These plants are typically pretty robust and don’t struggle with a lot of pests. However, there are a few different ones you might encounter. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. In our guide to growing gladiolus, we cover cultivation instructions for these showy perennials. In this guide, we’ll be diving into the most common types of pests that may affect your plants, how to identify them, and what you can do to control them....

The promise of gorgeous flowers and carpets of petals, and the delectably tedious art of pruning, makes the headaches over diseases that commonly affect these plants tolerable. At least until the end of fall, that is. Then I give up on them again. But such is the life of the gardener. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

While reading the book, I sympathize with Peter and Flopsy and Mopsy. But when it comes to cottontails making free with my home garden, I am strictly Team Mr. McGregor. It can be discouraging to plant a flat of flower seedlings and have them disappear overnight, nothing but nubs in the morning. As a veteran vegetable gardener, I find it just as disheartening to have row upon row of bush beans sprout, grow an inch or two, and then get consumed in the space of a day....

Often confused with its more popular cousin, marjoram is a stand out herb in its own right. With a sweet, woodsy flavor, it reminds me of a mild, sweet sage with a camphor aftertaste. Sure, you can exchange the two herbs readily in recipes if you’re running low on one because they have a similar flavor profile. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

What’s more, these show-stopping annuals are incredibly easy to grow. 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 Zinnias? Zinnia is a genus of flowering annuals in the aster family, Asteraceae, that can be grown in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 through 10. They feature erect stems with bright solitary flower heads that produce large impressive blooms throughout the summer, attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, and other beneficial insects....

Armed with this knowledge, you will be able to answer some of the other questions you may have about growing this cruciferous crop in your garden. Some of those questions may go along these lines: Do you have to replant it every year? Can you harvest and save seeds from it the first year? We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

Are you getting enough iron? How about protein? Vitamins and other minerals? Well, these very same questions can be posed to your plants. After all, your backyard and garden companions are living things like you and me, needing nutrition and sustenance to survive. No surprise, right? Every good gardener knows to fertilize their garden denizens with well-balanced applications and plant food and compost when they need it. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

Perhaps a little confused, you move on, and come across a blackberry plant. Floricane fruiting, the tag reads. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All of this can seem confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve got all the answers laid out for you below. Here’s what we’ll talk about in this article:...

This mineral may come to mind most commonly when you’re trying to fight off a cold, but what is its role in our bodies beyond immune support, and how can we get more of it from our home vegetable gardens? We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. What Is Zinc? Zinc is a mineral, a slightly brittle metal that you might find in nature, and an essential nutrient....

We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. It can be frustrating when our plants struggle or refuse to bloom, especially if you are growing these beauties for cut flowers. If you need a refresher on how to grow Shasta daisies, check out our guide. In this article, we’ll discuss common reasons why your plants might not be blooming....

Come to think of it, growing varieties ideal for preserving is a good strategy in prosperous times of absolute certainty, too. It’s always nice to have a taste of summer waiting in the pantry or freezer, or being able to turn an overabundance of tomatoes into salsa and sauce to keep on hand for neighbors and community members, or to give as gifts. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

In addition to clearing up leaves, a leaf blower can also help you remove grass clippings, other garden debris, and clean out gutters. Additionally, they are more efficient for use on driveways or parking areas than a rake. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. How to Choose a Leaf Blower First, how do you decide whether you want a gas, corded, or cordless model?...

Several species and their hybrids offer multiple seasons of interest with clusters of pretty pink, purple, red, or white flowers, color-changing foliage, and beautiful forms that include elegant, swooping branches or compact, tidy clusters. Some varieties are spring-flowering while others flower in summer, and a mixed selection can produce months of blooms. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

Whether you’re growing hybrid Viola x wittrockiana in gardens or containers in late fall, or as an early bloomer in spring, their appealing colors can’t be beat. If you grow them organically, you can also enjoy those bright hues on a salad plate or atop creamy icing on a homemade cake. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

With a few tips, you’ll be on your way to crafting centerpieces for your home, and thoughtful gifts to give to friends and loved ones. The art of floral arranging is an ancient and fascinating one. From the elegant simplicity of Japanese Ikebana to lush European designs, the sky’s the limit when it comes to expressing your creativity with nature’s bounty. Define a Theme Take a walk through your garden and see what’s there from which to choose....

Flowering from midsummer until the arrival of frost, they add fresh beauty to beds, borders, containers, and window boxes through the dog days of summer – just when other plants start to wear out from summer’s heat. But with over 57,000 registered cultivars worldwide, choosing a selection for your garden can be a challenge. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

If you fertilize them correctly in the spring you can expect buckets of vitamin-packed berries in the summer, between June and August. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. If that sounds great to you, read on! Here’s what we’ll cover up ahead: A conventional fertilizer will have numbers on the product packing to indicate the nutritional makeup....

Sweetly fragrant with a delicate, fresh scent, each hyacinth bulb produces 4-6 narrow, upright leaves and 1-3 spikes of fragrant star-shaped flowers in colors of blue, lavender, purples, orange, peach, salmon, red, pink, yellow, and white. Winter hardy in zones 4-8, these pretty, perfumed blooms enjoy full or partial sun and typically appear from March to April, growing to a height of 8-12 inches. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

Beloved by greenhorn and green thumb gardeners alike, their multi-season beauty, easy care, and fast growth make it one of the most popular of flowering shrubs. With a long-lasting bloom time, fine-textured foliage, and variable sizes, they’re suitable for any landscape, and can be used as groundcovers, hedging, in mass plantings, or in perennial beds. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

In addition to its attractive deep red leaves, this fast-growing plant puts on a breathtaking springtime display of fringy pink or white flowers. The plant — mostly with white blooms — didn’t have much of a presence in the United States until the mid ‘90s, when nurseries began marketing varieties with pink blooms. Now it is ubiquitous in much of the South. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....