Fantastic in the landscape or as cut flowers, the bold blooms of the bigleaf varieties are a standout in vibrant shades of blue, green, mauve, pink, purple, red, and white. And some of them have the seemingly magical ability to change the color of their flowers. From blue to mauve or pink and vice versa, their chameleon-like shifts are unique in the flower garden. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....
Much to your horror, most of your apples have come down with evil looking sooty blotches that may coalesce to cover the entire fruit, or specks that look like fly excreta. Extension agents frequently receive panicked questions about these symptoms. But there’s good news! You can rest assured that your fruit will be fine, and these blemishes are just cosmetic. In fact, you can actually rub off a lot of them, like a ding in the shiny new paint job on your car....
When you picture fuchsia, you may imagine a hanging basket on a covered porch festooned with pink and purple blossoms cascading over the edge. Or perhaps you picture a shrub growing in a shady corner of the garden with dainty white flowers? It can be hard to get vibrant color into those spots that don’t see much sunshine, but fuchsia will happily bloom in the shade. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....
Suitable for growers in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 9, it has corymb, or flattened, flower heads with densely clustered blossoms in shades of pink, red, white, and yellow. In this article, you’ll learn all you need to know to cultivate and maintain yarrow in your garden. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
With all the appeal of their larger cousin, the carnation, pinks are easily grown, have a full flowering season, and are among the best scented perennials in the garden. And they’re an absolute must-have if you enjoy bouquets of freshly cut flowers! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Cultivation and History Dianthus is a large genus in the family Caryophyllaceae, with over 300 species endemic to Asia, Europe, and Japan plus a North American alpine species....
These old-fashioned yet utterly stylish plants are a colorful addition to borders and beds, can be planted as a hedge, and are easy to grow in containers as well. In our guide to growing hydrangeas, we discuss everything you need to know about cultivating these beauties in your garden. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
The tasty leaves are also highly nutritious and used to add savory flavor to a huge variety of dishes, from herbed butters to smoothies to hearty stews. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. The two most commonly cultivated varieties – curly and flat-leaf – make excellent container plants and the attractive, deep green foliage also makes a pretty ornamental that can be added to flower pots....
In an interesting twist, it got a couple of its nicknames – chaste plant and monk’s pepper – from old beliefs that utilizing potions made from the plant’s berries helped maidens remain maidenly, and helped monks adhere to their vows of chastity. Hardy in Zones 6 to 9, V. agnus-castus is sometimes referred to as “lilac of the South” because its beautiful, five- to 12-inch purple, lavender, off-white, or light pink flower spikes resemble those of lilac....
Packed with nutrition, this healthy leafy green, Spinacia oleracea, is a fantastic garden staple to have on hand in your backyard. Harvesting spinach isn’t that different than picking beet greens, and whether you’re growing this cool season crop in spring or fall, you have a couple of options. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. An Ounce of Prevention When it comes to resistance to pests and diseases, your best defense is to start with healthy plants. When available, select seed that has been bred for disease resistance, and always purchase plants from reputable growers. If you are starting seeds indoors to get a jump on the growing season, consider using a sterilized, disease-free potting medium....
However, there is a dark side to growing walnuts, and it comes in the form of a 1/4 inch long insect – the walnut husk fly (Rhagoletis completa). This is the most common pest encountered in both backyard and commercial groves of walnut trees on the West Coast – and a serious problem for growers. Technically, it’s the maggots that are the problem. They feed on the husk that surrounds the nut....
Have you read our guide to growing cauliflower? To recap, when growing this crop, you can gain the upper hand from the start by selecting disease-resistant varieties for planting, and always gardening with clean hands, gloves, and garden footwear to prevent the spread of disease from one plant to another. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
The blooms are so cheerful that the Sunshine State, Florida, designated all Coreopsis species, both annual and perennial, as the state wildflower. Despite its significance in Florida, this member of the Asteraceae family grows wild throughout the eastern United States. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. They can also be grown as annuals....
Without effective management, the disease can rapidly spiral out of control. Aster yellows is found throughout North America, Europe, and much of the world’s temperate zones. Unfortunately, it’s not a treatable condition. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Read on for ways to prevent your plants from becoming infected with this pernicious organism, and manage it if it does occur....
They renew the tired summer landscape and hint at the fall spectacle to come. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Our guide to growing asters provides information on how to cultivate these perennials in your garden. In this article, we zero in on aster propagation. Here’s what’s in store: Propagation is the process of making new plants from existing ones....
It’s the time when you play an active role in molding your chosen plant into the artistic vision that you hold in your mind. If only it were as easy as grabbing a pair of clippers and just going to town. But there are a lot of things to know when pruning bonsai, from which tools to use and when to trim to determining how to achieve the shape you want....
But when you grow your own Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, or C. maximum, being able to save the bounty to use at Halloween or throughout the winter is a luxury. Since these species have been bred as important food sources, this type of winter squash isn’t super picky about how you save it. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
This plant needs too much sun. That one likes shade. And this other one you’ve used all over the place — and you want something new. Have you considered using culinary herbs as groundcover? Adding these multipurpose edibles to your garden solves not only the problem of filling an empty space, but also enables you to liven up dinner! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
And while they spread by vigorous root systems and self-sowing, you can increase your aster’s garden footprint to an even greater degree by collecting seed and sowing it wherever you like. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Why Native Species? The first rule of seed saving is that only true species produce true to seed....
When it comes to bleeding hearts, the answer is perhaps more nuanced than you might expect. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. In the following guide, we’ll discuss the nine main reasons why your bleeding hearts may be yellowing. Beginning with a quick look at the different species that may be referred to by the name bleeding heart, we’ll explore common culprits that may cause their leaves to yellow, from environmental conditions to diseases and pests, physiological processes, and variety....
