When my daughter was small, we had a raised vegetable bed with a few tomato plants, peppers, and beans. When our first green pepper was ready to pick, a crow swooped down and snatched it – pepper, plant, roots – and flew off, leaving my little gardener open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Whether you have a few clay pots on a patio or an acre out back, gardening is amazing and your kids are going to love it!...

At some point, pretty much anyone who dabbles in growing plants has managed to drown one completely, or has forgotten to water to the point where the plant is practically a husk. But there’s a tool out there that takes the guesswork out of watering and saves lives – at least the plant kind (cue dramatic music). Soil moisture meters are simple, efficient tools for figuring out how moist the soil is around your plants....

But “hollow heart” cucumbers don’t really give advance notice. You may be slicing a fruit to make a salad, or even biting into it as you stroll the garden, before you’re made aware that the unblemished skin is concealing an empty space where the seeds and core flesh would usually be. Bummer! There are a couple of good things about this condition that almost compensate for its surprise element, however....

We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. It’s a plant that means a lot to me personally and I’d love to share a little about that, but if you’re here strictly for the hard facts, check out the table of contents below to find exactly what you’re looking for! As a quick note, this guide will serve as a general growing guide for the most common Sempervivum species....

A side dish staple of the South, collard greens can make a tasty and nutritious addition to your leafy-green vegetable repertoire. After taking a deeper look into their health benefits, you’ll be ready to grow and cook up your own. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. What Are Collard Greens? Collard greens are a leafy variety of the Brassica oleracea species, from the Acephala group....

And is there anything worse than biting into that fruit and discovering that you picked it too late or too early? We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. So you gotta figure out when and how to pluck them so you can nab them right during that perfect window of ripeness. We’re about to go berry picking, so gather your gloves, scissors, and a basket....

Consistently elegant, callas add a unique flair to the garden with their distinctive chalice-like flowers in a range of luscious tropical colors supported by handsome upright foliage. The striking colors come in a wide range of colors including apricot, black, burgundy, mauve, orange, peach, pink, purple, white, and yellow. And they’re long-lasting, providing weeks of color in the spring or late summer garden, depending on when they were planted. Tender perennials, callas flower from early to midsummer....

Close your eyes and imagine a lush, tropical landscape. You probably picture palm trees, large fans of green leaves, and bright, dramatic blooms soaking up the sun. Maybe you included yourself in this scene, lounging on a beach chair amongst the palm fronds and sipping on a pina colada – or maybe that’s just where I see myself in this scenario! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

They’re called “lucky bamboo,” and despite their ubiquitous presence, they are anything but common. Lucky bamboo, Dracaena sanderiana, is widely cultivated as a houseplant that can grow in both water and soil. The name also applies to a different species, D. brauneii, which has denser foliage at its base. The two types are often sold interchangeably, with D. sanderiana being most prevalent. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Quercus species are, in a few words, one of the best investments you can make in designing your landscape, and growing them is hardly rocket science. Reference our handy table of contents below to find the information you’re looking for, or if you’re like me and like to wander along the garden path, keep on reading and we’ll talk about all there is to know about growing oak trees....

The stunning yellow flowers will be on full display for up to six weeks in late spring and early summer. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Its popularity and gorgeous flowers earned this plant the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit, and it’s not hard to see why! Often used in rock and pollinator gardens, this mat-forming, low-growing plant has a creeping habit....

They, along with the rest of the plant, are capable of murder. But no worries – just don’t eat it and you’ll be fine! And you’ll be thrilled with the spectacular show this plant puts on each spring. Really. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Even deer are smart enough to leave this one alone, so you needn’t fear for the lives of your neighborhood foragers....

It’s one of those plants that you start growing, only to find a few years later that it has reseeded, and volunteers have started popping up all over the place. Or maybe you don’t have the space to dedicate to an in-ground plot for your favorite herbs, but you long for the fresh taste of homegrown chamomile tea. The solution? Containers. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

If you have yet to include this beloved herb in your garden, you are missing out on one of the most rewarding plants to grow, ever. I’m not exaggerating. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Do you need an easy to grow, hardy perennial? Do you want to grow an herb garden, but aren’t sure where to start?...

When my garden-savvy grandma was visiting me two summers ago, she advised me to buy a division of rhubarb from a local nursery after I raved to her about my newfound, Alaska-fueled passion for pie plant – but I procrastinated. I figured there would always be rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) available somewhere in my new home state. But alas, finding a division or crown in the heart of wintertime was a doomed endeavor....

And do you know what else this perennial favorite can do? It makes a marvelous container plant! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. We’ll go over what kind of container you need, what sort of soil to fill it with, and how to keep your potted plants perfectly happy. Here’s what you can expect up ahead: It’s time to start planting, so pull out your gardening gloves and your watering can....

While I have yet to add window boxes to my house, I love all the ways you can adorn your home with flowers. Growing violets in containers next to your front porch steps is one such way to please the eye of anyone walking by. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Even better, the containers keep the delicate blooms up off the ground....

These invasive insects are spreading rapidly throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeastern regions of the US. Learn how to control then destructive pests with this guide. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Since then, this intruder has continued its inexorable march throughout Pennsylvania to Maryland, New Jersey, New York State, Massachusetts, and as of early 2020, Connecticut....

If only our kids loved as many different types of vegetables as the immature larvae of this hungry moth! Able to skeletonize leaves, burrow into plant crowns, and kill seedlings and young plants, Spodoptera exigua is a daunting foe. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Here’s what we’ll cover: What Are Beet Armyworms?...

If only it were that simple. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Luckily, we’ve got everything you need to know about what pests might attack your carrots, including how you can deal with them! Here’s what we’ll cover: 1. Aphids Are there any plants aphids don’t attack? There are a variety of aphid species that will suck on carrots, including melon aphids, willow carrot aphids, and green peach aphids....