For some people it just begins to take too much time, or too much energy. I used to plant my garden the old-fashioned way too. I would put in all that effort and my harvest would be mediocre at best. I would always be disappointed, but I would continue to plant year after year. It is in the blood you see. My father’s family line is full of yeoman farmers who made their living from working their own land, some more successfully than others....
Is your grass lush, like a thick green carpet, or is it marred by bare patches and weeds? Do you have problems growing basic leaf lettuce in your veggie patch? One reason your lawn or vegetable garden may be in distress is that the dirt is too acidic, and this is where we’ll begin our discussion of lime. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
With their classy good looks, Zantedeschia plants make handsome specimens when mass planted in cutting gardens, foundations, or island beds. And they make an exceptional addition to mixed beds, containers, and patio pots as well, pairing beautifully with asters, hydrangeas, Shasta daisies, and more. In the garden, they provide a generous flowering time of three to eight weeks, and make exceptional long-lasting cut flowers. A florist’s favorite, callas are often featured in flower arrangements and bridal bouquets....
The visual cue is clear – our cups are running over with delightful, succulent goodness. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. We’re going to do a meet and greet with 35 different plants, sorting our way through vines of succulent leaves and columns of trailing cacti, until you find the plants you’re looking for....
Gardeners have known for centuries that tending a plot is good for your physical health, and that it improves mood and dissolves stress. Now, research is providing us with the science that supports our intuitive understanding of soil salvation! Elemental and natural, time spent gardening can calm the mind, sooth ragged emotions, and increase our ability to focus on the positive aspects of our lives. The size and scope of the allotment isn’t important....
He’d grown up enjoying the famous boysenberry pie and chicken dinners at Knott’s – plus the thrilling rides – and couldn’t wait to share all of that with me. Until we arrived, I thought we were headed to a boysenberry farm crossed with a theme park. But as it turns out, this was not the case. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
Pretty as a picture? Not some I’ve seen. Sleep like a baby? If you mean fitfully… Work like a dog? Sometimes, but my sweet Huggy is asleep on the porch more often than not. But cool as a cucumber? That’s always true. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. A slice will soothe puffy eyes, and a cup or two chopped makes a refreshing chilled soup for summer meals....
It has a lovely hue, likes full sun, and doesn’t care to be watered too often. You can throw it in the garden or in a container, and it will sing its thanks with reliable silvery foliage. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Let’s dig in! A Classic Garden Annual About fifty percent of my favorite plants are the ones that I grew and grew up with as a child....
French tarragon simply doesn’t thrive in places where it gets really hot and dry. But there’s an herb with a similar flavor called Mexican tarragon (Tagetes lucida) that does extremely well in arid spots. Then there are those places where French tarragon suffers from rot or other diseases. Mexican tarragon is a great alternative there, too. That said, this isn’t just an alternative to that classic kitchen herb. It’s a spectacular plant in its own right....
But the two are entirely different flowers. Peonies are usually herbaceous perennials or woody shrubs that grow from thick tubers – which I have recently seen unearthed in my front flower bed because my dog has inexplicably been digging up one of my peonies over and over again… Peony tulips, on the other hand, are grown from bulbs. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
Gardeners love its fast growth in response to warm temperatures. But this frost-tender annual is short-lived and needs to be resown yearly. These vigorous plants flower and set seed freely. And once the growing season slows down, collecting seed from your favorite varieties is a smart way to ensure a repeat performance next year. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
I’ve always enjoyed the brilliant color of nasturtiums in a flower border, particularly the bright red types. I often rely on the easy-care annuals for creating little nosegays tucked into vintage bud vases for decorating odd corners of the house, like my office. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. I start casually, occasionally popping a flower or a small leaf into my mouth as I graze from my vegetable garden on late spring evenings....
Hornworms are going to munch on your tomatoes; slugs are going to chew your lettuce down to a nub; and aphids – well, aphids may make an appearance on absolutely anything. And indeed, cabbage is one of the plants you’ll want to take extra care to supervise, as there is a long list of potential pests, some of which can be devastating if left to do their worst. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....
Those sweet, crisp roots were supposed to feed you and your family, not some small, hungry weevils! What can you do? We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Everything you need to know about these weevils and how to do just that is laid out for you below! Here’s what we’ll cover: What Are Carrot Weevils?...
As omnivores that will happily scavenge and snack on leaves, fruits, and other insects, earwigs can be both beneficial insects, and garden pests. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. While preying on insect larvae, slug eggs, and aphids, and eating decaying organic matter, they also chew holes in seedlings, lettuce, berries, stone fruits, and flowers including dahlias and zinnias....
If you’re left wondering whether the ornamental shrub, Gardenia jasminoides, could come back from that damage, my answer is a definite, “Maybe.” 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: Can Gardenias Survive Cold Damage? I’ve lived in two Southern states, among many gardeners devoted to growing these fragrant shrubs outdoors....
After the exuberant growth of spring and early summer, our gardens can slow down and sag a bit, especially when extended spells of hot weather set in. As the low moisture and high heat conditions continue, grasses go into dormancy, new foliage slows to a crawl, and many plants conserve energy by restricting blooms – leaving gardens looking tired and spent. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....
In 2007 it was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “hottest pepper in the world” – but it has since been knocked off its podium by the sinister-sounding ‘Carolina Reaper.’ The “heat” of a pepper is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU), which measures the concentration of capsaicin. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
Often called canna lilies, they are neither lilies nor lily relatives, but share the same monocot structure – petals in multiples of three are one characteristic of this form. And while they are often called bulb flowers, they are not actually true bulbs, but flattened, fleshy rhizomes. Suited to gardens in USDA Hardiness Zones 7 to 10, canna is an herbaceous tropical perennial native to South America. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....
Christmas flowers, as these plants are also known, are usually propagated from cuttings, and this is the method I’m going to share with you today. Even professional nurseries grow these winter-blooming plants from cuttings, which ensures that newly propagated specimens produce clones of the parent plants. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Now that you’ve been forewarned that growing these holiday plants isn’t without its challenges, drawing on some tips from professional poinsettia growers, I’m going to provide you with a step by step guide so that your propagation project can be met with success....
