Caught Unaware As a northern gardener who moved to the south, there were a few things that I had to get accustomed to. Climate and soil differences were obvious, and the adjustmments were relatively easy to make. One of the harder things to deal with has been fire ants. Fire ants are plentiful and robust…
Autumn Joy Sedum For a hot and sunny location, succulents are a great choice. Sedum (also known as stonecrop) is a genus of hardy succulents that “thrive on neglect,” a trait that marginal gardeners such as I require. My favorite thing in the gardening world is finding a plant that can be installed and forgotten…
It’s so hard to say goodbye Sometimes as gardeners, when plant problems arise, we need a little push to finally admit that a plant isn’t going to make it. I have to admit, it’s tempting to keep on spraying, fertilizing, pruning, watering and otherwise “nurturing” that plant that’s had only two green leaves for the…
Not your ordinary Shepherd’s Pie It’s sweet potato time in our house. We harvested our sweet potatoes a couple of weeks ago; they are cured and ready to eat. This year our crop was very generous and it’s time to start making all of our sweet potato favorites. This inspiration for this dish was from…
Garden Visitors Broadly speaking, gardeners tend to be wildlife lovers too. When I worked in garden centers, I regularly had conversations with clients who simultaneously wanted pointers on ridding their yard of one pest or another (without harming it) and attracting wildlife. Interestingly the key to both lies in understanding what these critters are looking…