Amaryllis (properly Hippeastrum) are the gifts that keep on giving. This year I've had the privilege of filling my house with top-sized potted bulbs from White Flower Farm. No more cheap supermarket bulbs for me. Eventually the show will be over. But after enjoying two or three bloom stems with clusters of colorful trumpets, I'm [...]
My "there are no rules" attitude and "keep throwing color at it until it sings" way of gardening doesn't work for everyone, especially beginners afraid of making mistakes. There are no mistakes. That's how you learn. But it does help to have some guidance. Although Stephanie Cohen and Nancy Ondra's Perennial Gardener's Design Primer was [...]
Color is so personal. We all gravitate toward certain colors and color combinations. Our choices express our personalities and creativity. Favorite colors make us feel good. I love gold foliage in the garden. It makes dynamic combinations with other colors and looks like sunshine. One of my clients thinks gold plants look diseased. Don't let [...]
Cats and dogs train their owners to stick to a regular schedule. But plants are on their own timetable. Watering every Wednesday and Sunday, like clockwork, doesn't cut it. Some (most) plants need to dry out between waterings. Some must never be allowed to dry out. If a plant is suffering and you don't know [...]
I got out of the houseplant habit for a while. Except for the odds and ends and amaryllis bulbs I grew in the greenhouse window over my kitchen sink, my windowsills were bare. For years, I had enough creatures to take care of. I put houseplants outdoors in summer and pretty much forgot about them [...]
I did it! After years of sinking money into things that don't show - chimney liner, new oil tank, electrical upgrades, insulation, etc. etc. etc. - I finally got to do something I want. The entire yard on the east-southeast side of my yard is lawn no more. Never again will I have to tip [...]
Karen Bussolini will be speaking at the virtual Great Lakes Trade Exposition on January 27, 2021.
Kim Eierman is an environmental horticulturist, landscape designer, speaker, teacher and founder of the horticulture and communications company Eco-Beneficial in Westchester County, NY. It's really easy to turn people off by telling the truth. Even willing, well-intentioned listeners can feel beaten up by too many discouraging facts and figures. Eierman doesn't just tackle the upsetting [...]
Early winter is time for musing and making notes. For assessing successes and failures in our gardens while they're still semi-fresh in mind. We can change course and leave failures behind - there's always next year, right? Why not cozy up with a good book and let some new ideas take root. Winter is a [...]
Without human intervention, most of New England is inclined toward becoming forest. But humans have intervened. When managed land is abandoned, meadows are not periodically mowed and invasive plants are not managed, it is not a pretty picture. If you "let nature take its course" invasive plants will take over.