If I told you I’d never had problems with seeds not germinating, I’d be lying. There is a learning curve between transplanting starts and helping seeds germinate. A lot goes toward the time to plant seeds. The seed germination process is fraught with many different elements. Issues arise when you first learn seed starting. Table of Contents But it’s not the end of the world. Plants are miraculous. An entire organism emerges from just one seed....
Xeriscaping is a form of landscaping which requires little to no water. As you might guess, it’s hard to find a ground cover plant that will suit this sort of environment. But I do have one excellent choice to offer: salvia sonomensis, or Sonoma sage. Table of Contents Indigenous to parts of California, this sage forms a dense mat of grey-green leaves. When it flowers, spikes rise up from within and erupt in lovely blue-violet blossoms....
Of all the creepy crawlies out there, earwigs are one of the scariest looking ones. It doesn’t help that these insects have had a serious PR issue dating back hundreds of years. They even starred in one of the scariest episodes in television history on the 1972 NBC show “Night Gallery”, where a woman put earwigs into her husband’s ears to eat his brain and eventually drove him insane. It should not come as a surprise that this show was written by the master of macabre Rod Serling, creator of “The Twilight Zone”....
Nothing says coziness and comfort quite like a cup of chamomile tea. Chamomile tea is a natural sleep aid, a great pollinator plant, and a delight for the eye. The cheery, daisy-like flowers of chamomile add as much in beauty as in function to the garden. Gardeners tending this low-growing plant need only learn how to harvest chamomile in order to enjoy a steaming cup of homegrown nutrient-packed tea. Table of Contents...
Although it has many beneficial uses, creeping charlie or ground ivy is most commonly viewed as a ground cover weed. Perhaps you’ve recently found yourself wondering how to kill or control it. Or perhaps your question is simply how to control creeping charlie without using chemicals? Table of Contents If creeping charlie flowers have taken over your yard or garden, you need to know what to do next. Since there are many different species that can be mistaken for creeping charlie, you’ll definitely want to make sure that you know what you’re dealing with before proceeding any further....
Roly poly, doodle bugs, or pill bugs… whatever you call them, these are popular little garden dwellers. Table of Contents Children play with pill bugs, fascinated by their ability to roll their seven pairs of legs up into a little ball. Frogs and lizards find them to be tasty treats. And we find them in every part of the United States as well as widespread abroad. But are pill bugs in garden settings a problem?...
Although I mostly write about gardening, from time to time I like to touch on other yard-related activities… Including the lawn. For some, the lawn is a staple of the yard, and proper lawn care is something to be sought after. When thinking of lawn care, fertilizing, mowing, and edging comes to mind. But aeration? Dethatching? These are less common practices that are absolutely vital to proper lawn care. In this article, I’ll look at what aeration is, why it’s important, and which lawn aeration products are the best on the market....
Gardening is something that anyone can do. With the right tools and know-how, all people can create and enjoy gardens that benefit their well-being. If you share your garden with other people, consider implementing an accessible garden design that employs universal gardening techniques. Table of Contents Accessible gardening combines seven basic principles to ensure that a design includes considerations of all levels of mobility and understanding. An accessible garden doesn’t just focus on people with physical limitations or limited mobility....
As gardeners, we aim to provide beauty to our world and sustenance to the many insects that live around us. We are always on the lookout for ornamental plants that attract pollinators and look gorgeous too. Thus, we dedicate this article to astilbe care: everything you need to know about it and how to grow it in your own shade garden. Table of Contents Astilbe has plume-like flowers and glossy green foliage that brightens up the flower garden....
Compost or fertilizer — which one is best for your garden? If you are new to gardening, you may not realize that there are some significant differences between the two when it comes to creating a healthy environment for your plants. Table of Contents Read on to learn which side of the fence you stand on in the compost vs. fertilizer battle. Definition of Compost Compost is the result of various decaying organic substances — think manure and dead leaves —being mixed together....
Echinacea purpurea is a much loved and sought-after flowering plant to grow in the garden for flower arrangements, herbal teas, to attract butterflies, or simply to be admired for its architectural beauty. The purple to lavender rays of its daisy-like flowers are perfectly suited to grow in cottage garden borders, in wide drifts among tall grasses, or as part of a prairie garden. Whatever style you choose to grow your Echinacea purpurea, it is guaranteed to make a statement....
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a common addition to a cottage garden due to its three to five foot tall stalk that offers flowers in a wide variety of colors. Perennial foxgloves bring color back to the garden yearly. That’s what makes growing foxgloves rewarding. The image of a foxglove flower is well-known among even marginal members of the gardening world. Table of Contents Gardeners who grow foxgloves can benefit from attracting pollinators that provide adjacent edible gardens with a boost!...
Feather meal is a fantastic organic fertilizer high in nitrogen that can take the place of many synthetic liquid fertilizers in your garden. If you’re wondering, “What is feather meal made of?”, the answer is as simple as it seems: feathers from poultry animals that have been harvested for meat. They’re collected and subjected to high temperatures and pressure, then further ground up to form a fine powder. After they’re dried, they’re then packaged up for use in fertilizer mixes, animal food, and more....
Leeks can grow so large that leek-growing competitions are all the buzz in Europe. But, what if we were to turn leek growing upside down and aim for the opposite: leek microgreens! Instead of a 3-foot tall monstrosity that takes months to grow, you can cultivate inches-long leek microgreens in just 10 days. Plus, you’ll get up to 3 harvests from each crop. Table of Contents If you’re not familiar with leeks (Allium ampeloprasum), they’re part of the onion family and in the same genus as shallots, green onions, and chives....
Festive and full, Christmas cactus is a pleasure to have any time of year. It’s popular for its unique stem design and brightly colored flowers. We’ve already covered that in our extensive Schlumbergera care guide in the past. The fun doesn’t stop there, though. Propagating Christmas cactus is incredibly easy to do! Propagation is my favorite way to expand my garden. It’s such a great way to learn about and observe plant growth....
Table of Contents We gardeners are a very romantic group. You’ll find this quite evident when you examine certain plant names, like the philodendron for example. Its name literally means “love tree” in Greek. And that goes double for the most common variety of that group, the heartleaf philodendron or sweetheart plant. I sometimes imagine my own heart to be shaped like a large, glossy-green leaf like those of the heartleaf....
The lovage plant was once revered by the great civilizations of Europe, with intrepid explorers ensuring specimens were exported to their new kitchen gardens in foreign climes. So why in modern times have we fallen out of love with lovage? Table of Contents Lovage is a relatively unknown herb which is unfortunate given that all parts of the plant are edible and tasty too! The vigorous growth of just one plant will keep a kitchen supplied throughout the season....
A garden is a special place for the gardener, and garden visitors. Not only does it contain the gardener’s aesthetic preferences and plants they love to grow, but it’s also a haven. Especially for gardeners who use wheelchairs for mobility, creating an environment that contains wheelchair-accessible garden beds is important. Table of Contents Whether you are a person who needs medical equipment for mobility, or you know someone who relies on wheelchair accessibility for ease of access, making a garden available to wheelchair users is a worthwhile effort....
Agave ovatifolia, also known as whale’s tongue agave, is an evergreen perennial succulent that is known for its super-thick rosette of powder blue and gray leaves – a unique color combo! The plant belongs to the family of Asparagaceae and is a beautiful succulent for adding texture to coastal, city, and xeriscape gardens. Table of Contents Native to North-eastern Mexico, Agave ovatifolia was introduced into cultivation by the esteemed nurseryman, Lynn Lowrey, from Texas in the mid-1980s....
Summer blueberry picking is a memory that will last a lifetime! Planting a blueberry bush in the garden will add both food and fun to your life. These wonderful plants produce so many juicy nuggets of sweet-tasting blueberries that you’ll want to plant more and eat them all season long. Learning how to grow blueberries will be a boon for your whole life. Table of Contents In recent years the demand for blueberries has grown so much that new cultivars have been created by the University of Florida in Gainesville....
