Feb 06 2024
Finding a good gift for a gardener is easier when you focus on what she actually uses. The best gardening gifts are usually a mix of practical and personal: something that makes planting, pruning, watering, harvesting, or relaxing outdoors a little easier or more enjoyable. Some gardeners love beautiful tools and accessories. Others would rather …
Feb 01 2024
Starting a garden from scratch can feel intimidating when all you have is an empty yard, a patch of lawn, or a bare strip of soil beside the house. It is easy to imagine that experienced gardeners somehow know exactly where every flower, shrub, vegetable, and pathway should go before they begin. Most gardens do …
Jan 30 2024
You do not need a sprawling backyard to grow tomatoes, herbs, flowers, or even a small pollinator garden. A sunny balcony, apartment patio, rooftop, front stoop, narrow side yard, or collection of window boxes can provide enough space to create a surprisingly productive garden. Urban gardening simply requires a slightly different approach. City gardeners often …
Jan 29 2024
Ranunculus flowers look almost too elaborate to come from the strange little corms sold in garden centers. Their densely layered petals create blooms that resemble a cross between roses and peonies, with varieties available in creamy white, yellow, orange, blush, pink, coral, red, burgundy, and many beautiful bicolors. Before planting, however, ranunculus corms are not …
Jan 05 2024
Humidifiers for Houseplants: Do You Need One & How to Choose Winter can be rough on houseplants. Outdoor air becomes colder and drier, indoor heating runs for hours, and plants that spent summer surrounded by relatively humid air suddenly find themselves in a much drier environment. That is when many plant owners start wondering whether …
Oct 21 2023
With glossy green leaves brushed in fine cream-white pinstripes, Philodendron ‘Birkin’ is one of those houseplants that looks far more demanding than it really is. Its dramatic foliage gives it the appearance of a collector’s plant, yet Birkin can be quite manageable once you understand its preferences for light, moisture, warmth, and drainage. The most …
Oct 17 2023
Few flowering plants can compete with Brugmansia for sheer drama. Commonly known as angel’s trumpet, this tropical shrub or small tree produces enormous trumpet-shaped flowers that hang gracefully from its branches, sometimes reaching nearly a foot long. Depending on the variety, the blooms may be white, yellow, peach, pink, orange, or red, and many release …
Oct 16 2023
Few flowering shrubs have the presence of a hydrangea in full bloom. From enormous blue and pink mopheads to elegant white panicles and oakleaf hydrangeas glowing with autumn color, these long-lived shrubs can become some of the most impressive plants in the garden. Hydrangeas are often described as easy to grow, and they can be—but …
Sep 01 2023
September may feel like the beginning of the end of the vegetable gardening season, but there is often plenty of growing left to do. As summer heat begins to ease, cool-season vegetables get another chance to thrive. Crops that struggled with heat, bolted quickly, or turned bitter during midsummer can perform beautifully once days become …
Aug 28 2023
Spider mites are tiny, but the damage they can cause to an indoor plant is anything but small. A healthy-looking houseplant can begin developing pale speckles, yellowing leaves, crispy edges, and delicate webbing seemingly out of nowhere. The good news is that spider mites can often be controlled when you catch them early. The key …
