I loved the zipline, but my favorite part was the little platform high in the spruce tree. I’d go up there to read books and eat snacks. Just below the tree stood a fragrant lilac bush that became the steady backdrop of every spring day I spent up on the platform. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
It tends to mind its own business, content to grow colorful, tender, upright stalks of leafy, healthy goodness without much extra effort on your part. If you are growing chard in your garden, you’ll want to pick the right companion plants to ensure yourself a healthy harvest. You may simply want to maximize your growing space in a raised bed. If so, knowing which plants will thrive when grown side by side can be helpful....
We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Vigorous plants, they naturalize readily via self-sowing and root expansion, taking up vast amounts of garden real estate when allowed. Our guide to growing asters provides all you need to know to get started with caring for different species and cultivated varieties. In this article, we talk about seven reasons why asters may fail to bloom and how to avoid them....
I tried growing corn last year, but I started too late in the season. This year, after learning my lesson and starting earlier, I’ve got sweet corn thriving in my garden. With a kid who loves it on the cob and a spouse who adores his nightly popcorn, it’s kind of a must-have in my veggie garden. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
Your grapevines could warn you that they’re being attacked by a fungus and your roses could alert you to a serious thrips infestation before you ever saw any signs of it. But alas, plants can’t talk. So we’re left looking out for clues that something is wrong. Yellow leaves? They’re a definite sign that all is not well with your rose. If it could talk, it would be yelling, “Helllllp!...
Well, we know that trees and shrubs are the “bones” of a garden – they provide a framework around which we can create an overall structure or theme. Perennials are reliable performers that flesh out the bones by adding shape, color, texture, and fragrance. And annuals are a bit like adding jewelry to the garden body – they add a vibrant splash of decorative color. So, where do the grasses fit in?...
One root veggie that I get particularly excited for is the parsnip. These paler carrot lookalikes are packed with nutrition and health benefits. 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 a Parsnip? The parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, is a vegetable closely related to carrots and parsley, all members of the Umbellifer family. Like beets, as well as turnips and other Brassicas, they actually get sweeter after the arrival of a winter frost....
I think of this day-brightener first, because it blooms in many different jewel-tones and sunny colors, and has those cute little flower faces. But even more important, these bloom in fall, and then come back again to burst into a riot of color in early spring. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. In general, pansies are easy to care for and hardy....
While the growing season may be shorter, by selecting cold hardy annuals you can stretch those vibrant displays from early spring late into autumn. 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 Cold Season Annuals? Cold season annuals are easy-to-grow flowers that thrive in the cooler temperatures of early spring or late fall, adding weeks or sometimes months of vibrant color to the garden....
Constructing an indoor mini greenhouse is an easy and affordable way to create the perfect environment for growing plants inside your house. 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 tips and ideas for building your own DIY mini greenhouse. Benefits of Indoor Greenhouses Often, one of the biggest challenges to starting plants from seed is figuring out where to place them to ensure optimal growing conditions....
In warm climates they’re hardy plants that can be grown outdoors, with impressively feathery, shiny dark green foliage that evokes a prehistoric feel straight out of Jurassic Park, the perfect backdrop to the backyard dinosaur display of your dreams. In colder regions, they make an excellent addition container gardens, or they can be grown indoors year-round if you have the space. But wait a minute. What’s this? Are those fronds drooping, and beginning to yellow?...
This slightly bitter, nutty, and refreshingly crisp vegetable is a welcome antidote to the usual winter fare. But before you go and purchase a packet of seeds to sow in your garden, beware: growing Belgian endive isn’t easy. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. I’m not trying to scare you off, but I want to make sure you’re prepared for the process ahead....
It has taken a bit of prodding and experimentation on my end, but I have finally found a few varieties that they can get excited about too. Napini is a term for the tender flowering shoots of kale plants, typically harvested from Siberian kale varieties. 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 Napini?...
When I think about all of the history that has come before us, especially in the botanical world, my imagination runs wild! I can’t help but think of those who came before us, spotting a curious new plant, and bringing it home to their family or colleagues to ponder over it. Maybe it would be delicious. Or maybe it would prove deadly. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....
One summer, my sister and I ambitiously harvested a few pails full, bundled and stuffed them into plastic sleeves, and sent them on the truck with my dad’s greenhouse-grown cut flowers to the flower auction. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. As common in ditches and on field margins as they were, they didn’t sell....
This houseplant has vibrantly colored leaves that will prevent you from ever setting it and forgetting it. And you won’t want to! This gem prefers regular attention, and will reward your efforts with painterly patterns, bright and luscious pinks, and leaves that rise and fall with the rhythms of day and night. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....
These versatile spring bloomers provide a riot of blue-lavender, pink, or white bell-shaped flowers from April to May. Low maintenance and robust, wood hyacinths were regarded as a staple in many old English gardens, and the blooms are still loved today. 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 the lineup: Cultivation and History Hyacinthoides hispanica, also known as Spanish bluebell, wood hyacinth, large bluebell, or squill, is native to Spain, Portugal, and northwest Africa....
I began my seed-harvesting journey with these flowers. The seeds were staring me in the face, practically begging to be collected. Plus, I love this big, airy, colorful plant, so collecting more for sowing next year – and for free! – was a no-brainer. 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 have cosmos blooming in your garden this year, you’ve got to try it....
Okay, I might say that about most flowers, but dahlias are special. With row upon row of soft, rounded petals sporting rich colors that emerge from bright green foliage, they’re gorgeous. But the most frustrating thing about them is that pests find them incredibly attractive too. 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 dahlias right here, including how you can deal with them effectively!...
Sometimes the problem is a branch that is growing oddly crooked, or maybe the sun scorched the leaves of a shade-loving species. And then there are those times when disease strikes and causes your plant to do some strange stuff. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. It causes funky-looking growths that make the leaves turn into something that looks more suited to a succulent garden....
