In spring the woodlands are full of beautiful wildflowers – bloodroot, anemone, May apple, trillium and more. Sadly, there are many areas where these beautiful spring ephemerals have been choked out by a rapidly spreading invasive plant called garlic mustard. Garlic mustard is rather pretty itself, with small white flowers and lacy-edged green [Continue]
Gardening is a joy but if we don’t take care of ourselves, it can become a painful chore, or worse yet, impossible to do. It is important to wash your hands EVERY time you come in from gardening. Even if you stoop to pull just one weed or pick one tomato for your [Continue]
Are you itching to get out and do something, anything, in the yard or garden? There are many things to be done this time of year. If you haven’t yet pruned your apples, pears or grapes do it now! Ideally you did this in February or early March, but if you were waiting [Continue]
Have you heard gardeners rattle off the Latin names of plants and been awed or intimidated? There’s no need to be. You probably already know a lot of the Latin words and don’t realize it. Are any of these familiar? Artemisia, Aster, Begonia, Chrysanthemum, Clematis, Crocus, Delphinium, Geranium, Hibiscus, Hosta, Iris, Phlox and Potentilla. [Continue]
Dandelions are the enemy of many a lawn perfectionist. This year, think twice before dousing your lawn with weed killer – those dandelions have many health benefits. When the leaves first appear, they are sweet and tender. After the flowers appear, the leaves become more bitter. Dandelion leaves are a healthy addition to [Continue]
Over the past decade, gardening has become the most popular leisure-time activity in the United States. There are so many benefits – physical, spiritual, the production of healthy fresh food, the satisfaction in saying “I grew it myself,” and the connection to nature. Then there is the reason most people start gardening – to [Continue]
I love to identify the many wildflowers and trees that grow along the local recreational trails but until now, that pastime was limited to the warmer months. I’ve found, and added to my shelves, two pocket-sized inexpensive books that are excellent resources for identifying plants in winter. The first, Winter Weed Finder by [Continue]
There are many kinds of Christmas trees from which to choose. If you put your tree up early and leave it up for a month or more, select a pine, since they hold their needles longest. The pines generally available locally include white pine, red pine, and Scotch pine. These long-needled pines are usually [Continue]
When you buy a plant from a mail order catalog or read a description in a magazine, you often find words like “Zones 3-8” or “Zone 4.” What does this mean? The numbers refer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cold Hardiness Zone Map. Updated in 1990, the map is based on average [Continue]
Red, orange, yellow, deep purple and sky blue are the colors of autumn. They are also the colors people gravitate toward for decorating this time of year. These colors and many more can be found in ornamental corns, which lend themself well to fall decorating themes. One kind of decorative corn with which [Continue]