We all fall in love with plants - and then at some point, we're so over it. I've loved and lost many plants over the past 30+ years. But I've loved and tossed plenty of them too. Sometimes a plant just isn't as interesting as I first thought. Or it was a hot new release [...]
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 [...]
Hardy rosemary cultivars might survive a Zone 5 winter, but I'm not betting on it. Read how to successfully overwinter rosemary plants.
While you're outside planting bulbs and cleaning up gardens, here are some things to keep an eye out for that are easier to take care of before they get out of hand.
A subscriber to my newsletter, Eco-Friendly News, Views, Clues and How-To’s wrote, asking “Am I right to leave alive the tomato hornworms that have the parasitic wasps on their backs?”
Favorite pollinator plants bloom for a long time and attract all manner of beneficial insects. Learn what to plant for July and August flowers for pollinators.
Life is too short to fuss with staking perennials to keep them upright and looking good. It's easy to control the eventual height of many perennials if you cut them back early. Cutting back stimulates new branching.
In nature, you don't see plants just sitting there next to each other, politely not touching. They grow together, in community, without wood chip mulch in between, without social distancing. How do they manage to mingle, and how can we emulate natural plant communities in our home landscapes?
How to get rid of lawn - equivalent to an ecological desert - and create perennial beds under trees. An eco-friendly garden coach and homeowner brainstormed together and laid out new beds to create an attractive eco-friendly yard that attracts wildlife and is easy to maintain.
In my training as a NOFA-Accredited Organic Land Care Professional, I was intrigued to learn a bit about what the plants we call weeds reveal about soil. Wanting to learn more, I called the instructor Michael Nadeau, Wholistic Land Care Consultant at his home in Connecticut. Mike, a leading authority on sustainable organic and ethical [...]