Each year, at some moment in the gardening season, I’m overwhelmed by what needs to be done. The weeds are burgeoning, the midday heat limits my garden time, and every border or bed demands attention. But I have a work-around for overwhelm. The secret? I think small. I choose one area, one tiny area, and […]
I was rushing to plant shrubs on a recent hot day when the heavens opened. Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, rain ran down my neck and dripped off my nose. I kept at it for a while, because gardeners are waterproof and the shrubs desperately needed planting. I’d been putting it off through weeks of June […]
It’s a time-honored tradition to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea among your plants in the greenhouse. But what about growing tea there? Tea (Camellia sinensis) has been cultivated around the world for thousands of years, but in the United States it is a relatively new crop. With the resurgence of interest in […]
Hartley Botanic’s classic Victorian greenhouse was the centerpiece of one of the most relatable gardens at this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show, which was themed “HABITAT: Nature’s Masterpiece,” and geared to exploring “the beauty of life through nature’s kaleidoscopic lens.” At 189 years old, this is the first time the PFS has been held in the […]
During summer, greenhouse plants need a lot of attention. Temperatures inside a greenhouse can easily soar to over 100oF (38oC) even with all the windows and doors open. Such heat can significantly stress your plants. The problem with high heat is that it causes water in plants to get quickly depleted through transpiration. Transpiration is […]
Summer is upon us. The freezing nights of spring are over, and days are warm in the sun. Now my plants and I are facing a different threat: the sun itself. As a shade gardener, I’m always focused on sunlight. Light is a plant’s basic requirement, and in my tree- and building-shaded space, sunshine is […]
This is the month when gardeners enjoy adding to their collection of plants. So, I’ve called on knowledgeable colleagues from different parts of the country, to find out what they can’t live without. When I asked them to name two, one person replied, “That’s like picking a favorite child!” With a lot of culling and […]
Even in a larger greenhouse, choosing the right plants can be difficult. I once decided to grow a banana plant so I could harvest my own bananas. It grew and grew and grew right out through the skylight until it was about 4’ taller than the 12’-high greenhouse. Every summer the wind off the ocean […]
Fig trees typically grow in warm climates, so there are many regions too cold for them to survive the winter. In general, hardiness zones lower than 6 are not fig-friendly. One old-style method of protecting a fig tree during winter in cold climates is to tie up the branches after they’ve shed their leaves and […]
Today, in the third week of April, it snowed in Chicago. Temperatures are still falling below freezing at night. Which is why I’m glad I didn’t buy petunias when I saw them for sale, in full bloom, three weeks ago–on April Fool’s Day, appropriately. Petunias, with their ruffly bell-shaped flowers, are popular for summer gardens […]
Tomorrow I am meeting a new arrival to Colorado, an Englishwoman from the Home Counties who has bought a house to be near family. She’s keen for advice and gardening connections in this strange land—her English garden sounds like a veritable Eden. She may be surprised that the best advice I can give her for […]
This is just about my favorite time of year in the garden, because it’s time for wildflowers. They’re blooming in the woods where I take long walks, but they’re also in bloom in my yard. I don’t live in the woods—far from it. Most of my garden grows in the shade between a four-story apartment […]
