The time will soon come for gardeners to take a well-deserved rest, but it’s not here yet. Much work still needs to be done, but it can be accomplished without the rushed pace of the beginning of the season. Annual plants should be pulled up and removed from both flower and vegetable gardens. Most can [Continue]
Have you heard the term “nativar”? It is the name given to a cultivar of a native plant. As a refresher, a native plant is one that existed in a particular area prior to European settlement. Natives are well-adapted to the climate and soils of the area where they have grown for hundreds or even [Continue]
When my husband and I moved to our home 23 years ago, I discovered a pretty purple flower in the flowerbed called creeping bellflower. I thought it an odd name, since it didn’t appear to be a creeper: the two-foot stems were upright and held cute purple bell-shaped flowers along their sides. Years went by [Continue]
Everything you thought you knew about how plants get nutrients from the soil through their roots may be wrong. Scientists have determined that 95% of plant families get the majority of their nutrition not through roots, but through microscopic fungi that either attach to or penetrate the roots. These fungi, called mycorrhizae (pronounced my-core-rise-uh), form [Continue]
Every year I plant at least one new vegetable that I’ve never grown before. This year I planted baby broccoli, also called sprouting broccoli. Seed catalogs feature many varieties, each touting their own wonderful attributes. I chose Asparabroc Hybrid Baby Broccoli. The “aspara” part comes from the word asparagus, but this is definitely a broccoli [Continue]
I spend an hour a week walking in circles on baseball diamonds doing biosurveillance. I’m not wearing a hazmat suit or carrying high-tech spy equipment. I need only my eyes and a pencil and paper to record what I see. I am searching for nests of cerceris wasps, a non-stinging – to humans – native [Continue]
I’ve never been a fan of variegated foliage plants – those whose leaves sport streaks or speckles of white, yellow, purple, red or light green. I also don’t care for unnatural looking streaks of color on flower petals. But when the first fall nursery catalog arrived in the mail in mid-June, I fell in love [Continue]
It’s quite likely that you have invasive plants on your property. I’m not talking about dandelions or creeping Charlie, but something much more insidious. Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources defines an invasive species as “non-native plants, animals and pathogens whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human [Continue]
Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable garden plant. Even gardeners who have space for nothing else often put a tomato plant in a pot on their porch or in a flower bed. Tomatoes are easy to grow, but here are some tips to make them even more successful. There are a few things you should [Continue]
Last winter was brutal and this spring has been ugly, but the calendar says it’s planting time, so let’s review some shopping and planting basics. When buying annual flowers, veggie packs, or containerized perennial flowers, shrubs or trees, first pick up the container. It should feel solid, not too light for its size. A too-light [Continue]