We grow plants to feed ourselves, but the gardens we create are also dining rooms for pollinators. Birds, bees, and other insects rely on our gardens for food – just as we rely on them for pollination. Of the many pollinators out there, one of the most effective, and beautiful, is the hummingbird. These tiny speedsters will pollinate hundreds of flowers daily, so it’s no wonder that many gardeners want them in their yard....
Lavender is one of the most popular flowers to grow in an ornamental or medicinal garden. If you are growing it, then you will be interested to know that propagating lavender is an easy task while also being economical and fun. Table of Contents This article will focus on how to propagate lavender from cuttings, air layering, and seed. You can accomplish these methods with minimal tools and in a short amount of time....
Table of Contents All right, I’ll ‘fess up… I like a good shortcut. Something that can save me time and energy is guaranteed to make me smile. Take for example the white ghost pumpkin. White pumpkins can be made into a jack o’lantern with a ghostly twist using a few strokes of a knife or paintbrush, then turned into a creepy snowman after Halloween is over, and then baked into a pie just in time for the next holiday....
Plants, like humans and other organisms, are susceptible to viral diseases. Likewise, many viruses have also adapted to target specific species of plants. Mosaic virus is a broad term for a group of plant pathogens that disrupt the normal function of plant cells and result in foliages with a mottled or mosaic-like appearance. There are hundreds of strains of mosaic viruses that are not genetically related to each other. Many of these strains cause considerable economic damage to farmers and have names including the infamous Tobacco Mosaic Virus, Cucumber Mosaic Virus, Rose Mosaic Virus, Cowpea Mosaic Virus, and Pepino Mosaic Virus, just to name a few....
Is it a good idea to put a raised bed on concrete? In short, yes… if you do it properly. Table of Contents While most people opt to place their raised beds directly on the soil, more and more people are opting for paved back yards. This is especially true in rental properties, as it’s easier to maintain and doesn’t develop weeds or require regular landscaping visits. Just because your yard has lots of concrete doesn’t mean you can’t garden in it....
For most of us, peppers come into their own later in the summer just when our thoughts turn to whipping up some salsa, canning for fall, and livening things a bit. Only the brave and daring step up to crunch into a hot pepper, but for the rest of us, they are fun and decorative to grow amongst our other veggies or even next to our favorite flowers. Spring for gardeners is like an annual fashion show....
Growing across the Northern Hemisphere, civilizations have been farming blackberries for food and medicine for thousands of years. They’ve been found in the stomach of the infamous bog woman known as Haraldskær Woman, whose remains were found in Denmark and date back 2,500 years. London distillers were known to have used blackberries in liqueurs during the Renaissance. And people all over the world today benefit from growing blackberries to enjoy in jams, pies and other delicious treats....
Malabar spinach is a warm-weather vegetable that originates from Asia and is a common ingredient in many Asian cuisines. Its leaves, shoots, and berries are all edible and have different culinary applications. Malabar is a region on the southwest coast of India where the tropical climate provides the perfect growing condition for this vigorous vine. This vegetable is also known as Indian spinach, Ceylon spinach, or vine spinach. Table of Contents...
Sometimes the simplest tools are the best. My favorite gardening tool of all time is the Hori-Hori Japanese gardening knife, or as I like to call it, the “MacGyver” of the garden. The Japanese named it “Hori” because “Hori” means “to dig” in Japanese. Some call it the mountain vegetable knife, which hearkens back to its early uses as a way to cultivate and care for veggies grown in their steep geography....
Cucumber plants are one of the easiest and most productive crops a gardener can cultivate. They spring from the ground and climb high up into trellises or across fences. Some even spread their vines over the ground and hide their cucumbers under wide dark leaves shading their fruit from the sun. For any gardener wishing to grow cucumbers, they should try growing a few plants to ensure plenty of pollination and thus a bountiful harvest!...
The wonky look of Euphorbia lactea will add a character to your garden that no other plant can. It has three-sided, candelabra arms and a tall, lanky stem. The silhouette is wobbly. In fact, Euphorbia lactea nearly resembles a child’s drawing. Table of Contents Adding to E. lactea’s charm are short spines along the edges. They’re small but still sharp. The whole plant is green with mottled white stripes. This inspired the common nickname Mottled Spurge....
The tree-like appearance of the jade plant is beautiful. Jade comes in many varieties and is easy to care for. This is why it has become one of the most popular houseplants for both beginner and expert gardeners alike. They are easy to propagate as well, making them a great intro plant for beginner gardeners. Table of Contents Jade plants are yet another category of succulents native to Africa. They are highly adaptable and have varying habitats in the wild....
Table of Contents These days, mint is everywhere. It’s in our chewing gum, tea, foods, and God knows our breath would be less than ideal if it wasn’t in our toothpastes. Because of this versatility, it should come as no surprise that mint is one of the most popular plants to have ever been discovered, and that peppermint is the most common cultivar that people grow. The benefits of mint are extensive to say the least, so I’m sure that it has the ability to benefit you in at least one way....
The endive plant can be a little confusing. Several plants are referred to as ‘endive’ and some endive plants are mistaken for vegetables such as lettuce and other leafy greens, which have a milder flavor. Hopefully, this article will help explain the differences between the different types of endive and will give you some tips on how to grow the lettuce-type leaves you may recognize from supermarket salad bags. Table of Contents...
No matter what kind of work you’re doing, you’re going to need work gloves. And of course, you want the best work gloves for your specific task. Table of Contents But it can be difficult to determine what kinds of gloves you need to get, because there’s thousands of variations out there depending on the job that needs to be done. Rubberized-palm gloves are great for some tasks but not all; heavily-reinforced gloves may be too much for more delicate work....
Lettuce has been a garden staple for ages. Today’s cultivars were bred over time from bitter, prickly wild lettuce to the sweet or crunchy varieties we know today. Grown as an annual, lettuce is of the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds as well. As growing lettuce takes practice to perfect its place in the garden, finding the right lettuce companion plants will help you achieve great garden success!...
Intro Do you find yourself growing the same thing in your garden beds every year? Maybe consider incorporating a diverse crop rotation to better your garden ecosystem. Because after all, that’s the best thing to do: build an ecosystem. Crop rotation is an opportunity to increase the diversity within your garden. Table of Contents In this article, I will discuss the role crop rotations play in large-scale agriculture and how we can scale this down to the small homestead....
The best thing about dianthus is you’ll find tons at your local nursery. Each variety is similar but different enough that you have choices. How you incorporate this easy-going plant into your landscape informs the type you choose. Table of Contents These plants aren’t native to North America, but they’re lovely and provide pollen for insects who stop off at your dianthus flowers as well as your pepper flowers too. With over 300 species to choose from, chances are there’s one you’ll enjoy....
From winter to bunching to green, there are tons of cool onion varieties. They may be different colors and have different flavors, but all have one thing in common: onions make great microgreens! Onion microgreens are low-maintenance, tasty, and the perfect new garden project. Table of Contents If you haven’t tried growing microgreens yet, it’s definitely worth a shot. A microgreen, like a sprout, is a young plant that’s harvested early for its tender flavor and surplus of nutrients....
Are you looking for a vining plant to provide vivid green foliage on your backyard pergola? It’s time to take a look at wintercreeper! This creeping, climbing vine can grow to create a living roof with ease. It’s also perfect for green fencing. And it’s great for ground cover too! Table of Contents Euonymus fortunei comes in many colorations. Pure green, a mix of light and dark combined, creamy white, and even purple aren’t uncommon shades....
