I’d be willing to bet that you have one or even many invasive plants on your property. Norway maple: invasive. Lily-of-the-valley: invasive. Orange daylily, burning bush, baby’s breath, European mountain ash, forget-me-not, white mulberry, bishop’s weed, red-twig dogwood, periwinkle, violets, boxelder, honeylocust, bush honeysuckle, creeping bellflower, shasta daisy, amur maple, common privet, Japanese barberry, [Continue]
The weather this spring has been a challenge for gardeners. Temperatures in the 80s in March and April fooled some people into planting too early and the frosty temperatures over the last two weeks found them regretting their early enthusiasm. There is nothing we can do about the overeager fruit trees, strawberries and grape [Continue]
Spend your gardening time and money wisely George Washington said “Bad seed is robbery of the worst kind, for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved.” He makes a good point. Often you’ll find that those ten-packs-for-a-dollar seeds don’t germinate very well and [Continue]
Little red buds are appearing in the rhubarb patch. It will be another month or more until it is ready for harvest, but now is the time to divide it if you haven’t done so for several years. Dividing rhubarb keeps it producing well. If the stalks are getting spindly, it’s time to divide. [Continue]
The International Herb Association has chosen dill as its 2010 Herb of the Year. Dill is easy to grow and beautiful to look at, and finds a place in herb, vegetable and flower gardens. Dill is a cool season plant, which means it is best planted from seed in early spring. . It is [Continue]
Have you ever bought a packet of special seeds, maybe something a little unusual or more expensive than you’d normally buy, only to plant them and find that not one seed germinated? Some seeds, especially those of prairie plants, woody perennials and trees and shrubs, need help in breaking dormancy before they germinate. This [Continue]
The Perennial Plant Association has chosen blue false indigo, Baptisia australis, as its 2010 perennial plant of the year. Other common names for the plant are wild indigo, baptisia, indigo weed, rattleweed and rattlebrush. The Perennial Plant Association describes the plant as follows: “Newly emerging shoots produce violet-blue, lupine-like flowers in erect 10- [Continue]
I have an extensive library of gardening books and many binders and file folders full of articles I’ve clipped with gardening tips and advice. Another place I look to find gardening information is the seed catalogs that fill my mailbox this time of year. Some of them are so detailed and full of information [Continue]
One frigid winter night I stepped out the door carrying a beautifully blooming kalanchoe houseplant loosely protected with plastic, a housewarming gift for my neighbor. Ninety seconds later when I arrived at my new neighbor’s door, the kalanchoe was dead. The lesson here is that most houseplants originate in tropical regions and cannot [Continue]
Gardeners are continuously experimenting and learning and hopefully gaining some wisdom from their mistakes. The gardening mistakes I’ve made over the years basically fall into three categories: planting in the wrong lighting conditions, spacing plants improperly, and not recognizing that a plant is becoming invasive quickly enough. When I first started gardening, [Continue]