Holiday Blooms From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, millions of houseplants are used as gifts and decorations just to be dumped when holiday cleanup commences. That’s a nice boost to growers and sellers of poinsettias, Christmas cacti, amaryllis, paperwhites, Norfolk Island pines, rosemary, citrus and numerous lesser-used gift plants. As a thrifty gardener who really… Read More
It’s a Marathon Since moving south a dozen years ago, the thing that I am still amazed by, as a gardener, is the length of spring. Growing up at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers, and spending early adulthood near the headwaters of the Mississippi and Lake Superior, lets just say that I… Read More
Autumn Planting Fall planting makes perfect sense. When you collaborate with nature, she determines the schedule. In gardening that means do the work now and wait for the result. Fall is the time for certain tasks that will yield beautiful results in your landscape next spring and summer. Harvest Seeds If you are saving seeds,… Read More
What’s That Flower Doing In There? The first time I encountered nasturtium was in a gormet salad mix from a local grower when we lived in Minnesota. I thought the flowers were a nice garnish, and they made the salad beautifiul…then I ate one. It bit unexpectedly like a radish! This peppery beauty quickly became… Read More
Two Great Options When discussing marigolds, it’s important to differentiate the two genera, both of the aster family, that share the same common name. Pot marigolds (Calendula officinalis) are native to southern Europe and have been known and used in food and medicine since ancient times. African marigolds, French marigolds, Mexican marigolds and several others (Tagetes species)… Read More