To choose the perfect poinsettia: Pick a plant with small, tightly clustered buds in the center. Look for crisp, bright, undamaged foliage. Avoid plants displayed in drafty or crowded areas. To keep the poinsettia blooming: When surface soil is dry to the touch, water thoroughly. Discard excess water in the saucer. To prolong color, keep […]
Holiday Trees Nothing enhances a festive mood like the scent of fresh evergreens. Follow these tips to make the most of your holiday greenery: Choose a Christmas tree that has firm needles that don’t fall from branches when handling the tree. Individual needles should bend rather than snap if you pinch them between your fingers. […]
The end of summer is in sight and what is a vegetable gardener to do? You might be enjoying the last hurrah of cherry tomatoes and peppers, but don’t let the bounties of your harvest end there. When the temperatures cool, there is a fresh opportunity to grow different edible plants.
Fall evokes thoughts of crisp, cool air, geese flying overhead, and leaves crunching underfoot. Capture the spirit of autumn with an inviting display of plants near the doorway of your home. Your display can be as simple or fancy as you like, start with a basic potted container, and then add-on decorative accents.
Cover Crops; repaying the soil for the benefits we reap You may think that as the gardening season is winding down that it’s time to sit back and enjoy the harvest. Think again! Consider the age old practice of planting a cover crop, which has been around throughout agricultural history. Many home gardeners assume that […]
If you’re short on time and funds, or just have a serious disinterest in plastic pumpkins and turkeys that you have to store for 11 months, Mother Nature can give you a Thanksgiving décor assist. If you have a yard or garden you can gather supplies right outside your door, but plenty of materials can […]
A Partnership in Growing Greener Gardening with birds in mind is a great way to bring additional beauty and balance to your growing space. These winged wonders not only help with pollination and spreading of seeds, but offer chemical-free insect control as well. Adding a few site-matched Native varieties (more green points!) to your plantings […]
For many of us, the crisp days of autumn mean a bounty of pumpkins for carving jack-o-lanterns or baking scrumptious pies along with the ingathering of all the other fruits of our labor. But for countless backyard gardeners, autumn is the time to ‘strut their stuff’ before the crowds that gather time again, at local […]
Autumn is a wonderful time for planting in the landscape or container garden: temperatures are more moderate, soil moisture is easier to maintain, root growth increases in most trees and shrubs, it’s easier to see where empty or lacking places are than in spring and we plant tenders have caught our second wind! Spring flowering […]
In pursuit of growing a ‘Prizewinning Pumpkin’ For many of us, the crisp days of autumn mean a bounty of pumpkins for carving jack-o-lanterns or baking scrumptious pies along with the ingathering of all the other fruits of our labor. But for countless backyard gardeners, autumn is the time to ‘strut their stuff’ before the crowds that […]