple, and delicious. Joy Bauer, author of Food Cures, informs us that,  "A sharp memory depends on your total number of brain cells, the smooth flow of communication between the cells and…

• GMG's Friday Find: Garden Goodies for Mother's Day!

  Garden Media Group

  10 May 2013 | 7:37 am

  We know mom can be tough to shop for, so here are some ideas to make Mother's Day gift giving a breeze. Easy Edible Pickins Since moms everywhere love to feed their families healthy food, a gift of these brand new, low maintenance, small fruit shrubs will be most loved.  These compact berry shrubs provide ornamental beauty and delicious berries! RaspberryShortcake™ is a thornless dwarf raspberry shrub that reaches 2-3 feet and fruits the first season.  This compact, rounding plant requires no staking or trellising, no companion pollinators and very little space, and has sturdy…

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  Thanks for today.

• 17-Year Cicadas...Enough Already!

  Jan

  23 May 2013 | 3:46 pm

  About a week ago, when the Brood II Cicadas began showing up around here, it was exciting to see their transformations from nymph to adult.I was snapping photos and was actually hoping I'd be able to find one in the process of 'being born' (aka 'exiting it's exoskeleton). I had captured holes in the ground with nymphs crawling out and up trees. A couple of days later, I was able to capture a 'birth', and I marveled at the whole process--using adjectives like fascinating, marvelous, miraculous. Skip ahead a few days until today. I've had it! They are everywhere, literally everywhere in my yard…

• Cercis canadensis - Eastern Redbud

  Jan

  24 Apr 2013 | 6:13 pm

  I had seen the colors often in earlier springs...driving along, every now and then, a brilliant pop of purple would catch my attention. What is that tree, I would find myself thinking? I have drooled over the Eastern Redbud for years. Every spring, it makes itself known by brilliant purple buds, highlighted by reddish heart-shaped leaves, left over from the preceding fall and winter. Below, it is nothing but a bare stick-like twig.  On the lower right (below) is my smallest Redbud. I planted it in March (before the snow made the landscape white). I got it at a native plant nursery, and…

• Can You Identify These Animal Tracks?

  Jan

  7 Mar 2013 | 7:58 am

  Because I have been having a problem with some unidentified animal chomping on my treasured Hellebores (see Devastation in the Garden) I need some help figuring out which critter it might be. We just had some snow...and when I took pictures this morning, I discovered some tracks that I'm not familiar with. I don't think they are squirrel tracks...because they are not all over the yard. There are lots of other tracks all over the yard, which are probably squirrels...because I DO have LOTS of squirrels here. But these tracks are only in a few areas and they stand out. What could they be?

• More New Natives For My Gardens

  Jan

  4 Mar 2013 | 4:39 pm

  I drove up to Alexandria on Saturday to visit a native plant nursery. Since they weren't just yet open for the season, I had made an appointment in advance. I was the only customer and had the undivided attention of Randee, the manager of Nature-By-Design. I had spoken with him a few days earlier asking if he had any Spigelia. I have just one plant that I got from Carolyn's Shade Gardens during a visit a couple of years ago. I liked it so much that I wanted to add a few more. When Randee said he had what I was looking for, I asked about Claytonia. He said yes. Then I asked about Cercis...I've…

• DEVASTATION in the Garden.

  Jan

  3 Mar 2013 | 8:47 am

  Went outside to take some photos of some new native plants I bought yesterday and was instead caught off-guard by some sights that almost made me weep. Many of my favorite Hellebores were chomped, chewed, mauled and destroyed sometime during the night. Helleborus "Gold Finch"...I was really looking forward to watching this one bloom. There had been 2 buds that I'd been watching and they finally opened a couple of days ago but did I get a photo while they were still attached? Sadly, no. Am also a bit sad by the devastation to Helleborus "Phoenix". I did manage a previous photo of her, but when…

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  My Garden is My Space

• Honda Tiller Models and Rotavator Reviews

  Rodger Cresswell

  15 May 2013 | 11:36 am

  Honda Tiller Models and Rotavator ReviewsThere is quite a wide selection of Honda Tiller models to choose from. So which Honda tiller for sale is the right one for your garden situation and budget? Honda FF300 Tiller Maybe a place to start is look at the best quality Honda tiller. But all models are quality Honda tillers. So garden usage has to be a major part of your Honda tiller review. The range of rotavators starts with a model that is excellent for the home gardener. Those with new flower borders to prepare or vegetable garden allotment to prepare each year. The models then progress…

• Honda FF500 Tiller Review and Latest Price – Honda Tillers

  Rodger Cresswell

  15 May 2013 | 6:23 am

  Honda FF500 Tiller Review and Latest Price – Honda TillersThe Honda FF500 Tiller, the powerful rotavator for the professional gardener or horticulturalist. Check the specification and latest price of this high quality cultivator. Honda FF500 Tiller A powerful Honda 160cc OHC engine drives the Honda FF500 tiller. A modern design engine that has benefits to the owner such as economic consumption of petrol, low emissions, reduced noise and vibration. Powerful the Honda FF500 Petrol Cultivator may be but it is also easy to handle. Its well thought out design of large rear drive wheels and…

• Honda F720 Tiller Review and Latest Price – Honda Tillers

  Rodger Cresswell

  14 May 2013 | 8:22 am

  Honda F720 Tiller Review and Latest Price – Honda TillersThe Honda F720 Tiller. Are you a professional gardener or horticulturalist who needs a high quality rotavator? Then this tiller could be the cultivator for you. Honda F720 Tiller This top of the range petrol tiller is powered by the Honda 6.5hp Honda four stroke overhead valve (ohv) engine. A seriously powerful engine for seriously tough gardening jobs. To complement the 6.5hp Honda engine the Honda F720 tiller is fitted with a series of slasher rotors. These rotors will contend with the most testing of soil conditions.  The normal…

• Honda FF300 Tiller Review and Latest Price – Honda Tillers

  Rodger Cresswell

  13 May 2013 | 12:39 pm

  Honda FF300 Tiller Review and Latest Price – Honda TillersThe Honda FF300 tiller is an ideal rotavator for both the professional gardener and home gardener alike. Honda FF300 tiller specification and prices. Honda FF300 Tiller The rotavator has a compact and lightweight design. The mid mounted engine, large rear drive wheels and front tines give great stability and deep tilling capability. The Honda FF300 tiller incorporates a loop handlebar which makes it possible for the gardener to use the most appropriate grip position while still keeping the rotavator under control. For added…

• Honda F510 Tiller Review and Latest Price – Honda Tillers

  Rodger Cresswell

  10 May 2013 | 7:01 am

  Honda F510 Tiller Review and Latest Price – Honda TillersThe Honda F510 Tiller is a heavy duty rotavator that with extensions has an impressive 9400mm working width. Honda F510 Tiller The tiller is built to a commercial specification. It is therefore an excellent garden rotavator for the large allotment holders, smallholders and professional horticulturists. The Honda F510 cultivator is powered by a Honda 5.5hp four-stroke engine. This provides it with the ability to take on tough challenges such as regular large scale cultivation projects. The Honda F510 cultivator engine utilises…

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  Personal Garden Coach

• Wordless Wednesday: Design Style Book

  personalgardencoach

  15 May 2013 | 4:00 am

• Book Review and Tool Give-Away Party: Indoor Plant Décor

  personalgardencoach

  6 May 2013 | 10:24 am

  Book Review: Indoor Plant Décor by Kylee Baumle & Jenny Peterson 160 pages St. Lynn’s Press, 2013 List Price: $16.95 This jewel of a book is not only a bountiful little purse-sized plant shopping companion to take with you to the greenhouse, it’s a style and inspiration powerhouse for your home’s houseplants. If you feel challenged by choosing plants for your home and bewildered by the array of choices, then Kylee and Jenny have your answers, by giving you the elements to succeed with 21st century charisma. Starting with a guide to eight décor styles to springboard from,…

• A FAST Fine Foliage Give-Away!

  personalgardencoach

  14 Mar 2013 | 2:38 pm

  FINE FOLIAGE GIVEAWAY What do I win? One signed copy of Fine Foliage Where? On our blog www.fine-foliage.com (note the hyphen) When? Right now!! Drawing will take place at midnight Saturday March 16th PST and the book mailed out first thing Monday. What do I do to enter? Head over to www.fine-foliage.com and follow the link to sign up for our blog. It’s that easy! Everyone that is registered will be entered into a random drawing. The winner will be notified by email within 24 hours and the winners name will also be posted on the blog itself.

• Gardener Give-Away! – Down to Earth Designed Apron

  personalgardencoach

  11 Mar 2013 | 1:16 pm

  Janna Lufkin from Raw Materials Design sent me this apron to try out and I immediately fell in love the minute I opened the box. This is no wimpy thing. It’s truly a tool in your arsenal for the gardener who is not easy on things. This is one TOUGH piece of fabric and sewing. This apron was even featured on the TODAY Show! I’m NOT easy on tools or clothes when it comes to gardening. I have been through many many aprons. So, when I endorse a product like this, its because it truly does what I need, it stands the test of ME! Here is a link with an informative Q & A about…

• Nancy Claire Guth “Electro Cute” at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show

  personalgardencoach

  20 Feb 2013 | 2:00 am

  Some designers are truly gifted at bringing creative ideas to life. Other designers are good at running a business and creating a loyal following of clients. Its uncommon in my experience to find both in one person. But, now I have found both in my new friend and colleague Nancy Claire Guth of Artistic Garden Concepts. This year Nancy has created a Small Space garden featured on the sky-bridge at the 2013 Northwest Flower and Garden Show.  Her inspiration for this design began by upcycling a whole bunch of electric themed parts and other found objects, which is Nancy’s signature design…

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  Gardener's Journal

• Company Farm: Gardening for Good

  Gardener's Supply

  22 May 2013 | 5:24 am

  At our Burlington campus, we're trying something new this year: growing potatoes. Lots of potatoes. If all goes well, we will harvest more than 500 pounds of potatoes this fall and donate them to the local food shelf. We're calling the project Company Farm because the farmers are employee-owners who work in the Burlington office. Our farm is just off the parking lot in a set of 30 4x6' raised beds — all made with our Raised Bed Corners, of course. Planting day was May 15. In just Read more [...]The post Company Farm: Gardening for Good appeared first on Gardener's Journal - From…

• Simple Pruning Technique Improves Tomato Harvest

  Gardener's Supply

  21 May 2013 | 11:35 pm

  Left on their own, tomatoes will grow into shrubby, multi-stemmed plants that topple under the weight of their fruit. Fruit and foliage are more prone to attack by pests and disease when they're sprawled on the ground. Pruning and using plant supports can help create healthier, more productive tomato plants. Advantages to pruning: Keep plants compact and prevent sprawl. Make it easy to support plants using Tomato Ladders and other supports. Maximize production. Minimize disease problems Read more [...]The post Simple Pruning Technique Improves Tomato Harvest appeared first on Gardener's…

• Jennifer’s Journal: TubTrug Innovations

  Gardener's Supply

  16 May 2013 | 11:23 pm

  Monday, April 29 Planted Bloomsdale spinach, Pot of Gold Swiss chard and Strawberry Blonde calendula in what I imagine to be the most captivating pattern ever. Started seeds in our Grow Shelter. In addition to lettuces and various greens, I included a few flowers, as well as Burgundy okra, birdhouse gourds, and luffas in small peat pots (to minimize root disturbance when I transplant them). Tuesday, April 30 Critter Alert! My museum-worthy tapestry of spinach, chard and calendula Read more [...]The post Jennifer’s Journal: TubTrug Innovations appeared first on Gardener's Journal -…

• Meet Jennifer, Our Creative Gardener

  Gardener's Supply

  14 May 2013 | 7:24 am

  Say hello to Jennifer, our new Creative Gardener. She's managing our gardens here in Burlington, VT, where we set up photo shoots for our catalog and find inspiration for blog posts and newsletter articles. Jennifer will be sharing her gardening journey with readers throughout the summer. Stay tuned for her regular posts and garden photos. -Ann Whitman My return to gardening as an adult was all about wanting more control over my food; in fact, I was gardening out of a 1986 Chevy van. As I Read more [...]The post Meet Jennifer, Our Creative Gardener appeared first on Gardener's Journal -…

• A Mother’s Day Bouquet Can Start in the Backyard

  Gardener's Supply

  6 May 2013 | 11:35 am

  One of the joys of gardening is to step out my back door and clip a few sprigs to bring inside. The day's prettiest blooms and just-unfurled leaves — gathered simply into a bunch and displayed in a jar of water — provide everything I need to start the day. The tiny arrangement graces my kitchen counter or brightens a spot by the keyboard, connecting me with the natural world even when I'm "stuck" indoors, away from my beloved garden. Is this floral design? Yes! Gardeners are especially qualified Read more [...]The post A Mother’s Day Bouquet Can Start in the Backyard appeared first…

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  About.com Organic Gardening

• Ten Easy Vegetables To Direct Sow in Your Garden

  20 May 2013 | 11:36 pm

  Since, for many of us, gardening season is now in full swing, I thought I'd offer a few suggestions today for easy veggies to direct-sow. Here are my top ten favorite easy veggies:...Read Full Post

• Gardening Tip: Avoid Tree Roots by Building Raised Beds with Bottoms

  27 Apr 2013 | 1:58 am

  This great tip comes from my friend Anthony, who gardens in New Jersey (zone 6) and blogs at The Compost Bin. Anthony says: "After pulling a few giant piles worth of roots out (of my raised beds) yesterday, I made an executive decision. Whenever I build a new bed, a bottom will be a mandatory feature. I don't think I'll use a sheet of plywood for the floor as suggested in the book (Square Foot Gardening), but at a minimum, I'll load the bottom up with landscape fabric. Usually, I'd layer newspapers to stop weeds and because I know they'll break down and feed those earthworms. But since I want…

• Garden Quote: Carol Deppe on the Imperfect Garden

  16 Apr 2013 | 1:00 am

  Carol Deppe's fantastic book, The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times , is currently one of my favorite books about gardening. If you're determined to grow a good portion of your own food, it's definitely worth a look....Read Full Post

• Weekly Garden Link-Up

  4 Apr 2013 | 11:42 pm

  Here are some of the things I've enjoyed reading over this past week: Margaret Roach over at A Way to Garden featured an absolutely stunning sunflower on her blog. The silver-leaf sunflower, Helianthus argophyllus, is now on my "must grow!" list. If you love silver foliage, you need to see this plant. Over at Growing the Home Garden, Dave reviewed The 20 Minute Gardener. It looks like it might be worth a look -- especially for those who wonder how to fit gardening into their already-busy lives. Susy over at Chiot's Run shared a homegrown meal, featuring fresh lettuce from the garden,…

• Plant of the Week: African Violets

  2 Apr 2013 | 9:48 pm

  I am still waiting for the first crocus to bloom in my garden (really, I go out and check the front garden every morning. No crocuses yet. Sigh....) So, I am desperate for blooms. Luckily, my African violets have been blooming the last few weeks, spurred on by the increased light they're getting in the kitchen window. The pretty one pictured above is blooming now. Unfortunately, I don't know which variety it is -- it was a NOID purchased on clearance at my local nursery....Read Full Post

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  This Grandmother's Garden

• Our Parade of Annuals...

  Carolyn ♥

  23 May 2013 | 12:03 pm

  There's no better way to add color to your gardens than with annuals.  That's especially true in my Zone 5 gardens  where the Summer's are HOT  and the Winter's are FREEZING. I've been on a planting frenzy... Just a "Few" of our Empty Pots Our gardens are getting ready for a   SWEET CELEBRATION and we've been planting for weeks.  Our EMPTY POTS tell the story  I've counted 213. That's a lot of time on my knees.  As promised...  here's a sneak peek at some of the ANNUALS we've planted  in preparation for the big day. Enjoy the…

• Crazy. Absolutley Crazy. May 2013 GBBD

  Carolyn ♥

  15 May 2013 | 12:31 pm

  In April, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day began with snow... Periwinkle Peeking Out from Snow followed by three straight weeks of low temps well below freezing. But today on this 15th day of May...  today... we're having a HEAT wave. The Hottest temperatures EVER recorded for this time of the year.  High was 93°F on Monday. Today only 88°F.   Crazy. Absolutely CRAZY. A very late start to our Spring, indeed, but the SUNSHINE and hot temps of this week have everything turned up toturbo speed. Here's a few of the perennials blooming in my gardens  on this May GBBD... These…

• It's an Absolute KNOCKOUT...

  Carolyn ♥

  30 Apr 2013 | 9:57 am

  Don't you agree? Any angle you view it from...           in bud or in bloom... Its simply delicious to look at. Introducing... the newest stars of my garden...  The Pink Double Knock Out® Rose     Knockouts are my "go to" rose to brighten my landscape...  perfect for my hot summers and cold winters. William Radler's motivation for developing The Knock Out® Family of Roses was old age.  He didn't want to give up his roses when he got old   so he bred a rose that would be low maintenance! Listen to William's…

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  Annie's Gardening Corner

• Five for Friday

  24 May 2013 | 5:57 am

    Need five reasons to love this deciduous shrub? §  Its spring bell-shaped flowers of creamy yellow with delicate red to purple veins look beautiful in rain or sun. §  It loves acidic, well-drained soil and partial shade but can handle full sun. Just one word of caution – it doesn’t like it dry. §  Placing this shrub adjacent to evergreen foliage make its spectacular fall color of red, yellow and orange pop. And when I say spectacular fall color, I’m not overstating that characteristic one bit. §  It doesn’t have many known pests or diseases. This is…

• #Plant Strong

  23 May 2013 | 6:49 am

    Does part of your Memorial Day weekend include a visit to a nearby garden center? If so, I'll take a guess. You might be over 40 and part of a dying breed. Do you experience the plant world firsthand? On a scale of 1 through 10, are you #Plant Strong?Here’s an interesting tidbit from Ellen Wells, the editor at Large, Green Profit regarding Gen Y’s favorite stores with her thoughts summarizing some insightful research from the Urban Land Institute.“Hold on to your seats for some shocking news: Despite their reputation, Gen Y consumers actually enjoy shopping in brick-and-mortar…

• Style on Wordless Wednesday

  22 May 2013 | 5:33 am

   Rachel Zoe states that “Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.” So on this wordless Wednesday, it’s an array of purple images from the garden today. It’s the beauty of the sun starting to peek through this morning's clouds and dapple itself on everything purple from last night’s rain. Remember your garden says as much about your style and who you are without the words. Purple – it’s one of my favorite colors since I was a kid. I love wearing it as much as I love purple popping up everywhere in the garden.  What’s your style? An image can say…

• Set in Stone

  21 May 2013 | 5:36 am

   The phrase ‘set in stone’ typically denotes a sense of permanency. As humans, we truly strive for something to last, to be durable and to keep us protected. When designing our homes and the exterior landscape elements, we search for materials with durability. We use good design sense and build it with solid craftsmanship in the hope that these structures can last throughout the years. It is often why we use stone in the landscape. Our trust in its solidness, even when encountering unpredictable elements, gives us a sense of longevity. Take for example the above image I snapped…

• Summer Prep

  20 May 2013 | 6:36 am

   What signifies ‘SUMMER’ and everything synonymous with it even before that season actually arrives? You guessed it – Memorial Day weekend and yes, it’s just about here. So on this pre-holiday Monday, it’s a quick reminder. Try if you can to spend a part of the weekend in peace, rejuvenating rather than just filling up every holiday minute. As Holly Mosier reminds us “Our culture encourages us to plan every moment and fill our schedules with one activity and obligation after the next, with no time to just be. But the human body and mind require downtime to rejuvenate. I have…

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  Serenity in the Garden

• Mossy Path - Jan Johnsen

  Jan Johnsen

  24 May 2013 | 5:57 am

  In May I work outside in the landscapes I create for others. I will share pics with you as I take them. Serenity in the Garden is my goal...that can mean meditative settings or flowerful displays, grassy gardens, rock strewn hillsides and more. Here is a mossy path from one of my landscapes. The wood rounds are from a large tree that fell. We sliced it up in 4" thick slices and treated each with wood sealer 4 times... This glorious garden is not on the Garden Conservancy tours so photos must suffice.  I will share more in time.     www.johnsenlandscapes.com…

• For Serenity: Think Small

  Jan Johnsen

  23 May 2013 | 6:11 am

  I am a 'Small is Beautiful' devotee.    I once attended a talk by the great E.F. Schumacher (1911-1977). I never forgot it. He spoke the truth so eloquently...but this was in the 1970s and look at where we are now. No one was listening. Schumacher is widely acknowledged as the originator of many concepts on the theory and practice of sustainable development.  He explained that we must get back to a more manageable way of doing things...:   "I have no doubt that it is possible to give a new direction to technological development, a direction that shall lead it back to the…

• A Short Video for Creating a Front Walkway Planting

  Jan Johnsen

  20 May 2013 | 6:15 am

    This fledgling video was made a few years ago.. but I illustrate the ever popular Angelonia flower and more.  Short and to the point. For those who do not know plants very well

• A Great, Native Grass for Your Garden - Little Bluestem

  Jan Johnsen

  19 May 2013 | 7:45 am

    courtesy of Proven Winners   When the American Horticultural Society decided to create a large meadow at their headquarters, River Farm, in Virginia the first plant they seeded was Little Bluestem. ( I wrote about this earlier but have added to it. )   Photo Courtesy of Lazy S'S Farm  They applied 100 pounds of Bluestem seed. The Latin name is Schizachyrium scoparium or skiz-ah-KEER-ee-um sko-PAR-ee-um. Why was this the first plant they seeded? Because Little Bluestem is a NATIVE, wonderful, durable, upright, clump forming grass that is eminently suitable…

• The amazing native Coralbells - Heuchera villosa

  Jan Johnsen

  16 May 2013 | 6:01 am

    Native Heucheras have it all! Heuchera villosa Brownies' Photo by View from Federal Twist The amazing Heuchera villosa,or hairy alumroot, is a species of coral bells that is native to rocky wooded slopes from Virginia to Missouri.  It is resistant to browsing deer and rabbits and is an excellent substitute for Hosta in shaded/part sun beds. Piet Oudolf uses this a lot. Villosa is from the Latin meaning ‘velvet’   These plants are tolerant of dry soil in shady conditions but need more regular watering in partial sun.  Good for Dry shade! from davisla blog It has…

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  MySecretGarden

• 2 - Woodland, Rock Gardens And Some More. Just Pictures. Tete-A-Tete With Kew Gardens.

  21 May 2013 | 5:23 am

  Blue flowers in the pictures are bluebells and, in some cases, arum lilies. Rock Garden Gentiana occidentalis:  *** Buds are bursting one week earlie because of a global warming. Previous post Tete-A-Tete With Kew Gardens On A Rainy Day. 1 -

• Tete-A-Tete With Kew Gardens On A Rainy Day. 1 - Walled Garden And Around

  18 May 2013 | 10:55 am

  I laughed and I almost cried. I was alone at the most wonderful spots of these wonderful gardens. It was the middle of May, it was Tuesday and it was cloudy and partially rainy. Maybe, this is a recipe to have a tet-a-tet date with the Kew Gardens in London. My own garden requires my attention after our 16-day trip to Europe. That is why I won't comment much but just show some pictures of

• Squirrels on the California Shores

  26 Apr 2013 | 1:25 pm

  During our spring break in Central California, squirrels were seen almost everywhere. To watch these cute animals was a pleasure! They were not in my garden digging out bulbs and making a mess with pine cones. These shots were taken at Pebble Beach. It is prohibited to feed them, but it was obvious that these animals were used to getting treats from people.  They were begging. Feeding

• Tulip Festival-2013 in Skagit Valley, Washington State

  17 Apr 2013 | 9:49 pm

  Yes, it's that time of the year again when tulips and daffodils are blooming  in the Skagit Valley of Washington state.  If you haven't been there yet and live close by, then don't wait!  As always, we enjoyed the vibrant fields and also visited the wonderful RoozenGaarde display garden.  The Roozen family business is the largest in the world in growing tulips, irises and daffodils. I

• April Blooms in Central California

  9 Apr 2013 | 10:20 am

  These pictures were taken during our spring break.     What are these blue flowering plants?   And these with purple flowers?     ***Copyright 2013 TatyanaS

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  Veg Plotting

• Salad Days: Off Experimenting Again

  VP

  24 May 2013 | 12:30 am

  As you can see the windowsill grown lettuces have come on in leaps and bounds over the past month and I've been harvesting them over the past couple of weeks. It's just as well I've been growing these, as the lettuces outside - whilst under various cloches and cold frames - are still shivering away and haven't put on much growth. The one exception to that is 'Black Seeded Simpson'. Bren said it's a hardy variety and she's right! I'll be starting to harvest those leaves sometime next week, after I've finished with the pictured batch of 'Amaze' for the time being. Just before I started…

• The PR Files: Getting the Chelsea 'Look'

  VP

  23 May 2013 | 12:30 am

  My inbox is currently flooded with press releases exhorting me to 'get the Chelsea look' by choosing from a set of products they've put together to cash in on present alongside this week's coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Here's my shortlist of 'must haves', chosen from various emails ;) #1 Water Features Separated at Birth? Trailfinders waterfalls vs a slate fountain "A key element [in the Trailfinders garden - Ed] was waterfalls and natural stone to create a tranquil and relaxing garden. These slate monoliths (from £139) are undrilled from quarries and each one is unique,…

• Wordless Wednesday: Electric Chelsea

  VP

  22 May 2013 | 12:30 am

  If you're not reading this on vegplotting.blogspot.com, Blotanical or your own web reader such as Bloglines or Google Reader, then the website you're using is a blogpost feed scraper. Why not go straight to the source instead? That's vegplotting.blogspot.com

• A Fond Farewell to the Australians

  VP

  21 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  Having the Australians in the shape of Fleming's at Chelsea has always been a highlight for me because my visits to Oz have been some of the happiest times of my life. The team's professional yet friendly attitude at Chelsea is impressive, especially yesterday when Wes Fleming still managed to chat to me amiably whilst juggling the last minute frustrations of lack of frogs* and trying to get his mother into the showground. This year's move to the embankment site from their usual one has worked well by allowing them to build high rather than the usual digging down towards their homeland. I…

• It's Chelsea Showtime :)

  VP

  20 May 2013 | 12:30 am

  Heucheraholics' Sean and Jules demonstrate their cunning plan to beat the showtime weather this year at Malvern  Spring Show recently. For some reason my camera was so shocked, it decided to overexpose Jules' shot ;) It's off to Chelsea Flower Show I go today for the excitement that is Press Day. I have so much to do and see for this year's centenary show, that I'm not sure how I'm going to fit it in before we get chucked out at 3pm when the Queen arrives. However, leaving early means there's time to check out Chelsea in Bloom on the way back to the Tube. Every cloud, as they say. I'm…

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  Restoring The Landscape With Native Plants

• Pollinator Handouts

  13 May 2013 | 10:22 am

  You can now download some of the recent handouts I created for pollinators and native plants from the right sidebar of my blog homepage. More to come, stay tuned! © Heather Holm, 2013.

• American Pasqueflower ~ A Welcome Sign of Spring

  28 Apr 2013 | 3:27 pm

  American pasqueflower ~ Anemone patens American pasqueflower is a wonderful native alternative to tulips or daffodils, flowering in early spring. It can be found on sunny, prairie slopes with poor, dry soils. This year, it's flowering before any of the woodland ephemerals such as bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis. The leaves are held tight to the stem during flowering, looking like a prop holding the flower upwards. These palmately-divided leaves relax away from the stem and open after flowering. American pasqueflower provides an abundant amount of pollen to pollinators, an important,…

• Emerald Ash Borer Treatment- Toxic To Bees?

  22 Mar 2013 | 2:14 pm

  Image Source: Wikipedia The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis a beetle native to China, Japan and Korea was introduced into North America in the Great Lakes area in the early 1990's and populations were identified in 2002. It is suspected that this beetle was introduced from ash shipping crates. Emerald ash borer beetle larva burrow through the outer bark of ash trees, Fraxinus spp. and into the living cambium tissue. As the larvae feed on the cambium, they create 'S'-shaped galleries in the wood. The galleries created from a large infestation weaken the ash trees causing canopy thinning…

• Wild Geranium Pollinators & Floral Visitors

  11 Mar 2013 | 9:51 am

  Like many spring-flowering native plants, wild geranium flowers have the ability to self-pollinate when no pollinators are present. However, the flower matures to ensure cross-pollination when insects are present, with the row of outer anthers developing on the first or second day after the flowers open, followed by the inner row on the second or third day. The stigma becomes receptive after the anthers have dehisced on the third or forth day. Bees, flies and beetles visit the flower for nectar and pollen. Nectar is secreted from five glands located between the stamens and sepals. In a study…

• Ten Great Native Plants for Dry, Sandy Soils

  26 Feb 2013 | 9:37 am

  Flower: June - Late July  |  Exposure: Full Sun Soil Moisture: Mesic to Dry  |  Soil Type: Sand to Loam Butterfly milkweed develops a substantial taproot and is not easy to transplant. Find the right sunny location and let it grow. It is an excellent plant for pollinators, and a larval host plant for the monarch butterfly, queen butterfly and milkweed tussock moth caterpillar. Flower: Late April - June  |  Exposure: Full Sun Soil Moisture: Mesic to Dry  |  Soil Type: Sand to Loam Prairie smoke's most unique…

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  Eat Your Landscape

• Mosquitoes

  Beuna Tomalino

  15 May 2013 | 9:49 pm

  For controlling mosquitoes in the landscape (and on you): Empty any water containers that are unnecessary. For pet water dishes, bird baths, and ponds there is another option. Bacillus thuringiensis v. israelensis is deadly to mosquito larvae and fungus gnats but safe for pets, birds, and fish. Also called B. T. var israelensis, it is available in a liquid but also a dry form as donut shaped “dunks” and small “bits”. There are other types of B.T. - one for controlling caterpillars and one for Colorado Potato Beetle so be sure you are getting the right one. Planting mosquito repelling…

• Three Seed Starting Methods

  Beuna Tomalino

  13 Feb 2013 | 12:10 pm

  Compressed peat pellets Compressed peat pellets can be purchased in bulk or with a small “greenhouse”.  You can start with the “greenhouse” and then buy extra peat pellets for future use or use.  A salad/deli container or shoe box would also work.  Place the pellets in desired container, add about 1″ of warm water, check in 30 minutes or so.  If pellets are not thoroughly expanded and damp add more water.  If the pellets are expanded, pour off any extra water. To see the rest of the methods   While visiting the above link, join my website for…

• Preparing For Spring Planting

  Beuna Tomalino

  7 Jan 2013 | 7:31 am

  Some things you can do now to prepare for Spring planting: Look at catalogs to get an idea of what you would like to grow.  In addition to the seed catalogs, for edible plants I like Richters, Logees, and Raintree. Locate sources of compost and start making your own for later use. Notice sun, shade, and wind patterns of your landscape. Research your climate zone. Make a list of what you like to eat and what of those you would like to grow. Check your tool inventory.  If you need to take tools or mower blades in for sharpening this is a slower time of year for the shops so a great…

• Edible Landscaping Books

  Beuna Tomalino

  27 Nov 2012 | 9:11 pm

  A few edible landscaping books you may want to check out (although the links go to Amazon you should be able to find them at your local bookstore or library). The Incredible Edible Landscape by Joy Bossi  Written by a friend and former garden radio show host. Edible Landscaping by Rosalind Creasy  plus her other edible landscaping books including The Edible Flower Garden Rosalind was probably the first person to really discuss edible landscaping. The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Solar Landscaping With Fruit by Lee Reich  Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toensmeier Designing and…

• Edible Landscaping Class and Square Foot Gardening class - Free

  Beuna Tomalino

  26 Sep 2012 | 8:28 am

  I will be teaching edible landscaping and Square Foot Gardening at the South Davis Preparedness Fair in Davis County, Utah. The Preparedness Fair is free.  Saturday, October 13, 2012, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Woods Cross High School, Woods Cross, Utah. Square Foot Gardening, 11:25 a.m., Edible Landscaping, 1:15 p.m. Both classes will be taught in the cafeteria. For other events or to schedule a class check my website calendar or contact me.

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  GrowBlog

• Plan Ahead for Midsummer Vegetable Crop Rotations

  24 May 2013 | 3:49 am

  From spring to fall, vegetable gardens undergo constant change. A big transformation takes place in midsummer when spring crops are ready to harvest, creating space for new plantings. But what should they be? What to plant after early potatoes? What to plant after peas?

• What has the earthworm ever done for us?

  17 May 2013 | 1:06 am

  I suspect that many of us, at some point, ask for a bit of help in the garden. How aware are we, though, of the help that is already there? Worms are so familiar that it’s easy to take them for granted, but look at the work they do on the vegetable plot and you may never want to use a rotovator again.

• Growing Peanuts Just for Fun

  10 May 2013 | 12:50 pm

  Of all the food plants you might grow in your summer garden, none are more interesting than the peanut. Its botanical name gives important hints about the adventure ahead: Arachis indicates that the plant has the rare habit of ripening its pods underground. Hypogaea translates as "underground crypt." Sure enough, peanuts develop their seeds tucked up into a cluster beneath the plants' crowns, so they really are ground nuts.

• Growing Beans for Drying

  2 May 2013 | 1:05 pm

  Fans of climbing beans will know that there's one golden rule when it comes to their cultivation: keep on picking the pods if you want more to follow! The reason for this oft-quoted piece of advice is that if pods are left to mature to produce viable seed the plant will think it has done its job and will cease to form any new pods. How frustrating, then, to return from a summer holiday only to discover a host of over-ripe pods and the death knell for your ambitions of pods aplenty. This has happened to me on more than one occasion.

• A Gardener's Education

  26 Apr 2013 | 3:43 am

  Recently I received word that my GrowVeg blog won a Silver Award of Achievement from the Garden Writer's Association – a huge honor for me, the GrowVeg organization, and also for you, for asking smart questions that keep me on my toes. "I suppose this means you know it all now," a friend teased, but this is not true. That very morning, in response to a reader's question, I had spent an hour researching whether or not onions suppress the growth of peas and beans planted after them in the same soil. It turns out that they do, by exuding substances from their roots which have herbicidal…

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  The Enduring Gardener

• As Gorgeous as it Gets

  The Enduring Gardener

  24 May 2013 | 12:18 am

  Photo by Michelle GarrettThis amazing foliage and flower dress and parasol by Zita Elze was a real showstopper at the Chelsea Press Day.

• Chelsea Textures

  The Enduring Gardener

  23 May 2013 | 6:54 am

  With the grey light and relative lack of flowers it was often the contrasting textures in the gardens that became apparent at the Chelsea Flower Show.

• A Glass Act

  The Enduring Gardener

  23 May 2013 | 12:09 am

  Had I the money and the space I would love this greenhouse and its glazed canopy extension from Hartley Botanic in my garden. It will never happen, but it is nice to dream. More About Hartley Hartley have been making greenhouses for almost as long as the Chelsea Flower Show has been going. That’s a 100 years in case you hadn’t heard. Here’s one of their ads from the RHS Journal in 1965. Such is the popularity of their design they still make this model today. Take a look at the Hartley Botanic site to learn a little bit more about their range of greenhouses which extend from…

• A Golden Moment

  The Enduring Gardener

  22 May 2013 | 6:56 am

  I’m a keen supporter of WaterAid and the work it does in bringing clean water and sanitation to areas of the world where both are all too scarce, so I’m delighted that their Artisan garden at Chelsea was awarded a Gold Medal. Depicting a floriculture business in India, the gloriously colourful garden is hung with marigolds, roses and hanging garlands being grown and prepared for sale, with a backdrop of a simple house on stilts. By having access to clean water and sanitation people’s lives are transformed and women and children freed from the burdens and dangers of collecting water,…

• Star Plant of the Show

  The Enduring Gardener

  21 May 2013 | 11:40 pm

  There’s always a plant that appears in several show gardens and catches my eye.  Last year it was Silene fimbriata,  a dry-shade-loving campion with frilly-edged white flowers, that is now thriving in my garden.  This year it’s Euphorbia x pasteurii which is a cross between the lovely, honey-scented but large Euphorbia mellifera  and the handsome  Euphorbia stygiana.  As a bit of a fan of euphorbias, I have both growing in my garden, as well as E. palustris, E.myrsinites and E. schillingii, so even now one of the many seedlings around the garden may be a naturally…

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  Urban Gardens » Urban Gardens | Unlimited Thinking For Limited Spaces

• Balcony Gardener and Squint Pop-Up Urban Garden Shop at London’s Chelsea Fringe Festival

  Robin Plaskoff Horton

  23 May 2013 | 12:23 pm

  The Balcony Gardener’s teamed up with furniture maker and design company Squint to curate their first pop-up urban garden shop, part of Chelsea Fringe, the edgy “alternative” garden festival running concurrently with The Chelsea Flower Show. From May 18-June 9 … Read More...

• Five Easy Steps For Creating a Garden Border:No Experience Necessary

  Robin Plaskoff Horton

  20 May 2013 | 6:03 pm

  I just found out about Garden on a Roll, a mail-order DIY garden border kit available in the UK that offers a choice of ten ornamental styles, including one shady and one “low maintenance,”and one edible border kit. With non-gardeners … Read More...

• Mini Indoor Allotment Gardens

  Robin Plaskoff Horton

  18 May 2013 | 12:28 pm

  Joining a community garden project or tending an allotment is a great way to get your garden fix if you don’t have your own plot of land or outdoor space. To get yourself in the mood for participating in a … Read More...

• SeedTabs Get You Growing With Your Morning Coffee

  Robin Plaskoff Horton

  16 May 2013 | 6:07 pm

  Grab your morning cup of coffee, then toss some seeds on your way to work. San Francisco company SeedTabs is collaborating with local java spots to sell little folded packets of organic seeds they hope will inspire people to spread … Read More...

• Sjoerd Jonkers Modern Primitive Pots

  Robin Plaskoff Horton

  14 May 2013 | 5:50 am

  Influenced by principles of experimental archeology, Dutch artist Sjoerd Jonkers hand crafts pots, vases and bowls using a primitive production technique in which he casts plastics in sand molds. The resulting black, grey, sand, and stone colored Neolastic (Polyurethane) wares … Read More...

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  Busch Gardens in Virginia Blog

• Food and Wine Festival Recipe: Austria’s Chicken Paprikash

  Bruce Wilson

  23 May 2013 | 7:01 am

  With origins in nearby Hungary, this chicken paprikash recipe features a sweet variety of the common spice paprika. This variety of paprika is produced from dried peppers that have had most of their seeds removed and finely ground. To produce smoked paprika, the peppers are dried using smoke that carries through to the final flavor.

• The Many Shades of the Lorikeet

  Bruce Wilson

  16 May 2013 | 7:43 am

  For me, it feels like spring has finally arrived when the birds move back into the Lorikeet Glen aviary. During the colder months, they are housed in a fully-enclosed and heated aviary at our zoo building. The majority of the inhabitants are lorikeets, but there are different varieties of these exotic birds. Blue streaked lories are found in New Guinea and the Tanimbar Islands. These birds tend to stick together, so where you see one you will probably see a few more. Edwards’s lorikeets are native to the Timor Islands in Indonesia. Green-naped lorikeets can be found in Australia,…

• Busch Gardens Live Returns for 2013

  Bruce Wilson

  14 May 2013 | 12:59 pm

  Sunday was Mother’s Day, and what better place to bring the world’s greatest mom than the world’s most beautiful theme park.  This day also marked the beginning of the Busch Gardens Live concert series.  The first to play in the Royal Palace Theatre this year was none other than the legendary classic rock band, Styx.  Guests began picking up their complimentary concert tickets early in the morning at our Guest Relations building on the way into the park, and then they all had several hours to spend with their moms enjoying the beautiful weather. The gates to…

• An Achievable Dream

  Bruce Wilson

  10 May 2013 | 12:02 pm

    Busch Gardens is partnering with An Achievable Dream (AAD) (http://www.achievabledream.org) in supporting the vision that every child deserves the opportunity to accomplish their dreams. AAD is a nonprofit, year-round, extended day public school based in Newport News, Va. born out of the belief that all children can learn and succeed regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds and that education can break the cycle of poverty.  Join us in keeping the dream alive by participating in the 3rd Annual Run for the Dream. The race is a family event with an 8K run/walk on Saturday,…

• Happy Mother’s Day from the Highland Stables

  Bruce Wilson

  9 May 2013 | 12:28 pm

  From all of us at the Highland Stables, we would like to wish all the moms out there a happy Mother’s Day. At the Highland Stables we have had 16 Scottish Blackface sheep born over the last four years to nine different mothers. I’m going to tell you about one of our most “motherly” moms, Lady Anne. Lady Anne is a five-year-old Scottish Blackface sheep and is a mother to five of our lambs. Lady Anne had twins Mack and Maisie on March 11, 2011. This was her introduction to motherhood and she showed us her motherly side right away. When her twins would stray too far she…

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  a charlotte garden

• Plant of the Day: Hardy Begonia

  Daricia McKnight

  23 May 2013 | 5:32 pm

  Just when I was sure no hardy begonia  (Begonia grandis) had survived the weather ups and downs, and all the garden creatures this winter and spring, my husband found some growing in the mazus at one end of the patio. I wound up finding a couple more close by, and today I transplanted one of them to what I thought would be a better place in the garden. By this evening a busy little chipmunk had dug around and underneath it. (Grr!) I tucked it back in—the plant, not the chipmunk—but will have to wait and see what happens.

• Plant of the Day: Southern Magnolia

  Daricia McKnight

  22 May 2013 | 6:07 pm

  Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) has just started blooming in my garden. The flowers are huge, but it is the scent that tells me to look up into the tree for them. If there is a more pleasing smell, I don't know what it is. And the creamy white petals are just as pleasing. Leathery and smooth, they're nice to the touch, if you can reach one. (My tree has had all the lower branches trimmed and sometimes I have to jump and grab!) Southern magnolia is native to the southern US and has naturalized a bit outside its native range; you might see it in the wild anywhere between Texas and…

• Same Rose, New Day

  Daricia McKnight

  21 May 2013 | 11:53 am

  Grüss an Aachen in the pink! Straight out of the camera, no photo enhancements. This was taken yesterday. Here's what it looked like just a few days earlier. Which do you like better?

• A Peony's Passing

  Daricia McKnight

  20 May 2013 | 7:02 am

  The peony I posted about last Monday opened up this week. Inside was a surprising, solid white (like the one I posted about here)—no red or pink at all. When a quick shower came through yesterday, the pristine petals fell quickly...almost all at once. But the first colors to show are also the last. The ruffly ring of parrot petals hangs on for another day. Macro Monday

• A Bloom Day Plant of the Day: Grüss an Aachen Rose

  Daricia McKnight

  15 May 2013 | 6:27 am

  This is the peachiest I've ever seen this rose, and I love it. It's glowing! Normally there are more pink tones, especially toward the edges of the petals...which is also pretty, but not quite so perfect. My shrub is kind of pitiful or I would show you a little more of it; it's an especially good year for these flowers. Rosa 'Grüss an Aachen' suffers along in a mostly shady spot in the garden, but even though mine is not an attractive shrub, I keep it because the roses are just so lovely! Imagine a shrub absolutely full of lush English garden roses...just try not to think about the…

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  Growing Veggies

• Kale is Nutritious, Delicious and Easy to Grow

  Annette

  18 May 2013 | 7:57 am

  Kale that has been left to grow will eventually flower and go to seed. Currently regarded as one of the most healthy vegetables on Planet Earth, kale is packed full of nutrients, has incredible health benefits, and when well prepared, has a delicious flavour. It is easy to grow, needs minimal care, and will reward you with an awesome harvest for much longer than most of the other veggies in the Brassica family. There are many different types of kale, all of which are very easily sown from seed. And you don’t need a huge patch to get an ongoing supply of leaves for the table (as you can see…

• Romanesco: an Intriguing Vegetable

  Annette

  22 Apr 2013 | 7:46 am

  Romanesco demands as much interest from photographers as it does from chefs. In fact there are some who say they use it as a centrepiece at dinner parties to generate conversation! Close-up on a fractal broccoli This intriguing vegetable is brightly coloured, absolutely beautiful and even a little bizarre, with sculptured lime-green conical buds on its spiral head that look like something out of the ocean or from prehistoric times. A food critic writing for the New York Times once described it as “an alien vegetable” that looked as if it had come from outer space. Origin of Romanesco…

• Improve Your Diet with Fruit and Vegetables and Lose Weight

  Annette

  29 Mar 2013 | 5:11 am

  Try eating at least five types of fruit and veg a day. A large percentage of the world’s population is overweight or obese, leading to health problems that cost trillions of dollars every year. And one of the reasons for this is that people don’t eat healthy food – like fresh fruit and vegetables. Because of this Britain has launched a policy for reducing obesity and improving diet, and it’s the kind of policy that people everywhere in the world should take to heart. Problems Related to Obesity In England it has been found that most people are overweight or obese. Figures released by…

• Fresh Veggies Promise a Better Night’s Sleep

  Annette

  19 Feb 2013 | 5:21 am

  American researchers have discovered that what we eat directly affects the way we sleep. Whilst those who know how important it is to eat fresh vegetables will also know that this isn’t rocket science, it’s a welcome declaration in a country where junk food has been the norm for so long. Saturated fats and choline (found in fatty meat and eggs), as well as tea. chocolate and alcohol were all blamed for poor sleep patterns. The study was carried out at the University of Pennsylvania, under lead researcher, Michael Grandner from the University’s Centre for Sleep and Circadian…

• Our Body’s Thrive on Raw Vegetables

  Annette

  23 Jan 2013 | 7:47 am

  Fast-growing curly kale and marogo (African spinach) growing in a veggie patch (see photo below for the same patch three weeks later!) There’s a lot that’s been written recently about the value of raw food that includes nutritional information about many of the vegetables that we can grow in our own backyards. But if you’re serious about the value of raw, which veggies should you concentrate on producing? Australian author and digestive health and RAW food teacher, Scott Mathias says it in half a sentence: “All greens, reds, yellows and white vegetables”. What a pleasure! Why Raw…

• 

  Thanks for today.

• 17-Year Cicadas...Enough Already!

  Jan

  23 May 2013 | 3:46 pm

  About a week ago, when the Brood II Cicadas began showing up around here, it was exciting to see their transformations from nymph to adult.I was snapping photos and was actually hoping I'd be able to find one in the process of 'being born' (aka 'exiting it's exoskeleton). I had captured holes in the ground with nymphs crawling out and up trees. A couple of days later, I was able to capture a 'birth', and I marveled at the whole process--using adjectives like fascinating, marvelous, miraculous. Skip ahead a few days until today. I've had it! They are everywhere, literally everywhere in my yard…

• Cercis canadensis - Eastern Redbud

  Jan

  24 Apr 2013 | 6:13 pm

  I had seen the colors often in earlier springs...driving along, every now and then, a brilliant pop of purple would catch my attention. What is that tree, I would find myself thinking? I have drooled over the Eastern Redbud for years. Every spring, it makes itself known by brilliant purple buds, highlighted by reddish heart-shaped leaves, left over from the preceding fall and winter. Below, it is nothing but a bare stick-like twig.  On the lower right (below) is my smallest Redbud. I planted it in March (before the snow made the landscape white). I got it at a native plant nursery, and…

• Can You Identify These Animal Tracks?

  Jan

  7 Mar 2013 | 7:58 am

  Because I have been having a problem with some unidentified animal chomping on my treasured Hellebores (see Devastation in the Garden) I need some help figuring out which critter it might be. We just had some snow...and when I took pictures this morning, I discovered some tracks that I'm not familiar with. I don't think they are squirrel tracks...because they are not all over the yard. There are lots of other tracks all over the yard, which are probably squirrels...because I DO have LOTS of squirrels here. But these tracks are only in a few areas and they stand out. What could they be?

• More New Natives For My Gardens

  Jan

  4 Mar 2013 | 4:39 pm

  I drove up to Alexandria on Saturday to visit a native plant nursery. Since they weren't just yet open for the season, I had made an appointment in advance. I was the only customer and had the undivided attention of Randee, the manager of Nature-By-Design. I had spoken with him a few days earlier asking if he had any Spigelia. I have just one plant that I got from Carolyn's Shade Gardens during a visit a couple of years ago. I liked it so much that I wanted to add a few more. When Randee said he had what I was looking for, I asked about Claytonia. He said yes. Then I asked about Cercis...I've…

• DEVASTATION in the Garden.

  Jan

  3 Mar 2013 | 8:47 am

  Went outside to take some photos of some new native plants I bought yesterday and was instead caught off-guard by some sights that almost made me weep. Many of my favorite Hellebores were chomped, chewed, mauled and destroyed sometime during the night. Helleborus "Gold Finch"...I was really looking forward to watching this one bloom. There had been 2 buds that I'd been watching and they finally opened a couple of days ago but did I get a photo while they were still attached? Sadly, no. Am also a bit sad by the devastation to Helleborus "Phoenix". I did manage a previous photo of her, but when…

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  Pacific Outdoor Living | Landscape Design - Landscape Contractor La

• Featured Design of the Month

  admin

  1 May 2013 | 10:43 am

  Our featured design for the month of May is a complete pool and patio space for an estate in Shadow Hills! When Mr. and Mrs. Yu originally met with us, they were only looking to add a garden to their backyard. The property was on a large plot of land that had been left rather [...]

• Flower of the Month: Gerbera

  admin

  30 Apr 2013 | 4:09 pm

  Gerbera is the genus name given to a kind of ornamental plant native to South Africa. It’s common name is the African Daisy. It thrives in well-drained, sandy soils. Each plant contains many colorful daisy-like flowers, in colors like yellow, orange, white, red and pink. The only colors they won’t bloom in are true blues [...]

• Types of Fences

  admin

  30 Apr 2013 | 1:31 pm

  Fences are used to mark the boundaries of a property, but they have many other uses, including privacy, protection, pet containment and decoration. Fences can be constructed from different materials, and each has a specific use and benefit. It all depends on what you’re looking for. Let’s take a look at the 3 most common [...]

• Keeping Your Patio Cool in the Summer

  admin

  29 Apr 2013 | 4:16 pm

  Keeping cool in the summer is especially important in Southern California. Whether you already have a backyard patio in place or are thinking of having one installed, it’s a good idea to consider some type of covering. If your patio is open, you may not be able to enjoy it during the summer months because [...]

• Types of Japanese Gardens

  admin

  24 Apr 2013 | 4:05 pm

  Many wonderful works of art have come out of Japan, one of the biggest being the architecture and landscape designs. Japanese gardens have a stylized and abstract appearance, but are very carefully and specifically arranged and constructed. They had many functions: emperors and nobles would use them for recreational and aesthetic reasons, while those constructed [...]

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  Lead up the Garden Path

• So many shades of Green. GBFD.

  Pauline

  22 May 2013 | 1:03 am

  It’s amazing how the garden and surrounding countryside has changed in the last month. There are now so many different shades of green delighting us as well as other colours of foliage.  Driving round the lanes here, the beech leaves are at their best, such a wonderful soft, pale green, just the right colour with bluebells underneath but in the garden it is the oaks and chestnuts that are making us feel that we don’t have any neighbours, they will be blocked out for the next 6 months. Low down in the garden there is a rich tapestry of foliage growing rapidly, this is Tiarella…

• Molly the Witch

  Pauline

  19 May 2013 | 10:03 am

  By March 22nd things were beginning to happen in the front border that showed that Molly was on the move once more. The “molly” I’m referring to is Paeonia mlokosewitschii, commonly known as Molly the Witch. When the leaves first break through the soil, they are the most beautiful burgundy colour. The foliage of Molly, matched exactly, the colour of the backs of the sepals on the hellebore planted in front, I think I forgot this when I planted the hellebore. Just 10 days later the foliage is already opening out and showing the touches of green/grey that the leaves will end…

• Scilly sunsets.

  Pauline

  16 May 2013 | 1:06 am

  This is the last post from me about the Scillies. We were lucky with the weather on a few days while we were away and the good weather lasted into the evenings with some wonderful sunsets. Having dinner each night in our hotel, it was a question of rushing out quickly to find a spot before the sun went down. This first photograph was taken from the quay where our ship came in. Another evening we managed to get further round the coast to the west. A very still evening gives beautiful reflections, just one little boat crossing the water. This evening I was so tired after all the walking we had…

• Bath time, but not for pheasants.

  Pauline

  11 May 2013 | 2:53 am

  You may remember a previous post that I did about planting up an old tin bath with tulips and pansies. The idea was to provide the tulips with nice well drained soil, which I just don’t have in the garden here and to cover them with the pansies so that the squirrels, voles, mice etc wouldn’t be able to smell the tulips and then dig them up to eat them. It worked, hooray!! we have a bath full of lovely colourful  flowers! I thought that I had chosen all the tulips to flower together, but the white ones were out a while before the rest, also they are quite a bit taller, so I think…

• Scilly wild flowers.

  Pauline

  8 May 2013 | 1:20 pm

  As you can imagine, wild flowers are everywhere on all the Scilly islands, no matter which one we visited, they were everywhere. Some are garden escapees that are now spreading wherever they can get a foothold and are now considered as local wild flowers. The first flower that we saw everywhere were bluebells, but not English bluebells and far bigger than Spanish bluebells, these were on steroides, they were huge! A plant that we often saw at the base of hedges is this Bermuda buttercup, Oxalis pes-capre. The wild flower book that I bought says that it is an invasive weed to the flower…

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  leavesnbloom

• What's in bloom in May?

  Rosie Nixon

  14 May 2013 | 4:00 pm

  It  might be May but looking out at my garden it seems to be more like an April garden.  It feels it too with that incessant cold wind!  Seed sowing of the hardy annuals was delayed until the beginning of May as April was the coldest month since 1986 here in Perthshire.   The daffodils and tulips are still in flower and the garden looks so different compared to What's in bloom in May 2012What's in bloom in May 2011 and What's in bloom in May 2010.   I've had one sighting of the Orange tip butterflies and on the few occasions when it's been warm and sunny the bee…

• Let's meet the family....it's portrait time!

  Rosie Nixon

  12 May 2013 | 3:06 pm

  Moist well drained shade can be daunting especially for first time gardeners.  You want colour like everywhere else in the garden but this one area defeats you time and again. You've spent money on plants..........they look great for a few weeks .....then they just sulk and never flower...........or worse still never re-appear after the winter.  You really wanted this part of the garden to have colour like all the others parts  but "what's ever going to grow here from one year to the next?"......I hear  you exclaim! Well there are some woodland plants that grow in my…

• Integrating spring into summer at Branklyn Garden

  Rosie Nixon

  28 Apr 2013 | 2:51 pm

  Nestled into the slopes of Kinoull Hill and overlooking the River Tay and Perth is Branklyn Garden which belongs to the National Trust of Scotland.  It's a garden that holds many National Collections along with some rare and unusual plants.   At this time of year the garden is just bursting with colour from the spring flowering woodlanders.  Pathways are lined with hellebores and drift after drift of soft lemon cowslips meander through the borders along with corydalis in shades of lilac, white and pink.  Many of the rhododendron and trillium flowers are just emerging from their buds.

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  The Sage Butterfly

• Wordless Wednesday

  The Sage Butterfly

  21 May 2013 | 9:30 pm

  © copyright 2013 Michelle A. Potter

• Spring Secrets for an Easy Care Garden - May GBBD

  The Sage Butterfly

  14 May 2013 | 9:21 pm

  Through the years, I have discovered a few secrets that add beauty and interest to my spring garden. With so much in the garden, I do not always have time to give each plant individualized care, so I tend toward plants that are low maintenance. To gain beauty and easy care makes gardening a dream. These are some of the stars in my spring garden.Plant shrubs that splash with bold and beautiful color in spring.AzaleaThese azaleas require little care and always please the eye come spring. I side-dress them with a little compost at the beginning of spring, and then supplement with coffee grounds…

• Wordless Wednesday

  The Sage Butterfly

  8 May 2013 | 7:59 am

  © copyright 2013 Michelle A. Potter

• My Garden Notebook - May 2013

  The Sage Butterfly

  30 Apr 2013 | 9:02 pm

  Spring has beautifully emerged with a slow creep that has allowed each bloom, each leaf, to step out into the season with tender care and ultimate beauty. Vivid colors of blooms are lasting and fulfilling more than promised. The forest canopy has filled in the emptiness with an artist's hand, delicately painting in all the color and texture over time.There have been moments when my impatience has gotten the best of me as I could not wait for a bud to splash into petals, but savoring all this beauty far outweighs any peeves I may have. The gradual dawning of each delicate petal, bud, leaf is a…

• My Garden Notebook - April 2013

  The Sage Butterfly

  1 Apr 2013 | 4:55 am

  March has been a month of extremes. We have had several snowfalls and a few days of temperatures in the 50's or 60's. Spring is definitely moving in like a lamb. Although I am yearning for more of the warmth and color of spring, I do relish the snow. I yearn for it so desperately in the winter that when it comes, whenever it comes, it is hard for me to complain.A childlike sense of wonder seems to come over me, and I table my yearning and savor every snowflake, every frost covered branch, every sweep of alabaster across the landscape. It is almost as if I think I will never see it again.

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  Garden Walk, Garden Talk

• Winterthur Azalea Woods

  Garden Walk Garden Talk

  23 May 2013 | 3:44 pm

  This post is the first in a series on the gardens at Winterthur in May. Continue reading →

• Bird ID – White Crowned Sparrow

  Garden Walk Garden Talk

  22 May 2013 | 4:02 am

  The White Crowned Sparrow is not a bird I see very often.  A small flock came to visit my ground feeding station this May. Where usually found, the White Crowned Sparrows are seen foraging at the edges of brushy habitat, … Continue reading →

• Why blog?

  Garden Walk Garden Talk

  19 May 2013 | 2:52 am

  Why I started a blog and why I think it is worth having. Continue reading →

• Garden Glimpses Through the Seasons

  Garden Walk Garden Talk

  16 May 2013 | 3:29 pm

  See the garden bed transition in color and plant variety through the seasons. Continue reading →

• Garden Glimpses Take 2

  Garden Walk Garden Talk

  14 May 2013 | 3:44 am

  The front yard in Spring. Continue reading →

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  PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening

• BriteTap Chicken Water Covered in the San Francisco Chronicle

  H. Mark Delman

  5 May 2013 | 7:56 am

  The San Francisco Chronicle was kind enough to publish and article on the BriteTap Chicken waterer in the Home & Garden Section (Sunday May 5, 2013).  You can read the story and also read another article about chicken coops in the same issue.  Thanks very much to the folks at the Chronicle for covering us!

• BriteTap Chicken Waterer Designed For Thrift

  H. Mark Delman

  13 Apr 2013 | 11:36 am

  Check out this article on how how the design of the BriteTap chicken waterer bucks the trend -- it's Chicken waterer designed to last.

• BriteTap Chicken Waterer Easter Egg Hunt

  H. Mark Delman

  31 Mar 2013 | 6:56 am

  Win A BriteTap Chicken Waterer in our Easter Egg Hunt contest. The egg hunt works like “I Spy” or “Where’s Waldo” if you are familiar with those games. You need to located 5 objects hidden among other objects in a photo. Find the five, and your entered into the drawing. Two people will win a BriteTap chicken waterer (retail value $29.95). Check it out at:  http://blog.chickenwaterer.com/2013/03/britetap-chicken-waterer-easter-egg.html

• Chicken Owners Support New Product Development By Casting Your Vote For The BriteTap Chicken Waterer

  H. Mark Delman

  23 Oct 2012 | 2:23 pm

  Want to support new, innovative products designed for people who keep chickens? Then please cast a vote for us in the FedEx Small Business Grant program.  The FedEx program will award a $25,000 grant to a qualifying small business with fans willing to cast a vote for them. ChickenWaterer.com is the maker of the innovative BriteTap waterer that shields water from dirt and poop so chickens get cleaner water and owners don't need to clean out filthy water pans.                               Cast Your Vote Here If we win, we'll invest the funds in developing new products for…

• BriteTap Chicken Waterer To Be Displayed at the National Heirloom Exposition

  H. Mark Delman

  10 Sep 2012 | 9:37 pm

  If you live in the Bay Area and are interested in seeing a demo of the BriteTap chicken waterer, please come visit our booth at the National Heirloom Exposition (Sonoma County Fairground in Santa Rosa). We will be on display from Sept 11-13.  We will be available to demonstrate the product and answer questions from 11 AM to 9 PM.  Our booth is located between the bandstand and the live animal exhibits, so come on by!

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  Colorado Garden Club

• Hot … and cold

  help@andreakalil.com (Andrea Kalli - Colorado Garden Club)

  23 May 2013 | 8:18 am

  SIGH. That pretty much sums up this gardening season so far. Late snows, fluctuating temperatures, late-blooming trees...and the list goes on. Metro Denver reached the  low 80s last week, which did wonders for the plants growing in our garden. Everything just seemed to come alive with bright greens and strong leaves. We ate our first salad of lettuce, arugula and spinach harvested from the garden, and the peas are getting closer to producing.  Once I spent a half-hour weeding, the potato patch revealed itself to be strong and healthy as well. All three varieties of potatoes (purple, yukon…

• Gardening: Planning for Summer Drought in Denver Colorado

  help@andreakalil.com (Andrea Kalli - Colorado Garden Club)

  21 May 2013 | 11:22 am

  Spring is the time to start planning for summer drought conditions. Evaluate your watering options and prepare your beds with the right soil treatment to optimize your garden this summer. As summer fast approaches, it pays to be prepared for the hot, dry conditions that can wreak havoc on lawns, flower beds, and vegetables gardens. Spring is the time to begin taking some steps to alleviate summer drought, save your plants, and extend your growing season. Water Solutions Begin evaluating your drain spouts in the spring. Do they drain out onto sidewalks or driveways? If they do, consider…

• Butterfly Gardening for Beginners

  help@andreakalil.com (Andrea Kalli - Colorado Garden Club)

  16 May 2013 | 8:45 am

  A wise gardener once said that a person can easily identify a particular butterfly if they know what kind of plant that butterfly frequents. Creating a butterfly garden that attracts a variety of butterflies is all about planting the caterpillar host plants as well as a mix of nectar plants for the adult butterflies. Butterflies can’t exist without their caterpillar host plants. In order to encourage adult butterflies to linger in their yards, gardeners should plant a variety of flowers as well as provide water and sand for puddles. One fun way to start a butterfly garden is for gardeners…

• Fun in the Garden: Do-It-Yourself Garden Crafts

  help@andreakalil.com (Andrea Kalli - Colorado Garden Club)

  9 May 2013 | 8:30 am

  DIY Garden Props When the do-it-yourself craze sweeps into the garden, great things happen and if you thought that propagating seeds was addictive, wait until your own creations begin to complement all the growing things of your garden. Whatever your garden style—from rustic to cottage chic to formal—there is a myriad of garden projects that anyone can try. The following DIY prop ideas will enhance your garden and show off your crafting talent! Sun-Catching Birdbath Ever notice the great selection of old glass at thrift stores or yard sales? From old punch bowls to fancy cut vases, there…

• How to Maintain an Eco-Friendly Garden

  help@andreakalil.com (Andrea Kalli - Colorado Garden Club)

  2 May 2013 | 8:25 am

  For many people, time that is spent in the garden is just a logical extension of their love for the natural world. Cultivating a garden can be our way of contributing to nature and at the same time inviting her into our yards. Gardening is, by definition, an eco-friendly activity. Unfortunately, many of the tactics that people resort to in an effort to save their gardens from predators have a detrimental impact on the overall ecosystem. Chemical pesticides are harmful to humans, their pets and other wildlife. They may even pose hazards to the wider community if they make their way into water…

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  Fine Gardening - Gallery category posts

• Need Help!!!

  20 May 2013 | 4:23 am

  Posted by WannaBePlanter The front yard is a Southern exposure. I would to over cover the cement side of porch.... Need help with ideas!!!! I really like barberries and boxwoods but don't know how many and if a variety or...

• I have been told it's an elephant ear??

  19 May 2013 | 7:39 pm

  Posted by Stormsmyst I have recently moved to Modesto California and this plant is in the yard.  I have been told it was an elephant ear, but I don't think it is.  Any help would be very much appreciated.  

• Volunteer or a weed?

  18 May 2013 | 10:33 am

  Posted by Maplewood50 We moved in to our house last fall, and this spring this plant sprouted in our raised vegetable bed.  I am not sure if it's a weed or a vegetable?

• Is this a weed?

  15 May 2013 | 7:49 am

  Posted by fishermoi Hi friends, This one, one just like it (immediately behind it - you can see its leaves), and a baby one in front of it, have all popped up behind my house in the last couple of weeks.  Is this a...

• A nasty tough weed!

  14 May 2013 | 5:31 pm

  Posted by fishercat This is growing in my NH gardens-mostly in the vegetable, but some in the flower.I really would love to know what these weeds are. They appear every year, started out looking like seedlings of...

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  Veggie Gardening Tips

• Perfect Weather for a Weekend in the Vegetable Garden

  Kenny Point

  20 May 2013 | 6:21 am

  Rain, drizzle, high temps in the 60′s, and not a peek of sunshine; but it was still a perfect weekend to spend time out in the vegetable garden! Sure, the sun would have felt great, it’s nice to stay dry, and no one likes wearing rain gear when working in the garden… but there are times when drizzly, cloudy, and cool are just what the gardener ordered. In this case cool and cloudy wouldn’t interfere with my weekend gardening activities at all, and even a little light rain can turn into an opportunity for the backyard vegetable grower. That’s an ideal time…

• Flirting with a Late Spring Frost in Pennsylvania

  Kenny Point

  13 May 2013 | 8:13 pm

  May 15th is my unofficial frost free date here in Central Pennsylvania, but I never really expect to see a killing frost that late during spring… well things might turn out differently this year with the possibility of frost in the forecast for tomorrow morning. That’s just why I never rush setting out frost-tender vegetable transplants until AFTER that target frost-free date. Of course the one time I make an exception to that rule is the season that we are threatened by an unexpectedly late spring frost. Critical Decision Making in the Early Vegetable Garden It wasn’t a case of being…

• Highlights from the Spring Vegetable Garden

  Kenny Point

  6 May 2013 | 5:24 am

  It’s still early in the spring vegetable garden and the majority of the planting is still ahead of me but I wanted to share some highlights and a couple of disappointments from this stage of the growing season. Starting out with the old reliable crops that I can always depend on; the fall planted garlic, shallots, and multiplier onions are looking like they will all yield an awesome harvest this summer with plants that tall, healthy, and care-free. There are also leafy greens like kale, arugula, mustards that over wintered as usual and are now providing fresh leaves for salads, smoothies,…

• It’s the Season for Plant Sales and Herb Festivals

  Kenny Point

  26 Apr 2013 | 4:28 am

  Mid-spring is a perfect time to explore the local plant sales, herb fairs, and even local nurseries to locate transplants for the backyard garden. It isn’t safe here in Central PA to set out frost sensitive plants just yet, but the frost-free date is quickly approaching. Even for those of us who like to raise lots of their own transplants for the garden, it’s still fun to visit the local plant sales, and you never know just what you may find. Here in the Central Pennsylvania area I attended my first plant sale a couple weeks ago over at the Rodale Institute. Rodale Institute Plant Sale…

• Getting a Jump on the Spring Gardening Season

  Kenny Point

  24 Apr 2013 | 4:39 am

  The garden is off and growing with a good start to the early spring season. It’s obvious that the plants are anxious to get going and you can watch them swell, bud, uncurl, and flex before they finally burst open with new leaf growth or flower blooms! Gardeners can be the same way, whether it’s the rush to get outside and enjoy warm temps, a yearning for the taste of some garden fresh produce, or the desire to be the first one in the neighborhood to harvest a vine-ripened tomato! Here’s a list of tips and ideas to help you get the garden off to a fast start each spring: Raise Fall…

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  Perennial Meadows

• Tulipa sylvestris – the woodland tulip

  Michael

  16 May 2013 | 6:43 am

  The woodland tulip is the common name of one of the most widely distributed wild species, however, its true origins are far from clear and in the form we know it today, it is associated with human cultivation. It is commonly found in Western Europe in orchards and vineyards where it thrives on the disturbances to the soil which it encounters. Tulipa sylvestris is often found growing in woodland, but although it thrives, spreading rapidly by underground stolons, it rarely flowers well in such situations. I have heard stories of it being found growing in old, overgrown churchyards, but never…

• Native Plant Gardens in The Netherlands known as Heemparken

  Michael

  15 May 2013 | 3:17 am

  With the opening of the new Native Plant Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens earlier this month I was inspired to pay a return visit to the heempark in Amstelveen which is recognised as one of Europe’s best. The Dutch landscape is in part manmade and has been intensively managed for centuries. The native flora, such as it was, became threatened here far earlier than in other countries and this was recognised by naturalists in the last century who began to campaign for its conservation. Jac. P. Thijsse (1865 – 1945) was a leader in the conservation movement of The Netherlands.

• Spring Snow in Amsterdam

  Michael

  14 May 2013 | 1:54 am

    In 2005 Amsterdam was named as The Elm City of Europe as it has more than 75,000 elm trees, many some 80 to 100 years old, growing along the sides of its canals and throughout the city’s parks. In fact, Amsterdam is one of the most densely wooded cities in the world with some 400,000 trees which can be compared with Paris with just 95,000 and even London with only 500,000. When the elm trees release their seeds they fill the sky and clothe the ground for a couple of weeks every spring. Looking out my window I can see that the seed fall is just about ready to begin. It may be late…

• Gardening starts late in Europe

  Michael

  1 May 2013 | 1:59 am

  I am not the only one to be complaining about the late start to the gardening spring in Western Europe this year. Our winter was very long and cold and the garden has seemed to be stuck, awaiting a cue to begin its thing. Well, finally, this week it happened, my garden leaped forward. Perennials are jumping out of the ground, bulbs bursting into flower and I have managed to get the last of my new collection of shrubs into the ground. Red foliage is something I am currently interested in as can be seen here with one of the new Acer palmatum cultivars I have planted. It was only a week ago that…

• Contemporary Perennial Planting – concepts and practice

  Michael

  21 Apr 2013 | 12:56 am

  The popularity of perennials in contemporary planting schemes is increasingly linked to the movement towards a more naturalistic style of garden making. The highly structured flower borders of twentieth century European gardens have steadily given way to a looser, more informal planting style where complex mixtures of perennials are planted in wide open drifts in which visitors can loose themselves amidst the soothing atmosphere created by their intermingled forms, textures and colours. Ornamental grasses and perennials that are close to the character of their wild parents have replaced the…

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  Beautiful Wildlife Garden

• Bird-napping, Murder and the Usual Suspects

  Loret T. Setters

  24 May 2013 | 5:45 am

  Swallowtail Kites, a type of hawk, often grab young nestlings Ahhh, nature.  Sometimes a little hard to take, but always an adventure. The backyard mockingbird nest one day last week Recently I had two mockingbird nests with four eggs each, one in the front yard and one in the backyard.  I spotted the one in the backyard, built in a Leyland cypress shrub and rather close to a narrow pathway that runs along the West Side of the pond.  Momma squawked at me once or twice…from my standpoint not a great building location. The Red-shouldered hawks have been hanging around, lying in wait…

• Celebrity wildlife gardening, part II

  Jesse Elwert

  22 May 2013 | 5:08 pm

  Yesterday I began telling the story of how I came to be the garden designer for a celebrity’s wildlife garden. I was as surprised as anyone in the summer of 2012 when my phone rang and on the other end was an internationally known actress and activist who had heard of my ecological garden design business and wanted to meet me. Among the other, edible gardens, Allison Mack and I planned to plant native plants to harmonize with the neighboring wildlife. Lots of Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed) was planted for Monarch butterfly support. Other natives in this bed include Amsonia…

• Raccoons In The Wildlife Garden

  Carole Sevilla Brown

  22 May 2013 | 9:39 am

  I’ve been observing a special visitor to my wildlife garden lately, one that my two Plott Hounds get especially excited about–the raccoons that have taken up residence in the abandoned house next to my property. My Plott hounds are quite adept at helping me spot birds in the wildlife garden, but these raccoons are just too much stimulation, since they were bred to help raccoon hunters by getting the raccoons stuck up in a tree. I’m in the process of re-designing my entire wildlife garden, having ripped out the whole shebang last summer because too many invasive plants have…

• Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly

  Judy Burris

  20 May 2013 | 6:59 am

  Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly Butterfly season is finally here in my beautiful wildlife garden !  This week my brother and I finished releasing our winter batch of butterflies that have been hibernating inside their chrysalises since last fall.  All of them were swallowtail species – Zebra, Eastern Black, Spicebush, Pipevine and Eastern Tiger.  They have been emerging almost daily for the last three weeks.  We usually raise at least one thousand butterflies per year, with around 75 of those spending the winter in hibernation. Spicy food Each species of butterfly requires specific…

• Being Green in the Wildlife Garden

  Loret T. Setters

  17 May 2013 | 5:16 am

  Green Heron (Butorides virescens) As I do every morning, I was walking around the property enjoying nature at its best.  I took my normal route past the Rusty Lyonia, Pawpaws and Dwarf Oaks, among others and headed down the bank of the pond into the section that dries up during Florida dry season.  I checked two small temporary pools created from recent rains and watched the tadpoles dance with the diving beetles. Poised to catch a meal As I turned my attention to the main section of pond, I was surprised to see a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) standing on the side, poised to grab a…

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  Vegetable Gardener - All featured posts

• Grafted Tomato Trials Set to Begin

  22 May 2013 | 6:00 am

  Posted by WesternGardener This year’s gardening trials for Harris Seeds includes a side-by-side comparison of three varieties of grafted heirloom tomatoes versus non-grafted varieties.

• Book Review - Straw Bale Gardens

  21 May 2013 | 5:00 am

  Posted by yourownvictorygarden Joel Karsten's book on this breakthrough method of gardening is well written, informative, and beautifully illustrated.

• Edible Flowers for Mothers' Day

  11 May 2013 | 3:42 pm

  Posted by cookinwithherbs Tomorrow we celebrate our mothers. Besides expressing our gratitude and giving them flowers, why not feed them some of the delightful, colorful and tasty blossoms that are in bloom in our gardens right now?

• Grow More Food in Small Spaces

  8 May 2013 | 1:40 pm

  Posted by WesternGardener Why is it the best ideas for solving gardening problems come from creative gardeners? That’s because gardeners, like Margaret Park, are always searching for ways to overcome obstacles, including how to garden in the smallest of spaces.

• Spring Pleasures

  6 May 2013 | 12:39 pm

  Posted by cookinwithherbs Spring has sprung and there are many chores for the gardener. However, I find that there are as many delights, if not more, that outweigh the work. See some of the plants sprouting in my garden, and what I am transplanting.

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  Fine Gardening - Blogs category featured posts

• Gayle & Larry's garden in Illinois

  23 May 2013 | 11:00 pm

  Posted by MichelleGervais Today's photos are from Gayle Ruprecht in Chicago. She says, "My husband Larry and I are longtime residents of Chicago's historic suburb Oak Park. We purchased our home nearly thirty years ago. Our...

• How to Prune Panicle Hydrangeas

  23 May 2013 | 1:47 pm

  Posted by Antonio_Reis Find out how to cut back these beautiful, versatile shrubs.

• How to Prune Mountain Laurel

  23 May 2013 | 1:45 pm

  Posted by Antonio_Reis Expert Dick Jaynes demonstrates how to properly prune this beautiful shrub

• Nina's garden in Massachusetts, revisited

  22 May 2013 | 11:00 pm

  Posted by MichelleGervais We've visited Nina Schlosberg's garden in Waltham, Massachusetts, twice before, HERE and HERE. Today she's sharing the height of spring! She says, "This year spring has been nice, slow. and cool...

• Container Gardening Basics

  22 May 2013 | 8:09 am

  Posted by Antonio_Reis Potting up a container is a breeze when you have these tips and tricks up your sleeve

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  Tsubo-en Zen-garden diary

• Book review: Niwaki by Jake Hobson

  Karesansui

  10 May 2013 | 6:24 am

  Niwaki: Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way by Jake Hobson, English language and published by Timber Press. In [12] you find a book reference to “Niwaki”, (niwa ki) clipped and pruned garden trees, a book that we should have had right from the beginning. Unfortunately at was not available at the time (1997/1998) [...]

• Front-garden gravel-area restoration

  Karesansui

  23 Apr 2013 | 11:52 am

  At the time we initially constructed our garden we used a couple of hundred square meters of weed control fabric (barrier cloth) as a basis for the gravel area's, in particular the Ginshanada. When that was almost finished we walked into just a minor shortage of barrier cloth, to finish the gravel area to [...]

• Winter season-impression: Weather-Gods garden-art

  Karesansui

  24 Jan 2013 | 2:39 am

  After a delay the winter has now commenced. Last week we got some snow. At first a thin layer and later about 5 to 10cm (2-4 inch) in our part of the country. We also had the pleasure of a good frost (damage for this winter yet unknown). This post gives a brief impression [...]

• Our Ulmus parvifolia (Elm-tree) got Dutch elm disease

  Karesansui

  6 Aug 2012 | 12:28 am

  Our beautiful Ulmus parvifolia or Elm-tree in The front garden compartment is again partly affected by Dutch elm disease (DED). Well that is to say most parts that survived the previous attack. In July 2011 we had to remove some heavy branches because they had lost all leafs in mid-summer. Although substantial damage, the tree [...]

• What tools to use to trim Buxus topiary shrubs?

  Karesansui

  5 Jul 2012 | 12:28 pm

  I think the complete question should read like: What tools to use to trim Buxus topiary shrubs … in a Japanese- and more specifically Zen-garden? Most of the karikomi and hako-zukuri topiary and other shrubs are the evergreen Buxus sempervirens (Box or Boxwood). Throughout the years I have used, or perhaps it is better to [...]

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  About.com Trees and Shrubs

• Mystery Monday - Name the Tree!

  13 May 2013 | 12:32 pm

  Your clues for this week: We had this tree in one of our front yards in Southern California. We would tug off the fruits and crush the red outer shells. This tree is related to poison ivy, mangoes, and cashews This tree does so well in warm climates that it can be invasive. It's on the naughty list in Florida, for example. Part of the common name is a very familiar spice....Read Full Post

• Mystery Monday - Name That Shrub!

  6 May 2013 | 3:25 pm

  Welcome to Mystery Monday! It's gray and drizzly here. Later this week I will have fun and plant my vegetable garden finally. As for last week's tree tool, we had a lot of people comment with the correct answer. It was indeed a fruit picker. You guide the tines above the fruit and pull carefully, making it drop into the basket below. Congratulations to Casey, Gloria, Robin, Stewart, Susan and Deanna!...Read Full Post

• April 2013 Tree and Shrub Roundup

  30 Apr 2013 | 2:31 pm

  It's getting warm enough here in Utah that I sometimes turn on the air conditioner. My cherry and peach/nectarine trees have bloomed. My banana tree keeps sending out new leaves. Spring definitely is my favorite time of year!...Read Full Post

• Mystery Monday - Name That Tree Tool!

  22 Apr 2013 | 4:57 pm

  Welcome to Mystery Monday! Last week's palm tree was the Chilean wine palm (Jubaea chilensis). I have heard the name coquitos used for the fruit, since they look and taste like tiny coconuts. Our winners were Chuck, Gloria and Anand. Great job!...Read Full Post

• Mystery Monday - Name That Palm Tree

  8 Apr 2013 | 3:52 pm

  It's a rainy Mystery Monday here. Last week's liana was the gorgeous jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys). Our winners were Gloria and John (the latter commented on the jaboticaba's turn at Mystery Monday). Congrats!...Read Full Post

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  Miss Rumphius' Rules

• Scout Regalia’s Contemporary Outdoor Style

  Susan aka Miss. R

  23 May 2013 | 4:14 am

  I’m a fan of contemporary design.  Because I work in a very traditional market, I don’t get to use it much in my landscape and garden design work.  San Francisco based Scout Regalia has created two sleek products that would be at home on many patios and in many gardens–even traditional ones. The first is really two products, both raised garden beds. One is available as a kit, the other pre-assembled.  Both have a simple, elegant design that would be at home in a traditional or a contemporary garden.  I’d love to see other colors added beyond the green used for…

• Field Trip: Urban Garden Center NYC

  Susan aka Miss. R

  21 May 2013 | 3:34 am

  Never have I seen so much done with so little.  A garden center under the railroad tracks with no running water and no electricity?  That’s Urban Garden Center in Spanish Harlem. Plants, seeds and tools happily co-exist with dumpster dive finds and new merchandise that is used with aplomb, humor and an a sense of style that typifies its can-do attitude.  It’s totally wacky and fantastic.  I loved it. Spanning two blocks under the elevated railroad tracks from 116th to 118th Street, Urban Garden Center is a multi-generational family business with a big heart.  They not only…

• Opiary: Garden Pots from Princeton

  Susan aka Miss. R

  20 May 2013 | 4:08 am

  Last year, one of the few things I liked at the Kips Bay Showhouse was Robert Canon’s planters. This year I at ICFF I liked them even more.  When I saw them again this past weekend, these planters were in my mind, one of the most original and creative outdoor products at the fair.  They had a original and quirky point of view that would be at home in so many gardens.  Opiary, Canon’s Princeton based studio is creating organic looking, well priced beautiful containers and garden accessories from recycled materials.  I’m going to try and arrange a studio visit.  All…

• An Addition-al Rant

  Susan aka Miss. R

  14 May 2013 | 3:51 am

  No pictures for this one… Do you know anyone who is willing to work for a 25% of the week for free?  Many in the landscape design industry do. Here’s how: they do not charge for the initial consultation or other visits to existing clients.  During the busiest months, April-May-June, when the phone is ringing with new clients, designers often meet with new potential project key holders 3, 5, sometimes even 10  times in a week.  Let’s do the math… Assume a 30 minute trip each way (this will also for the sake of argument include the time spent on the phone, emailing…

• Field Trip: The Litchfield Daffodils

  Susan aka Miss. R

  7 May 2013 | 5:19 am

  Last Saturday, after talking about garden design at White Flower Farm, I met up with an old friend and we spent the afternoon in Litchfield, CT touring about and catching up.  Our final stop of the day was Laurel Ridge.  There were tens of thousands of narcissus in bloom on fifteen acres of hillside deemed too rocky for farming.  The pasture was first planted in 1941 and is now supported by the Laurel Ridge Foundation.  It was a lovely spring afternoon ramble!

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  The Gardening Blog

• Autumn colours

  Barbara

  23 May 2013 | 2:46 pm

  I was inspired today!! I looked out of my window this morning and the recent fresh rains brought out such beautiful Autumn colours! So I took my camera and explored the wet garden. I found the most interesting perspectives and saw my garden in a different light! Lots of colour that I thought I had lost…   Sweet yarrow flowers are a favourite of mine. The gorgeous Ice Cream bush – love [...]

• Garden Bloggers Harvest Day in May

  Barbara

  16 May 2013 | 4:42 pm

  This post is late in coming, but I wanted to save face and let you know that there is something I can harvest from my modest veggie patch. I have not put any effort into the garden this month and yet it still produces happily. I know I promised last month that I would toil and sow seeds, but alas! I might as well have gone fishing!! That’s how much I did [...]

• My own Compost

  Barbara

  13 May 2013 | 12:05 pm

  Since I have started my organic gardening craze and the blog as well, I have been purposeful in keeping it all natural and organic. I raise chickens for their great personalities – oh, yes as well as beautiful eggs and the natural manure to feed my pesticide-free garden. I have learnt so much but if I do not put it into practice, then I am just a big wind bag of hot [...]

• What’s growing in my backyard

  Barbara

  3 May 2013 | 8:29 am

  After a week of work committments, my head has hardly moved away from the computer. This has left me with the feeling of “cabin fever”! I was so pleased that we had a holiday on Wednesday – International Workers Day (Labour Day) – and I was NOT going to spend another moment sitting! I was in the garden, playing with the newbie chickens and Skollie (who has calmed down quite abit!) and [...]

• Barred Rock rocks the Hen House

  Barbara

  29 Apr 2013 | 12:42 pm

  All I can say is that we have had some really sad days in the Hen House! Our sweet little Vanilla died very unexpectedly. She was always small and frail – we sometimes called her “Cardboard” because she was so lightweight! But she was the noisiest one of the lot!! Always ran out first and complained when lunch was not served on time!! We are going to miss you, little one! This [...]

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  Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens

• A Bestiary: Part Eighteen ~ Songbirds: Warblers ~ Chestnut-sided Warbler

  Carol Duke

  24 May 2013 | 5:27 am

    ‘A Bestiary . . . Tales From A Wildlife Garden’ continues, as hundreds of migratory songbirds have returned to the northeast and Flower Hill Farm where they are busily finishing off nests and incubating their eggs. Songbirds or perching birds, more scientifically known as passerines, are of the order Passeriformes and make up more than fifty percent of all bird species. I open this section of songbirds by sharing some of the awesome warblers that visit and breed here in our diverse wildlife habitat. Warblers or ‘wood warblers’ are small, have brightly painted…

• Outreach with Impact!: Part 4

  Suzanne Dingwell

  23 May 2013 | 4:26 am

  The moment is at hand. You’ve seen the need for more information about native plants in your community. You’ve advertised and promoted your event, you’ve prepared an attractive and easily visible display booth. There’s only one more thing you have to add to the mix to have perfect soil. I mean, perfect conditions, for making your organization’s outreach powerfully effective. You need people. You need people at your booth who are willing to do the job, and are properly trained to deliver your message. Smiling, and looking out at the public! Good outreach! Each one of the previous…

• A Tour of Noah’s Garden

  Debbie Roberts

  20 May 2013 | 5:00 am

  On a bright, sunny Saturday morning in April, I had the privilege of touring the garden that Sara Stein chronicles in the book, Noah’s Garden:  Restoring The Ecology Of Our Own Back Yards. I was excited to see the garden that shaped the way many of us on Team NPWG view gardening and the role of gardens in the broader ecosystem. I have to admit I didn’t realize this inspirational garden was mere miles from my own burgeoning wildlife garden in southwestern Connecticut. Or that I’d driven by it on numerous occasions. But here I was, on my way to see the garden that Sara Stein…

• Ruby-throated Hummingbird – PART ONE: They’re Back!

  Pat Sutton

  18 May 2013 | 5:00 am

  Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird nectaring on Coral Honeysuckle Surging north over a three-month period (from late February through early May), millions of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds depart their winter homes from southern Mexico to Costa Rica. They head north, reach the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, brave the 500 mile-wide Gulf of Mexico water crossing, and if weather cooperates and they’re lucky and strong flyers they reach the Gulf Coast (Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida).  Refueling, they then head “back home” to where they were born. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds reached our garden…

• Self-Pollination of Bloodroot: Ensuring Reproductive Success in Uncertain Times

  Heather Holm

  17 May 2013 | 1:41 pm

  Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis is one of the first wildflowers to flower in the spring. The showy white petals are over two inches in width and open fully on sunny, warm, spring days. Flowers close up at night as temperatures drop and look like white candlesn with the solitary blue-gray leaf wrapped around the stem acting as the candle holder. It’s a risky business to be the first plant to flower – with a high probability of unseasonable weather and temperatures too low for pollinators to fly, how can a plant ensure pollination? Bloodroot employs several strategies, the first…

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  Big Blog Of Gardening

• How to Select Healthy Fruit Trees and Berry Bushes

  Guest Author

  17 May 2013 | 12:48 pm

  Guest Author Stella Otto's 1st part of the Fruit Growing 101 series: How to know if a fruit tree or berry bush is healthy before you bring it home from the garden center Continue reading →

• How to Prune Raspberries and Blackberries

  Guest Author

  14 May 2013 | 6:30 am

  By knowing how raspberries and blackberries grow, you'll be able to prune them easily, keeping your berry patch productive for many years. Continue reading →

• Magic Weed Killer? No Such Luck

  Todd Heft

  11 May 2013 | 8:08 am

  What's the best way to control weeds? Hint: it doesn't come in a bottle Continue reading →

• Flowers, Shrubs, Herbs, Trees that Rabbits and Deer Won’t Eat

  Todd Heft

  8 May 2013 | 11:32 am

  Contains a searchable table of plants that deer and rabbits usually will not eat. Plant these to be safe. Continue reading →

• How To Rotate Crops In A Vegetable Garden

  Todd Heft

  3 May 2013 | 6:18 am

  Careful crop rotation is key to successful home gardening. Article includes sample plan for crop rotation and definition of plant families Continue reading →

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  The Pond Blog

• White Delight Water Lily Wallpaper

  Bill Dubert

  21 May 2013 | 10:00 am

  This week’s free water garden wallpaper is a White Delight Water Lily captured at our partner nursery in Charleston, SC. This lily can be a real producer of big, very full blooms, especially if you give it a roomy pot and fertilizer. The thing that really gets me about this lily, though, is that it will develop those delicate pink tips on the petals in various different conditions (often later in the season, in hotter conditions, or when in a smaller pot). I’m always really fascinated by how plants react in such visible ways to their circumstances. We tend to think of plants as…

• The Pond Sludge Problem

  Bill Dubert

  17 May 2013 | 2:20 pm

  Your pond has pond sludge. I’m pretty confident on this point; it’s just the nature of ponds to have their share of the black crud at the bottom. This sludge is made up of various organic materials that end up at the bottom of your pond mixed with some of the various inorganics. It’s most likely mostly made up of bits of various plants that either start in or fall into your pond, along with dead and dying algae, bacteria, dirt, etc. The precise makeup of your sludge depends greatly on what’s in and around your pond, of course. My pond, for instance, tends to have tons…

• Clearing Your Pond’s Green Water

  Bill Dubert

  6 May 2013 | 12:38 pm

  Well, Spring is finally here in much of the country, and that’s the most exciting time of the year for many pond owners. I know that I get hugely stoked to see the first leader pads from a lotus, the first few buds of the lilies. Less exciting is the annual spring algae bloom that many ponds experience. Algae blooms mean pea-green pond water, and that’s no fun at all. Photo by Jrwooly6 Spring means the perfect recipe for algae blooms in your pond. The water temperature is rising and the sunlight hitting your pond is increasing. The planktonic algae (free-floating, single-celled…

• Glowing Lily Wallpaper

  Bill Dubert

  29 Apr 2013 | 2:37 pm

      One of the best things about what I do is looking at all of this wonderful nature photography and learning so much from it. Just about every really great photograph of a pond plant that I look at gives me ideas for my own photography and the motivation to try new things. This week’s wallpaper started out as a nice, but not inspired photo of two lilies. However, after extensive experimentation, I managed to get a few things right on the editing in Lightroom, and it became what I think is a very striking image, giving the lily in the foreground a positively glowing white…

• How to Choose a Fountain Pump

  Bill Dubert

  26 Apr 2013 | 11:59 am

  A lot of people end up getting the wrong pump when they’re putting together a fountain or pondless waterfall. If the pump is too powerful, they end up with jets of water shooting wildly out of the fountain or a sad little trickle. The mistake that most often leads to this miscalculation is choosing a pump based primarily on gallons per hour (GPH). This is the rate at which the pump moves water, and while it is indicative of the power of the pump and a very important number when choosing a pump for a pond, it isn’t quite the number you want to focus on when choosing for a fountain.

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  Nigel Gnome grows a vegetable

• Combat gardening

  Nigel Gnome

  6 May 2013 | 1:51 am

  Between thunder and torrential rain things were accomplished. A whole new row of topweight carrots were added as well as 3 dozen red onion seedlings from the quaint garden shop in Te PukeTe Puke garden centreThe first sowing of parsnips have come up and have been enjoying the rain. Have since sown another full row, we will be parsnip rich. A simple frame was woven from old trellis to give the Provencal peas some support.carrots, peas, broccoli brussels sproutsbasil and beetrootThe rain looked nice in the florence fennel flowersraindrops on stalksA fast fanny on the fennel

• End of a long summer

  Nigel Gnome

  28 Apr 2013 | 11:21 pm

  Did all sorts of end of summer things this weekend, ripped out the last tomato plant, a lateral from the sweet 100 planted in spring. The photo shows how large this thing became, the tomatoes were a nice size for bbq roasts with peppers etc.Sweet 100 lateralAlso picked the last peppers and removed the plants along with a madly flowering basil. This will allow more light onto the new plantingsfinal pick of peppersI have planted a new row of carrot seeds as the current lot are getting oldisha crowd of carrotsThe peas are getting stronger and seedlings of silverbeet, onion and one florence…

• April planting

  Nigel Gnome

  5 Apr 2013 | 7:54 pm

  There as been the odd bit of rain in the last week and a promise of more today though none as yet. I was given an amazing storm resistant umbrella for Christmas and last week was the first time I had the chance to use it on the morning walk to work.Pulled out the bean plants, they were at their end and a haven for white fly as well. Chopped all the horrible leaves off the courgette plants and they look much better, still producing a couple every few days. Had an  overgrown one last night cut in half and stuffed with tomato and herbs and feta cheese on top then roasted in the BBQ with…

• Tomatoes are history

  Nigel Gnome

  23 Mar 2013 | 9:41 pm

  They are a dead parrot...As in " 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked thebucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!"Both original plants were looking pretty bad with brown leaves and a few mangy tomatoes. So I went mad and dismantled them, still ended up with a good box full of toms to ripen up and make into yet another sauce.  :)   The pantry is looking pretty good already.Last moments...A good box fullone lateral alone was almost 4 meters…

• Long time no post

  Nigel Gnome

  12 Mar 2013 | 2:07 am

  It's been a while, there have been weddings and lots of no rain weather. The plants are quite happy, have been watering them that needs it and letting things like lawn etc suffer. Tomatoes are not getting water, I'm stressing them out to increase the flavour and colour. Beans have been doing well, capsicums are getting red!nice size capsicumBeans and more beans!Tomatoes in abundanceand lots of littliesPlanted leeks, Brussels sprouts, rocket! Punnets of broccoli ready to go. Pulled up some new giant carrots and have been making tomato sauces.

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  Flowerona

• RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 – Zita Elze’s Floral Dress for Roger Platts’ M&G Investments Centenary Garden

  Rona

  24 May 2013 | 12:55 am

  I absolutely loved the floral dress which florist Zita Elze created for Roger Platts‘ M&G Investments Centenary Garden for Press Day. Zita made the gown in the style of a dress from 1913 to commemorate the centenary theme of the M&G show garden. At the time, dresses were layered with ruffles.  So Zita recreated them with ferns on the neckline, and on the skirt, she used layers of bear grass. Prior to the show, Zita went to Roger Platts’ nursery to see the plants which he planned to use, so that she could be inspired and get a ‘feel’ of the garden that he would…

• RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 – Interflora’s stand

  Rona

  23 May 2013 | 4:10 pm

  I’m delighted to feature the stunning Interflora ‘Time Frames’ stand at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013. It was awarded a Gold Medal and I’m so thrilled for the five florists who created the design!  They are David Ragg, Steve Betts, Natalie Stanyer, Janet Boast and Morgan Nuth. Interflora is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year and the stand takes inspiration from art, fashion and pop culture over the last ninety years…from the 1920s to the present day, in six individual ‘frames’. Here are some images of this wonderful…

• RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 – Sowing the Seeds of Change Homebase Garden by Adam Frost

  Rona

  23 May 2013 | 4:01 pm

  This morning, I thought I’d share with you some images of the beautiful show garden designed by Adam Frost at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Many congratulations to Adam on winning a Gold Medal for his garden, which is called the Homebase Garden – ‘Sowing the Seeds of Change’ in association with the Alzheimer’s Society. It’s a modern family garden and has been designed with a small family in mind, providing them with a space to enjoy an everyday connection with their food and with nature. When I met Adam recently at the Garden Press Event in London, he explained to me that the…

• Chelsea in Bloom 2013 : Part 3 – More Wonderful Entries in this Floral Competition

  Rona

  23 May 2013 | 3:24 am

  I hope you enjoyed Part 1 and Part 2 earlier today featuring images of the winning designs in this year’s Chelsea in Bloom competition. Here are images of some more wonderful entries which I also wanted to share with you… Kate Spade Brora Hackett The stunning floral designs for Hackett and Mary Quant were created by McQueens. Mary Quant L.K. Bennett The beautiful window displays for L.K. Bennett were created by Grace & Thorn. Moyses Stevens John Lewis Garden designer Jo Thompson and Georgie from Common Farm Flowers collaborated on this lovely design for John Lewis. Taschen…

• Chelsea in Bloom 2013 : Part 2 – Second & Third Places

  Rona

  23 May 2013 | 2:35 am

  I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post earlier today featuring the winner of this year’s Chelsea in Bloom, Rag & Bone. Here are details of the second and third place winners. In joint second place are Browns and Bruno Cucinelli. Browns This beautiful design with flower-adorned swans was created by By Appointment Only Design. Bruno Cucinelli In joint third place are Space NK and Massimo Dutti. Space NK Massimo Dutti This wonderful design was created by Simon Lycett. Shortly, I’ll be featuring a third blog post showing more wonderful entries in the Chelsea in Bloom…

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  Sprinkler Juice

• What to do When Your Yard Floods

  15 May 2013 | 10:54 am

  It’s been raining a lot lately, and your yard has enough water for the kids to have a ball with their five-dollar snorkel sets you bought them for Christmas. Sure they’re having a blast exploring... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Watering With the Faucet; What You Need

  9 May 2013 | 1:34 pm

  You don’t have to invest in an underground watering system, sprinkler system, irrigation system, or any other timed device to water you garden. You can simply use the hose attached to an... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Watering at Noon Will Burn My Plants – Not!

  1 May 2013 | 11:06 am

  You've always been told that you should never water you lawn or garden during the day because it could burn leaves, stems, and blades of grass. Not true. This myth is one of the biggest gardening... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Become an Organized Gardener

  24 Apr 2013 | 12:35 pm

  A major part of having a successful garden is having an organized garden. Not an organized person, that’s okay; you don’t have to be naturally OCD to develop organizational skills. Just follow these... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• April Showers ...

  17 Apr 2013 | 12:24 pm

  We all know the saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” Rain is essential for gardens, and yet many first-time gardeners don’t realize the dangers that the rainy season can bring. If you’re a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

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  Your Easy Garden

• Rain Barrel Basics:Prep, Placement, Pests

  Pamela Coyle

  21 May 2013 | 9:34 am

  Rain barrel painting, like gardening, is a wide-open field. Stick with a theme or assign a barrel or section to each child. Or have a painting party. (Photo courtesy of The Environmental Blog) The amount of rainwater that hits the roof of even a modest home is astonishing. For a 1,000 square-foot home, runoff from a 1-inch rain can top 600 gallons. As more gardeners try rain barrels, the marketplace has responded with options both fancy and utilitarian. We bought 55-gallon barrels made from food-grade plastic in Nashville off Craigslist a few years back. The seller had drilled holes,…

• Getting the most from your Volcano phlox

  judieyeg

  15 May 2013 | 2:20 pm

  Easy care Volcano phlox can provide months of color with very little care.  Here are a few tips for getting the most from your Volcano phlox. Volcano phlox are real butterfly magnets! Plant spacing Phlox and other perennials need space for the air to flow around them a bit and Volcano is no exception. If your plants have multiplied over the last year or so, divide them so that there’s at least 16-20 inches between each plant to help their natural tolerance to mildew. Volcano phlox are generally more compact than other phlox but it’s not unusual for a single plant to develop 15-20…

• Tips for long-lasting lilacs

  judieyeg

  15 May 2013 | 12:38 pm

  Lovely lilacs are in full bloom in many parts of the country, and now is a good time to think about how to take care of them and enjoy them as long as possible. 6 Tips for lilac care from horticultural expert Paul Parent Lilacs do best with at least 1” of water per week during hottest months Do not over-fertilize or they won’t bloom. Just feed in the spring with something like Plant-Tone. Lilacs love a sweet soil, so if yours are planted near pine trees or oaks, in the early spring add limestone, wood ash or similar products at a rate of 2-3 handfuls per 3 ft of height or spread of the…

• Let’s Let Loose

  Your Easy Garden Team

  9 May 2013 | 3:46 pm

  The Dutch know how to have a party. I can say this because we were in Amsterdam on business when everyone was celebrating the inauguration of Willem-Alexander. Take a look at these photos – see what I mean? It’s as though the happy orange-wearing crowds ran out of room on the streets and happily spilled out onto the water. It was a day where everyone let loose and enjoyed themselves (and looking later at the news reports, there were over 850,000 people out celebrating and only 57 people were arrested). Looking around at everyone happily letting loose, it made me wonder if many…

• Memorial Gardens Help Soothe Loss

  Patricia Riedman Yeager

  7 May 2013 | 10:06 am

  When tragedy strikes—anything from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings to the 9/11 terrorist attacks–or a loved one dies, grief-stricken people seek ways to honor those who’ve passed away. What better to do that than through a living tribute such as a tree planting or memorial garden? Memorial gardens can be as simple as a rock garden or as elaborate as professionally landscaped tourist attractions.  After 9/11, memorial gardens sprang up across the country as people struggled to cope with the loss. The jewel of the 9/11 tributes is the Garden of Reflection 9-11 Memorial…

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  The Mini Garden Guru - Your Miniature Garden Source

• Planting Miniature Gardens Under Existing Trees

  Janit Calvo

  23 May 2013 | 5:29 pm

  Planting Miniature Gardens Under Existing Trees There is nothing so charming a place in the garden as under a big tree. It can be your own little world to escape to anytime you like. Hiding in the wall of branches is enchanting in itself, planting a miniature garden in the space only increases the real-life […]

• More About Miniature Garden Plants

  Janit Calvo

  16 May 2013 | 6:28 pm

  More About Miniature Garden Plants I STILL do it! I fall for the cutest little plants, especially when they are in flower. I buy it, plant it and watch it grow – and grow and grow and grow! So not cool if you are a miniature gardener. So. Not. Cool. ;o) After all, we ARE […]

• Mother’s Day in the Miniature Garden

  Janit Calvo

  11 May 2013 | 4:09 pm

  Mother’s Day in the Miniature Garden This is the fifth installment of our A Year in the Miniature Garden and today we celebrate Mother’s Day – which, should be everyday – if it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t be here, reading this blog about her. Wait. Did that come out right? ;o) If you are […]

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  Lunar Home and Garden

• Waxing Scorpio: 3-Moon Days

  CJ Wright

  23 May 2013 | 5:22 am

  I’ve come up with a rating system for planting days using Moons. Today and most of tomorrow (May 24th and 25th) are 3-Moon days. It doesn’t get any better than that. The water signs ~ Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces ~ are the most fertile planting days of the lunar garden calendar. They’re all 3-Moon days. 2-Moon days are Taurus and Capricorn. 1-Moon days are Virgo and Libra. The barren signs ~ Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Gemini and Virgo ~ get no moons because they’re not good for planting. They’re better used for other gardening activities. The Moon is waxing in…

• Pocket Hose ~ Don’t Take a Soaking

  CJ Wright

  19 May 2013 | 8:12 am

  I bought one of the 25 foot pocket hoses and liked it so much I bought another one to extend the hose to 50 feet. Then I bought another one for a different faucet. I really loved not having to lug around and reel in a very heavy hose. I’ve just now been outside using the last 25 foot hose I bought when suddenly it blew off the connector! I’m soaked and the hose is useless. You can’t fix these things like you can a regular garden hose. They look real cute all wrapped up in that tight little wad, don’t they? Mine will be in a tight little wad in my garbage can. I was…

• The Moon and the Weekend Gardener

  CJ Wright

  18 May 2013 | 5:23 pm

  You work 40 hours a week, have commitments every Monday and Thursday evening, and a family to attend to every day of the week. Is it possible to follow the rules for lunar gardening when you’re limited to weekend gardening? YES! The first and most important idea behind lunar gardening is to use the waxing and waning phases as your guide. There are only a few “rules” to follow. You won’t even need an almanac or calendar. Your guide is in the sky. Rule #1 Plant annuals and all “crops” that produce their bounty above the ground in the waxing phase, the two…

• Back in the Game…errr…Garden

  CJ Wright

  18 Apr 2013 | 7:14 am

  Baby swiss chard (seedlings). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I made my first real trek back into the garden yesterday. By real, I mean that I put something in the ground. I bought some basil, parsley, swiss chard, and arugula, and set them out while the Moon was in very fertile 1st Quarter Cancer. Swiss chard is delicious and also makes a beautiful ornamental. They come mixed with some winter arrangements and can easily transplant to your veggie garden. I couldn’t find a planetary ruler for swiss chard in any of my reference books. It’s a member of the beet family, though. Culpepper…

• Decorating Tips for Aquarius

  CJ Wright

  24 Jan 2013 | 9:19 am

  Aquarius ~ Jan 19-Feb 18, 2013 Aquarius is considered the rebel or eccentric of the zodiac and would be hard-pressed to fit into someone else’s mode or style. Since freedom and experimentation are two Aquarian traits, this is the time of year when you when you can throw caution to the wind and do what feels good and makes you happy. If you’d like to stick with traditional Aquarius themes, here are a few tips to get you started. Some are more traditional while others are way out there. Add electric blue and amethyst to your environment. If that color combo is hard to imagine, just…

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  Garden Landscaping Ideas

• Introduction to Indoor Gardening To Create Your Beautiful Landscape

  admin

  4 May 2013 | 7:44 am

  It is well known that gardening is a relaxing past-time. Having an indoor garden will give you the benefit of this relaxation year round when it is too cold outside to garden. If you live in an apartment, an outdoor garden may not be possible. Gardening inside is only limited by the amount of space you want to dedicate to it in your home. Creating an Indoor Herb Garden Fresh herbs can make a world of difference in your meals.  Instead of buying them at the grocery store and getting too much at once or a bunch that isn’t as fresh as it could be, grow your own.  Grow a variety or just your…

• Great Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

  admin

  8 Feb 2013 | 7:21 am

  Decorating a beautiful front yard landscaping becoming a dream of many people including me. Decoration of front yard can be done by yourself or else you can hire establish landscapers in your place. What ever choice you make, the purpose of your landscaping is to keep your front yard look awesome through out the year. Tips if you want to hire landscaper are to inform him that you want to create what kind of landscape designs. Your Front Yard maintenance are totally depend on the concept of your design. Choosing less lawn in your front yard landscaping concept able to reduce your time to take…

• Introduction to Oak Garden Furniture

  admin

  25 Dec 2012 | 8:01 am

  Oak Garden Furniture is one of the best ideas to design your backyard garden. Most of backyard furniture today make from plastic so it will last faster than oak garden furniture. The most famous manufacturers of Oak Garden Furniture are the Amish from Loudonville, Ohio. They use North American Red Oak or Cherry to create their beautiful Garden Furniture that is great for your patio. The tops, sides, face, face-frame and shelves are of solid oak or cherry wood, though pieces of oak and cherry veneers may be used. The Amish our proud to proclaim that no particleboard, no pressboard, and no…

• Landscaping Ideas for Front Yard

  admin

  14 Sep 2012 | 5:39 am

  Landscaping Ideas for Front Yard is a very important aspect when you decided to make your front yard become a beautiful and great place for your evening tea. Here we share what we know about front yard landscaping ideas (compilation of some review). Some of the landscaping ideas for you include making the yard in a style your own.Before that please visit my previous post about landscape ideas for front yard. Common front yard landscaping ideas consist of some grass, a tree or two and maybe a flower bed. Others, you may add some natural stone or you may decide to plant some perennial garden to…

• Rain Garden Landscaping Ideas

  admin

  12 Apr 2012 | 8:04 am

  Nowadays,Rain Garden are such a great new garden landscaping ideas. Rain Garden can be easily install, looks good year-round, requires almost no maintenance and has a terrifically upbeat impact on the environment. What is Rain Gardens A rain garden is a landscaped area that actually replaces an area of lawn. Compared to a “normal” patch of lawn, a rain garden allows 30% more water to soak into the ground of your garden. The advantages of Rain gardens are it is an inexpensive way to prevent the problem of urban stormwater runoff. Other than that a rain garden is planted in…

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  Organic Gardening Tips - Smiling Gardener

• Organic Composting 101 - Making Compost That's More Nutritious

  17 May 2013 | 9:58 pm

  Welcome to organic composting 101. This isn't just a way to turn organic waste into nice dirt – organic compost is actually one of the most valuable things we grow in the garden. What is organic compost? It just means we're making compost from organic materials, without any added chemicals or genetically-modified ingredients or manure from animals that have received drugs, etc.

• Organic Weed Control - How To Kill Weeds Naturally And Forever!

  8 May 2013 | 9:58 pm

  Dandelions are highly beneficial weeds which often thrive in soils with low calcium//humus. For many of us, organic weed control means many hours crouched in the garden pulling weeds. And after a while, it’s easy for an organic gardener to begin to think of the buttercups or bindweed as the enemy. So I’ll give some tips on how to kill weeds naturally in this article. But at the same time, many of us may have an inkling that weeds aren’t simply the enemy, that it’s more complicated than that. After all, many weeds are edible or have medicinal properties.

• Organic Garden Pest Control - Say Bye To Pests (Without Toxins)

  4 May 2013 | 8:09 am

  As I’ve discussed in other posts, the best organic garden pest control method is a healthy ecosystem. This means creating the right conditions for thriving, healthy plants by doing things like caring for the soil, watering properly, and having the right plant in the right place. Then our plants won’t attract diseases or plant-feeding insects.

• Natural Organic Fertilizers - How To Choose For Your Organic Garden

  19 Apr 2013 | 11:35 pm

  The goods news: there are plenty of natural organic fertilizers for you to choose from, especially if you look online. The hard part is knowing which ones to choose, but I’ll give you a few things to look for. Natural organic fertilizers won’t look like much of a bargain compared with the high nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium numbers on chemical fertilizers, but they’re so much more valuable. They often provide many more nutrients than just N-P-K, they don’t hurt soil life, and it’s generally better to add lower doses of fertilizers anyway...

• Heather And I Are Splitting Up After 10 Wonderful Years

  17 Apr 2013 | 10:00 am

  I mention my wife Heather here from time to time, and she certainly mentions me regularly on her website because I’m so involved with it. So I think it’s fitting to let you guys know we’re splitting up after 10 years together, nearly 3 of those in marriage. The good news is that so far, about 10 days since the decision was made, we’re still hoping to continue as distant friends and virtual business partners from our respective cities (wherever those may be).

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  Sow and So

• Recipe: Nettle Soup

  Laila Noort

  23 May 2013 | 1:15 am

  Nettles There is nothing more rewarding then preparing free food. There is so much food to find in nature and it wont cost you a penny. Some are not so obvious and some, like mushrooms, you must be extremely sure you have the right kind. One plant almost anybody can identify without a doubt is nettles. With their stinging hairs, they are hard to miss and touching them is rather painful so we tend to think of nettles as something bad, something to fear, something we must eradicate. Ever since I watched the River Cottage series I welcome nettles with open arms (not literally…) and I was…

• Wordless Wednesday; Raindrops on Gooseberries

  Laila Noort

  21 May 2013 | 11:30 pm

• Top 5 Flowers to Grow on a Budget

  Bridget Elahcene

  20 May 2013 | 11:20 pm

  If you’re after value for money when you’re choosing which ornamentals to grow in your borders, here’s my own personal top five (and why) in no particular order: Linaria About this time last year, when I was stocking up my new Secret Garden on a Pound Zero shoe string budget,  I spotted a tall leggy single stemmed plant in a tiny pot on a charity market stall. I immediately felt sorry for it and wanted to give it a home. It cost all of 65p and the lady told me bees love it and I’d “…never have to buy another one”. It didn’t do much last summer…

• Word up! H is for Honey Fungus

  Bridget Elahcene

  19 May 2013 | 11:00 pm

  Honey Fungus Honey fungus lives in dead and decaying roots, tree stumps and other woody items in the soil. It grows out from these in the form of black root-like rhizomorphs (‘bootlaces’). There are six species found in the UK but only two of these are also able to attack living wood.

• Guest post Raiye; Bouncing back from Gardening Failure

  Guest

  19 May 2013 | 12:58 am

  Seedlings Weeks ago, when I started my seeds, I wrote about my fears of failure. Sadly, those fears have been realized. Almost every single seedling is dead. What remains are a few sugar snap peas, some spinach that’s looking kind of not so good, and a few very stunted looking kale seedlings. Let’s also not forget the curious case of the chive seeds that migrated from the pot in which I planted them clear over to the other side of my yard where they took root amongst the grass, giving me crazy smells every time I mow the lawn. Rain Having gone into this gardening season mentally…

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  I Love Arugula: My Gardening Life

• Picking up the pieces after a gardening hiatus

  Erica

  22 May 2013 | 10:09 am

  Well, I have not blogged in some time because I have not been gardening for some time.  But I got started back again last weekend.  One thing I had to admit is that with homeschooling and all of my other activities, I didn't have time for as large of a garden as I had.  I also wanted my beds pushed together, so that there weren't spaces between them to worry about.  I had eight 4' by 8' beds. 

• Garlic Ordered

  Erica

  29 Oct 2012 | 5:11 pm

  I haven't updated this blog in a while because not much has been going on garden-wise.  I'm still getting peppers, I've got some lettuce planted, and that is all.  I will try again next year and hope that I can find a better balance between homeschooling, gardening, and everything else I want/need to do.  I did finally order my garlic today.  So far, garlic has been one of the easiest plants I

• Didn't Water

  Erica

  8 Aug 2012 | 7:57 am

  So, I got busy with summer, planning our homeschool year and taking the kids to camps and the pool, and I just  didn't water my garden.  Now my tomatoes are dead.  I feel like an idiot.  I still have hope for my peppers and tomatillos, and I've harvested tons of basil that has made delicious pesto and herb rubs.  My other herbs aren't doing so well since my sweet husband accidentally mowed my

• Worm Bin: Six Weeks

  Erica

  15 Jul 2012 | 8:18 pm

  It's been about six weeks since the purchase of my Worm Factory.  There's not really too much to say about it.  I shred up cardboard, crush up eggs, put in vegetable/fruit scraps and coffee grounds, and the worms eat them.  The cardboard is so absorbent that I haven't had any drainage at all into the reservoir.  I prefer using cardboard to shredded paper because of that.  The paper gets so soggy.

• Freezing Tomatoes

  Erica

  15 Jul 2012 | 8:10 pm

  Well, after my first batch of tomatoes turned into a disaster (I blanched them for 5 minutes instead of 30 seconds--got them confused with green beans!), I have successfully frozen several baggies full.  With the bigger tomatoes (beafsteak and roma), I blanch them for 30 seconds, plunge them in ice water for 30 seconds, peel them, dice them, scooping out seeds but not worrying too much about it

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  guzmansgreenhouse.com

• Gardening tips for Southwest New Mexico

  guzmans

  30 Apr 2013 | 6:30 am

  Lantana plants – Should be starting to show signs of life.  If you cut them back during the winter season…good.  If not you can still cut them back now and check towards the bottom of the each plant.  Look for smaller green foliage.  Yellow gold or trailing Lantana are very hardy. Verbena should show signs [...]The post Gardening tips for Southwest New Mexico appeared first on guzmansgreenhouse.com.

• Photos of borer damage on trees

  guzmans

  18 Apr 2013 | 6:07 pm

  Have you ever wondered what borer damage looks like?  Will borer’s kill a tree? Yes they will. Check out the photos of borer damage on trees photo on the left. First we must know what a borer is? Borers are the larvae of different species of beetles and moths. Most will lay their eggs on [...]The post Photos of borer damage on trees appeared first on guzmansgreenhouse.com.

• How to fertilize for best results

  guzmans

  9 Apr 2013 | 7:27 pm

  How to fertilize for best results Do you want colorful great looking plants, flowers, vegetables and lawn just like the photo above?  Of course you do.  So…how does someone get these kind of results? You setup a good water and fertilizing schedule. First we need to know what is fertilizer All plants need 3 natural [...]The post How to fertilize for best results appeared first on guzmansgreenhouse.com.

• Types of grasses for the southwest

  guzmans

  31 Mar 2013 | 6:59 am

  Here is a list of grasses that do well in hot dry conditions.   Grass in the Southwest tends dry out faster and drought conditions compound the problem. But there are some things you can do to keep it looking greener and healthier year round. Types of grasses for the southwest Common Bermuda – This type [...]The post Types of grasses for the southwest appeared first on guzmansgreenhouse.com.

• Bradford Pear white flowers in spring

  guzmans

  17 Mar 2013 | 7:55 am

  The Bradford pear (Pyrus Calleryana ‘Holmford’) tree does very well in the desert southwest it is a deciduous non edible-bearing fruit tree.  It can grow to about 25 to 30 ft. tall and 15 maybe 20 ft wide.  Most folks use it as an ornamental tree because it is narrow and does not provide a [...]The post Bradford Pear white flowers in spring appeared first on guzmansgreenhouse.com.

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  Plantedd Blog

• Plants for bees

  plantedd

  6 May 2013 | 9:29 am

  Simple flowers.  From March to September. That’s really what it comes down to when we’re looking at what plants to grow to help bees. We all know that bees have been having a tough time of it recently and there are a number of reasons for it. Neonicotinoid pesticides have been getting the most attention, but there’s also been a reduction in the variety of different flowers for them to forage throughout the year. Gardens can offer something of a sanctuary though because a garden, unlike a big field of oilseed rape, can have a diverse feast of flowers over a long period.

• Chelsea Flower Show 2013: Clematis ‘Samaritan Jo’

  plantedd

  28 Apr 2013 | 10:06 am

  Raymond Evison Clematis is introducing this striking new clematis, Clematis ‘Samaritan Jo’, at the Chelsea Flower Show next month. This is a compact clematis with a long flowering season, running from late spring to late autumn. The flowers are a silvery white with a tinge of pink and there’s a line of purple at the edges, looking like the sepals have been dipped into a bowl of crushed blackcurrants. Raymond Evison Clematis suggest that it looks especially good “with grey foliaged plants and pastel-coloured flowers in the mixed border or with wall-trained shrubs and…

• Bamboo plants in the garden

  plantedd

  6 Apr 2013 | 8:28 am

  A bamboo was one of the first things that I ever planted in my parents’ garden. This was about 15 years ago, and it’s still there brightening up a shady boundary along with its neighbouring epimediums and Primula florindae. It didn’t occur to me until today though that it’s still the only bamboo I’ve ever planted, so I’ve been having a think about why that is and why it is relatively rare to see them in gardens. I suspect that it’s the bamboo’s bad luck to have a few members of the family with a marauding nature. Sure, there are those like a…

• Plants for a Shady Spot

  plantedd

  29 Mar 2013 | 8:58 am

  Choosing plants for a shady spot always seems to be presented as a problem.  However, after Desert Island Discs was on this morning, I got to thinking about my ‘Desert Island’ garden and I’d find it hard not to plump for a woodland garden.  A shady position would give me the chance to grow gems that come from forests, or in the openings or margins of woods, where the air is stilled by the trees and the ground is moist.  There’s very little that is more atmospheric than the landscape underneath a canopy, with its different layers of trees and shrubs and perennials…

• Why I support British plant nurseries

  plantedd

  29 Mar 2013 | 7:58 am

  I wrote a guest blog post for the nice people over at Counter Culture about why we should think about where our plants come from. Here’s a link.

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  Primrose Blog

• It’s a BBQ!

  Primrose

  23 May 2013 | 10:17 am

  Our latest competition to win a BBQ set has just finished and we have our winner – congratulations Nigel S who has been notified separately! We wanted to know what you call it and had 1434 entries with BBQ emerging as the winner. Here are some of our favourite other suggestions: Braai My Man Grill B-B-Q as in each letter Braai-a-Do QBB Formaqueue – the suns out! Braai (South African Export) Hubby’s turn to cook! Braai, South African through and through The hot and sweaty thing I have to spend ages cooking over, to get a few burgers and sausages for my wife and kids Braai ( I…

• Where the ‘eck have you been, Spring?

  Primrose

  6 May 2013 | 7:12 am

  Wonderful! Spring has come along in a rush and the garden looks a mess, but that can’t be helped at the moment. I normally like to have a Spring Clean in the garden, so that when the day arrives, full sun, blue skies, I can simply sit and enjoy a day of bliss. Well recently that day came, and the sunshine brought with it all the blooms. For a start the primroses that the lovely people at Primrose sent me have blossomed in the warmth and are such a delight! This lobelia caught me by surprise, hiding as it was behind the Primrose tree chair, and dragged into the sunlight. It is remarkable how…

• Competition roundup

  Primrose

  1 May 2013 | 11:22 am

  Our competition to win 1 of 3 lion head wall fountains ended yesterday and the winners – Alyson G, Jacqueline G and Nina M – have been notified. We had a phenomenal 783 responses and loved reading your responses to our question: What are your plans in the garden this summer? Over 400 entries mentioned BBQs which is something we can definitely get behind! Here are some of our favourite answers: Garden a wilderness at the moment so pretty well a blank canvas, have a few frames with veg seeds I’ve just planted so will keep an eye on them.. Biggest job is to try and landscape…

• The neonicotinoid ban – farming alternatives

  Primrose

  30 Apr 2013 | 5:46 am

  Yesterday a European commission vote passed a ban on neonicotinoid pesticide use. One of the major arguments against implementing this ban was farmers’ worries about a loss in income. British farmers have been spraying pesticide “insurance” treatments to prevent crop loss and damage, for over a decade. It is unlikely that treatment is necessary for all crop pests on such a regular basis. Now that the EU has banned this class of harmful pesticides it is time for UK farmers to begin rethinking their approaches to pest management, and build new techniques in order to maintain healthy…

• Win one of our Lion Head Wall Fountains!

  Primrose

  13 Apr 2013 | 12:19 am

  After the bitterly cold winter we’ve had we can almost taste spring now. The days are getting longer and we’re surrounded by blooming daffodils everywhere. Soon we might even be able to retake the garden from winter’s grasp. Can you see it in your mind – the warm summer’s evening spent on your patio on perhaps a new set of garden garden furniture covered by an awning enjoying a BBQ with some friends. All that is missing is the gentle rippling of a water feature to create the perfect ambience. We have the perfect solution with our latest competition for your…

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  Plant Pulp - Plantdex

• Good Garden Bugs

  12 May 2013 | 7:27 pm

  As gardeners, we’re often so focused on getting rid of the bad bugs, that we forget about keeping a good population of good bugs. Below is a list of good bugs for the garden. Ladybugs 

• How and Why You Should Grow Your Own Herb Garden

  8 May 2013 | 12:56 am

  Well the answer to that statement is WHY NOT? The benefits to growing culinary herbs are endless. And the “hows” are as easy as 1-2-3. If you’ve got the time, the space and the energy to do so then YES you should. What’s more, throw in a few cooking skills and you are strategically hitting 2 birds with one stone.

• 7 Beautiful Mountain Flowers From Around the World

  16 Apr 2013 | 2:02 pm

  There are thousands of mountain plant species, varying from the pretty Ranunculus Breyninus flowers to the lush tree moss. The vast majority of these species are hardy and able to cope with wildly varying climates. They are generally long lived, with some lasting for thousands of years. This article contains further details about some of the most interesting mountain plant species.

• Tree Landscaping Tips for Spring

  15 Apr 2013 | 6:49 pm

  To ensure healthy landscaping in your yard, it is important to maintain your trees throughout the seasons. The spring is the perfect time to get outside and take advantage of easy DIY projects that will not only keep your trees healthy, but will enhance the overall appearance of your outdoor space. These tips can easily be completed in a day’s time without the assistance of professionals. Be sure to research the subject carefully before performing projects that may be unsafe for you to complete. By taking advantage of these spring tree maintenance tips, you'll be extending the life of your…

• 10 Fast Growing Shade Trees

  29 Jan 2013 | 6:09 pm

  If you need to plant trees that will provide shade for your home or yard and you need fast growing trees, here is a list you can choose from.  Each tree listed has information on the height of the trees as they grow. Remember anytime you plant a new tree it will need to be carefully taken care of during the first few months after transplant. One of the most important thing you can do is water your tree regularly and deeply especially during drought stress.

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  Lawnscience Lawn Care Blog

• The effects of mowing in one direction every time

  lawnscience.sm@gmail.com

  18 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  Whilst scarifying a mossy lawn recently, after a few passes and a good rake, these curious patterns were revealed in the grass: Looking a little more closely you can see that the grass is bent over one way on one stripe, and the opposite way on the other stripe: This effect was not caused by [...]The post The effects of mowing in one direction every time appeared first on Lawnscience Lawn Care Blog.

• A quick guide to British grass species

  Guest Author

  16 May 2013 | 2:34 am

  Even if you consider yourself a big fan of gardening, it’s possible you haven’t put all that much thought into grass. Grass is what you put between the more interesting plants to avoid your garden looking too much like a car park. However there are actually many different grass species, even if most of them [...]The post A quick guide to British grass species appeared first on Lawnscience Lawn Care Blog.

• Dog lichen (peltigera sp.)

  lawnscience.sm@gmail.com

  21 Apr 2013 | 2:48 am

  This week I was called to a lawn which had been infested with a fantastic specimen of Dog lichen (peltigera sp.), so in this post I will take a closer look at this fascinating, almost alien-looking species which finds its way onto very neglected lawns. Black slime on my lawn? Dog lichen is an extremely [...]The post Dog lichen (peltigera sp.) appeared first on Lawnscience Lawn Care Blog.

• Are you mowing your lawn too short?

  lawnscience.sm@gmail.com

  16 Apr 2013 | 2:39 pm

  One of the easiest ways to improve the look of your lawn is to mow it well. Mowing your lawn too short is a fast way to ruin the look of any lawn. The best way to a great British lawn is to keep your mower blades sharp and the cutting height high! Mowing your lawn too [...]The post Are you mowing your lawn too short? appeared first on Lawnscience Lawn Care Blog.

• Ragwort (jacobaea vulgaris)

  lawnscience.sm@gmail.com

  30 Mar 2013 | 8:52 am

  Ragwort is a reasonably common weed seen on many lawns across the North West of England. The latin name for ragwort is jacobaea vulgaris (syn. senecio jacobaea). Jacobaea is the family of plants to which it belongs (which is within the tribe senecioneae) and vulgaris literally means “common”. It is also called ragweed or ragged [...]The post Ragwort (jacobaea vulgaris) appeared first on Lawnscience Lawn Care Blog.

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  ChickenWaterer Blog

• Keep Calm And Love Chickens

  ChickenWaterer

  22 May 2013 | 8:08 am

  Posting sponsored by ChickenWaterer.com, makers of the BriteTap automatic poultry waterer. The BriteTap chicken waterer shields water from dirt and poop. The water stays clean and there are no messy pans for you to wash out.  The BriteTap Chicken Waterer BriteTap chicken waterer. Clean water made simple! Visit us at ChickenWaterer.com.

• Stamp Commemorating Chickens Causes Public Outcry

  ChickenWaterer

  12 May 2013 | 7:57 am

  Commemorating The American Poultry Industry Here's an interesting piece of chicken trivia.... The 1948 American Poultry Industry Stamp (see below) caused a public uproar that led to the establishment of the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee, a group of 15 Americans from a variety of backgrounds and occupations that advise the Postmaster General on postage stamp designs. Prior to the establishment of the Committee, stamp designs were decided by the Postmaster General without the involvement of the public. The Stamp That Caused The Commotion According to Linn's Stamp News, a publication for…

• BriteTap Chicken Water Covered In San Francisco Chronicle

  ChickenWaterer

  5 May 2013 | 7:53 am

  The San Francisco Chronicle was kind enough to publish and article on the BriteTap Chicken waterer in the Home & Garden Section (Sunday May 5, 2013).  You can read the story and also read another article about chicken coops in the same issue.  Thanks very much to the folks at the Chronicle for covering us! BriteTap chicken waterer. Clean water made simple! Visit us at ChickenWaterer.com.

• Bird Flu Top Five Tips for Backyard Chicken Owners

  ChickenWaterer

  27 Apr 2013 | 7:14 am

  What's Bird Flu? Bird flu is a kind influenza that emerged about 10 years ago and has killed about 370 people worldwide.  While the death toll is modest in numbers, the death rate of those who do catch it is frightening, approximately 60% of those infected died of their illness.  Victims of the 1981 Influenza Outbreak that Took 20-40 Million Lives This initial strain of bird flu, called H5N1, did not spread easily to people. In fact, most cases of the illness resulted from contact between people and infected poultry.  However, health officials have always feared that the virus…

• BriteTap Chicken Waterer & The Value of Thrift

  ChickenWaterer

  13 Apr 2013 | 11:21 am

  The American Value of Thrift Thrift is a traditional American value that places emphasis on the prudent use of money and goods. During the early 20th. century, these values were actively promoted by organizations such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the YMCA that encouraged young people to live frugally and to save money. In addition, magazines such as the The Ladies' Home Journal routinely attempted to reconcile traditional values of thrift with the then emerging consumerism by offering advice on how to economically and efficiently run a home. Ben Franklin extolled the value of…

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  Balcony in Berlin

• ice saints in the dust

  sophos

  16 May 2013 | 11:33 pm

  In Germany, the gardening season starts in earnest once the Ice Saints and Cold Sophie have been and gone. In my mind, the Eisheiligen conjures up an image of three stern bearded biblical gentlemen, followed by a sweeping ice queen with elements borrowed from both Narnia and the Moomins, and frost in her wake. In actual fact, all it is, is three days mid-May when the weather is often a little cooler and there’s a risk of night frost. This year it was cool and windy, but by the time Kallte Sophie swung by, it was practically balmy. The balcony is ready for summer! Vegetable-wise, there…

• first steps – april

  sophos

  13 Apr 2013 | 11:36 am

   Most of the tomato seedlings saw out the darkest Berlin winter on record but understandably became a little leggy. The majority are Sweet Million cherry tomatoes but there are also a few of an indeterminate determinate variety.  I intend to keep one of each, and find good homes for the rest of them. Perhaps take a few down to the Tempelhof allotments?  I’ve made my first self-watering container from two 20-litre mortar buckets and I have plenty of time to make another one before it’s time to plant out. At the top of the photo, peeking out, is my hyacinth bean. The rest of…

• at last!

  sophos

  12 Apr 2013 | 12:35 pm

  Finally it stopped snowing and things started happening. To think the bulbs and corms took two months to go from this to the display above. Now I just hope I will have time to catch up; when the permafrost set in I lost heart and momentum somewhat, and it’s likely to be a short spring.

• never-ending

  sophos

  18 Mar 2013 | 10:49 pm

  I spotted this sign outside the Antipodean coffee shop on my way to work. My sentiments exactly. Unfortunately, winter shows no intention of surrendering. Snow is forecast all week. Sigh.

• sowing seeds

  sophos

  17 Feb 2013 | 12:42 am

  The first sowing, a few days ago. Coconut coir discs are very practical as a planting medium. The cat promptly projectile vomited on one tray (luckily when the lid was on) and later knocked it to the floor. This minor drama is likely to curtail the yield – especially from the tiny laurentia seeds and cherry tomato seeds lost in the vermiculite.

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  Greenhouse Megastore Blog

• Bohemian-Style Raised Garden Bed

  Bernadette

  23 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  I love to build useful things for the garden and this raised bed was so simple and quick to make. I built it in an afternoon with my sister, Rebekah, who wanted the raised bed for her herb garden. I call it a Bohemian-style raised bed because it was so cheap to make! We used slag wood for the frame, scrap pieces of 2x4s for the corner posts and deck screws to attach everything together. For the soil we used rich, organic soil from our family’s farm and used a bag of commercial grade seedling soil to top it off. The whole bed cost no more than $15, but 12 dollars of that is the cost of…

• Colorful Leaves in Containers

  cjinspirations

  21 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  If you haven’t, try potting up a beautiful bunch of cannas and/or caladiums. These are the easiest bulbs to plant that give you a giant impact anywhere in your landscaping.  The colors in the leaves are striking and will captivate you as they grow. These bulbs have different light requirements. Cannas are sun lovers and caladiums are shade fans. You can actually plant the two in the same pot. Look for such as Black Knight, Gypsy Rose and Florida Elise. Or better yet experiment yourself and see which combinations you like best or which seem to perform the best in your location.

• Is Gardening Even Worth It?

  drew

  20 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  For most of the country, now is planting time. For many of you out there planting time was some 6-8 weeks ago, since you are all diligent and industrious home gardeners and you began your plants inside under the cool blue glow of fluorescent lights and artificial warmth of a heat mat. For you, the first growing season is already a third of the way done and you’ll be harvesting in no time. Yeah, something like this. Which brings me to, well, me. In the past I have started early and had mixed results, mostly because I am a ruthless plant killer no matter how much I try to be the exact…

• How to Screen Out Noise in Your Yard

  cjinspirations

  17 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  If you live near a busy street or highway you may find being outdoors is not as enjoyable as it could be if there was a little more peace and quiet. With just a little ingenuity and perhaps some DIY skills you can make it into an oasis. It will be impossible to stop all the noise but there are solutions to help dim the sounds. Fencing: This is a great option if you’d also like to eliminate the view of where the noise may be coming from. You should also do some landscaping near the fence to soften the hard look. Wooden or decorative metal pieces work well. Fence with trees planted to…

• Seven Reasons To Weed By Hand

  Kathy Cox

  15 May 2013 | 4:00 am

  1.) First and foremost, you can avoid exposing yourself, your children, pets, other plants, etc. to chemical weed killers. Yes, there are products that claim they are safe for you and the environment, but who wants to take that chance? Plus the stuff is expensive! 2.) What a great way to relieve some frustrations, nervous energy or the like. Yanking a few weeds out of the ground does wonders and can actually be quite relaxing. It’s constructive, not destructive (unless you are the weed). 3.) It’s exercise. Maybe not a cardio workout, but you will be using muscles you probably…

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  Tassie Germinations

• Several Reasons Why Your Hens May Stop Laying Eggs - Poultry Articles from The Poultry Site

  Dave Sayers

  5 May 2013 | 3:11 pm

  I have not yet introduced my chooks to this blog and I will do so soon, however came across this interesting article which may explain why i struggle to get a single egg at this time of year. The girls stopped laying about 4 to 5 weeks ago when the moulting kicked in. I have pure breeds (Wyandotte, Barnevelders and  two orphaned Buff Sussex) and I have noticed that they tend to not lay for a good 2 to 3 months at this time of year when the Isa Browns used to keep laying with minimal slow down. I have been told by local chook experts that this difference is why pure breeds have a much…

• April Weather Averages

  Dave Sayers

  3 May 2013 | 3:32 am

  After a warm summer things really dropped off during April. April 2013 2012 Max Avg 19.3 20.1 Min Avg 6.8 8 Highest Max 25.8 28.1 Lowest Min 1.3 1.2 Rain 61.5mm 52.2mm Avg Wind 3.5 km/h 3.3 km/hr Rainfall YTD - 213mm

• Winter veg patch update

  Dave Sayers

  22 Apr 2013 | 12:45 am

  The past weekend saw the removal of the majority of the summer specials such as the tomato and pumpkins. But in the other beds all the winter crops are growing well and now take centre stage in the patch. I also have laid down weed mat over all the paths and will be putting sawdust on top of this. I hope that this will help on a number of front. 1 - reduce the slug wars an 2 - reduce the weed wars. More to follow on this soon. The following are some photos of how things are going.Broccoli "Marathon" and Brussel SproutsKale "Red Russian" and Turnip "Hakurei". This turnip is delicious eaten raw…

• The chance of morning frost

  Dave Sayers

  19 Apr 2013 | 4:27 pm

  In the last week we have had our first glimpses of the arrival of winter with a number of mornings nudging 1 degree, extensive frosts around the corner in Nicholls Rivulet, and heavy snow above 800m asl. The fireplace has also kicked into gear for the first time since last October. The forecast for tomorrow is possibly light morning frost and I think I have gambled with the pumpkin long enough.Today I will be picking all left over pumpkins and tomatos, no matter how underdone some are. With pumpkins I will leave as much vine on the pumpkin as possible and bring undercover on the deck. I will…

• Willie Smith Organic Cider

  Dave Sayers

  16 Apr 2013 | 4:41 pm

  I could count on my hands the number of apple ciders I have purchased during my life. And the majoirty of those times has been since moving to Tasmania which is not surprising looking around the area at the number of apple trees. Last Sunday we ventured over to Grove where Willie Smith Organic Cider farm was having an open day.I never realised how much equipment was needed for producing the levels of cider these guys produce. As I walked around their orchards and buildings it was obvious that a fair level of capital is required to set up an operation as impressive as this.Fermenting…