The weather forecast was foreboding, with the third major winter storm in two weeks about to hit the northeast. But the blinding snow and lashing winds that my Amtrak train hurtled through on its way to Philadelphia belied the beautiful, springtime ambiance awaiting me inside the 2018 Philadelphia Flower Show. This premier horticultural event, presented […]

Plant lust. If you garden, you’re probably susceptible. You fall in love with a plant—or many plants—and then find yourself wandering your yard, not knowing how to fit your exciting new beauties into your garden’s design. So in anticipation of my own yearly plant lust, I’m turning to Portland, Oregon designer, Darcy Daniels. Would she […]

On certain nights in January this year, more than ninety percent of the U.S. shivered with temperatures under 30 degrees F. Especially vulnerable were those plants with evergreen foliage. So what’s a gardener to do? If you couldn’t trundle susceptible plants into a greenhouse or other shelter when the cold hit, how do you help […]

The Mid-Century Modern Landscape is the title of my recent book. It’s rather misleading because it’s about gardens: I’m old school and I think of landscape as the natural surroundings in which we build or shape our dreams: The Parthenon is set in a dramatic landscape; my greenhouse is part of my garden. Oh, well, […]

What in the world is as weird and wonderful as carnivorous plants? At first, it seems so odd and wrong that some plants can eat animals. Yet seems to me that bug eating is a remarkable and inspiring adaptation to the tough circumstances in which these species eke out a living. The weirdness is what […]

I love when I come across a new (to me) gardening term. I’d never heard the word fascine, until I talked with Vanessa Gardner Nagel, award-winning landscape designer and author. She mentioned she was building fascine to stabilize the slope in her Pacific Northwest ravine garden. A fascine, she explained, is a bundle of sticks […]

Glasshouse and conservatory construction have come a long way since the days of ancient Rome, when Pliny the Elder wrote about the Emperor Tiberius’s love of cucumbers. Such was the regal passion for the vegetable that he had, as Pliny described, “raised beds made in frames upon wheels, by means of which the cucumbers were […]

Mandevilla is a genus of flowering vines with showy, trumpet-shaped blossoms in various vibrant colors, making them highly popular for patios and decks.  In cold climates, however, they must be brought indoors for winter. Fortunately, a greenhouse is an ideal winter haven for Mandevillas as long as the temperature there stays above 50˚F. Before bringing […]

One of the biggest trends in indoor gardening nowadays is hydroponics—growing plants indoors, usually under lights, with their roots in water that is enriched with fertilizer. This technique (fine-tuned in the last decades of the 20th century for the discreet production of marijuana) is now developing into a small but significant sector of agriculture. If […]

Small yet highly effective tools can be the perfect gift for the holidays. When garden space is tight—like inside a greenhouse—this collection of scaled-down products will be appreciated. Or, put these miniature offerings on your own wish list if someone needs a hint about your preferences. Cobrahead Mini Weeder – Folks who use the regular […]

Pomegranate, Punica granatum, is a small tree native to the Mediterranean reaches of the near east, and so in zones where the temperature drops below 40F, is a pretty and productive addition to a conservatory garden. Otherwise it will be happy outdoors in regions with arid hot summers and cool winters. In either situation, pomegranate […]

“Suit your plants to your soil, rather than creating soil to suit your plants.” That’s what Paul Bonine tells me. He’s the co-owner of Xera Plants, in Portland, Oregon, and author of the upcoming Gardening in the Pacific Northwest—A Complete Homeowners Guide. The results of following his advice? We’d all experience less struggle, less work, […]