This herbaceous ornamental species is unique for having an early bloom time, low profile, and single blossom per stem. 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 Best suited to USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 7, A. alpinus thrives in full sun with average to poor, well-draining soil. Bloom time is from late spring to early summer, and sometimes mid-summer....
The sweet, spreading scent of its delicate flowers will fill your garden and home, and you won’t want to miss a moment. That’s why it’s best planted as close as possible to your house so you can enjoy its rich spring perfume. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. My grandmother’s name was Daphne, and my parents have always grown winter daphne in their garden in her honor....
Cherry tomatoes are great plants to start with. Rewarding for the new and experienced gardener alike, they’re wonderfully productive and easy to grow – a single plant can produce a reliable crop of bite-sized fruits from early summer until fall. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. And the flavors of sun-warmed fruit right off the vine are absolutely delicious, from mild to sweet to tangy....
I love using fresh cranberries in baking. Nothing beats fresh cranberry bread and muffins straight out of the oven. And dried cranberries are a staple in my homemade breakfast granola mix. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. So it’s a shame that many people think cranberries are too difficult to grow at home, or are under the impression that they only grow in bogs....
Well, there’s no need for despair. You can have your own tasty crop without the back forty, because technically, a garden isn’t even necessary! That’s because tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, are wonderfully easy to grow in containers and pots – if you have the right setup. These are prolific and naturally hearty plants that produce heavy yields of fruit, given the right growing conditions. And there’s a tomato plant suitable for any sunny location....
Plants that brighten the sometimes dismal winter months are always popular. Perhaps that’s why winter jasmine has been cultivated for centuries. Though this species lacks the strong, musky scent that most types of jasmine are known for, it not only adds color to the landscape, it also serves as an important source of forage for pollinators when it blooms in late winter. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....
They also held its perceived medicinal properties in high esteem, using it to treat gout and headaches. While cabbage remains an important utility player in our kitchens, it’s not exactly considered a luxury food item these days, though perhaps it should be. 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’re growing this humble but flavorful vegetable in your garden, you might have questions about when and how to harvest....
But there’s something extra special about early spring and fall veggies like brussels sprouts. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever set a table with a stalk of sprouts as the centerpiece. And is there anything in the world more satisfying than snapping off a ripe sprout straight from the stalk in the garden? Cool-season veggies are precious because they pop up when the rest of the garden is still waking up or tucking in for the dormant season....
We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. I wouldn’t always find each one of these pests, but I could count on finding at least a few, depending on the crop I was scouting. Greenhouses are notorious for harboring and nurturing populations of insects that are always on the verge of explosion. These protected growing environments are warm and wet, and they contain a buffet of plants to suit a variety of palates, including those of tiny creatures with six or eight legs....
On one trip to Barcelona from Valencia, we drove past fields of sunflowers. They were so alluring that the driver stopped the bus and let all the students hop out to take photos of the tall beauties. They filled our hearts with joy, as sunflowers do. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. How lovely is that?...
There are three types: the hardy cranesbill (Geranium spp.), the hanging ivy type (Pelargonium peltatum), and the garden geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum). In this brief article, we zero in on how to start new plants by taking stem cuttings from existing ones. 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 to learn how easy it is....
That’s the perfect time to take a cutting. Propagation by stem cutting lets you recreate a clone of a plant you love. That means you can have two, three, four, or maybe more of that perfect floribunda that you just can’t get enough of. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Now, for the bad news: Probably only about 50 to 75 percent of your cuttings will take....
But a green thumb’s collection of houseplants is always changing and evolving. After the holidays, you don’t have to pitch your Euphorbia pulcherrima – you can transplant it outside instead! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. It covers best cultivation practices for those in appropriate USDA Hardiness Zones where these plants will thrive year-round outside....
Then you need to dig that giant hole and plant the darn thing, not to mention all the care that goes into raising it. It’s no wonder you want to know how long your investment is going to last, thriving in the landscape as a beautiful specimen. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
So inspiring, in fact, that references to plants are more ingrained into our lives than we might think! Gardening, agriculture, and plant relationships have been very central to humanity; so much so that folklore surrounding them found its way into ancient beliefs, customs, and mottos today, even the names of the plants themselves. How did this come to pass? Let’s take a deeper look at the plant world, ranging across cultures all around the world, and how their mystical influences still touch our lives in modern times – and even some peculiar beliefs we once had (or might still have) about them....
It’s a type of “xerophyte,” a shallow-rooted wonder that thrives in dry climates and stores water in fat, fleshy leaves and stems. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. From the smooth blue rosettes of echeveria hugging the soil in compact clusters, to the towering six-foot Agave americana stretching toward the summer sun, succulents are varied and fascinating plants....
Some people have just a small space to work with. And some may have difficulty with the physical demands of caring for large shrubs. Maybe you have pests, like moles or voles, and you just don’t want to add another plant to their buffet. Perhaps you’re a gardener who has a balcony or a patio but no land to plant in; or perhaps you do have the space and the right seasonal temperatures, but you just don’t want to dedicate the space required for a camellia that can grow up to twenty feet tall....
It’s amazing I can grow carrots in this dirt, but I can, and I have long-ago growers from Danvers, Massachusetts to thank for that. They introduced the variety originally known as ‘Danvers Half Long’ more than a century ago. It’s able to grow in dirt that’s rocky or heavy, and still produces medium size carrots in a deep, rich orange. Without this type, I’d miss the chance to devour homegrown Daucus carota sativus grown on my own land....
Plants don’t grow in neat rows in the wild. They are instead part of greater interconnected ecosystems where different organisms work together so the whole community can flourish. Guilds employ a method of growing trees and supporting species together in a way that resembles natural plant communities. Incorporating guilds into your garden can help to improve overall yields while supporting a variety of beautiful and beneficial plants. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....
Blackberry bushes are pretty reliable. You don’t need to baby the plants for them to produce an abundant harvest. 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 explain how and when to feed blackberries to make the process easy, so here’s what you can expect coming up: You just need to be sure you apply it in the fall so it has time to work into the soil and for any salts to leach out....
