Today, the last of November, beginning of December, snow is flying in many parts of the USA. Many die-hard gardeners in colder areas turn to houseplants to satisfy that perennial itch to commune with the green world. These days it seems you find lots of houseplants for sale wherever you go. Many grocery stores, even big box stores, now boast a tantalizing display of gorgeous
Read more →It’s late November and garden ghosts from last summer’s bounty may still linger in standing dead stalks of flowers long gone. Unfortunately, some of this left-over plant material may be infected with fungal or bacterial diseases. Roses may keep their foliage until well into winter, even if it’s infected with black spot or powdery mildew. Pear leaves infested with blister mites will come back to
Read more →It’s late autumn and Halloween jack-o-lanterns sag and melt away in forgotten corners of the yard along with left-over dead cornstalks. The ghosts of last summer’s bounty linger in flower beds and vegetable gardens. The bright leaves of maple and oak that covered the ground earlier in the season are brown and soggy. As every gardener knows, a garden generates waste. The outer leaves of
Read more →Glorious flowering bulbs of summer can light up your garden all through the warm summer months. Some, like tuberous begonias and dahlias, bloom all summer long. Others, like gladiolus, cannas, and crocosmia, have a more definite and shorter season of bloom. All are among the most flamboyant of summer flowers. They come in a brilliant rainbow of colors, many provide much needed height, and all
Read more →It’s November and we’re heading into the dead zone. Winter is a’comin’ in and your garden is going to sleep. To get you through the winter doldrums, think about spring bulbs. Imagine cheery, colorful crocus brightening your dreary days in late winter and very early spring, as they pop through the snow. Picture bright tulips, golden daffodils, and other spring flowering bulbs following behind the
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