Home gardening has seen an amazing surge of interest in these demanding times, and the horticultural industry is rising to meet the challenges. Hartley greenhouses are now back into production after a month’s hiatus; mail-order nurseries are hustling to keep up with orders; and local garden centers are figuring out how to safely serve their […]
Most years I go to the Philadelphia Flower Show. The show is held in March and is filled with incredible numbers of flowers. Last year, in the entry hall alone there were more than four thousand flowers, all in bloom and all on display. Considering that Philadelphia is in the northern part of the United […]
All over the world, antsy children are cooped up with anxious adults. It’s a scary world, all of a sudden. So grow something! Kids too! Starting a little garden of their own can give children a focus, something to care for, and a goal to wait for, besides the day they can go out for […]
What is a greenhouse to you: a hive of activity, or maybe a science lab? A place to grow strange and exotic plants, or an ER for houseplants that you really truly hope will revive in the moist humid enclosure where sunlight is abundant? And how about conservatory? Does that word conjure warm, quiet corners […]
There are so many reasons to start your vegetables from seed—including better taste, the short travel time from your garden to your table, and the sure knowledge you know where your food is coming from. Ed Hume, award-winning garden TV and radio personality and founder of the family-owned business, Hume Seeds, has great advice for […]
Small greenhouses – those under, say, 50 ft2 (4.65 m2) – often have great appeal because finding space for them is less of an issue. But still, even a small greenhouse can be a significant financial investment, and most gardeners want to get good value for their money. To help maximize that value, there are […]
When you move into your first house, you also move into your first garden. And for many people, that’s the scary part. If you’ve had so much as a bedroom of your own, you probably know how to shop for furniture (at least at Ikea) and how to paint a wall. But if you’ve never […]
Haven’t you always made a practice of sharing your plants with friends or rooted extra cuttings to sell in support of your favorite organization? My windowsill cum greenhouse seems to always have a cutting or five on the go. And it’s how I’ve obtained “something special” from friends throughout my gardening life—especially houseplants. Books have […]
I was trudging home from the drugstore on a sidewalk damp with melting snow under the weight of a February sky, and there they were: snowdrops. The flowers, not quite open, dangled from their delicate stalks above the gray mulch like little freshwater pearls. No long-stemmed rose in a florist’s shop can outshine a snowdrop. […]
After twenty years or so of giving talks and lectures about greenhouses and plants, I have found that there are a few questions that potential owners often ask. Probably the most common question is, ‘How large a greenhouse should I buy?’ If the questioner is an experienced gardener, my answer is, “Buy the largest greenhouse […]
A few weeks ago, Debra Prinzing and I met up when we were both speaking at the Good Earth Home and Garden Show in Eugene, Oregon. Debra’s the founder of SlowFlowers.com and producer and host of the Slow Flowers weekly podcast, whose main message is to buy your flowers locally and sustainably. But this time […]
The first full moon of 2020 fell on January 10. It was quite spectacular, like every full moon in the Southwest, from low desert to high plains, foothills to mountain tops. Sitting in my sunroom cum conservatory, peering out into the garden on a mild winter night, I was enchanted by the ethereal glow the silvery light […]
