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There is one thing that you can be sure to find in flower shops and nurseries early in spring each year. The trumpet-shaped flower of the Easter Lily – (lilium longiflorum) – is a well known Easter plant decoration. These beautiful perennials are forced to bloom around the time of the religious holiday, but this …

Read More about Easter Lily – Caring for & Growing Lilium Longiflorum – Symbolism & Types

Growing a forsythia hedge allows you to add privacy and beauty to the borders of your yard. While not a quick project, it is one that brings beautiful dividends over time. With its abundance of bright yellow flowers and early bloom time, forsythia adds a burst of color to your lovely garden each spring. This …

Read More about Forsythia Hedge – Tips for Planting -Spacing – Best Type – Flowering Time

Chain link fences are great for security and for keeping critters out, but not so pretty to look at. The answer is easy – landscaping along a chain link fence hides it beautifully. These chain link fence covering ideas use plants and shrubs to hide an ugly fence quickly! Our neighborhood is made up of …

Read More about Landscaping Along a Chain Link Fence – Ideas for Hiding an Ugly Fence

These tips for kalanchoe blossfeldiana care will show you how to care for and get this plant to keep blooming all winter long. Flowering kalanchoes are plants that are often seen around the holidays and in the winter months. The holiday plant is also known as Florist Kalanchoe, Christmas Kalanchoe, Flaming Katy and Widow’s Thrill.  …

Read More about Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana Care – Growing Flaming Katy – Widow’s Thrill – Christmas Kalanchoe

A commonly asked question from readers of my blog is “how to keep squirrels from digging up bulbs in my garden?” Since fall is bulb-planting time for daffodils, crocuses, and tulips, the question is posed even more often right now. If you spend much time in the garden, you will likely have had a run-in …

Read More about How to Keep Squirrels from Digging up Bulbs + 18 Squirrel Resistant Bulbs

Do you have a problem with soil born diseases in your cucumber plants? These cucumber trellis ideas will help to solve this stumbling block. Anyone who has grown cucumbers knows that they take up a LOT of room in a vegetable garden.  One way to overcome the space problem is to use trellises or other climbing …

Read More about 8 Cucumber Trellis Ideas – Supporting Cucumber Plants – How to Tie Up Cucumbers

It’s about this time of the year that I get lots of questions from readers about ripening tomatoes on the vine. I’ve written a whole article about how to ripen tomatoes indoors. Now it’s time to see if we can hurry things up on the vine itself! Nothing is quite as frustrating as tomato plants …

Read More about Tomatoes Not Turning Red? – 13 Tips How to Vine Ripen Tomatoes

This neat garden tool storage DIY project not only looks great in the garden, but is functional and weather-proof, too. This means that you can have your tools handy, no matter the weather outside! Are you wondering what to do with an old mailbox? For me, the best way to store garden tools is inside …

Read More about Garden Tool Storage Idea – Mailbox DIY – Check Out My Garden Tool Kit

Hydrangea color change is always a surprise to gardeners. You buy a plant with blue blooms only to discover later that the blossoms are now pink. Why does this happen and what can you do about it? Hydrangeas are a very popular garden plant. They are a perennial shrub that comes in a variety of …

Read More about Hydrangea Color Change – Changing Color of Hydrangeas Blue | Pink

Every morning I take a garden walk to see what is growing and what needs tending. Today, I spent the morning deadheading daylilies. I have clumps of daylilies – hemerocallis – that have naturalized into plants with numerous blooms on them. Some of them have 12 or 13 blooms out in a day. Since daylily …

Read More about Deadheading Daylilies – How to Prune Daylilies After They Bloom

The gardens are booming right now and many of my readers ask “why are my cucumbers turning yellow, round and deformed?” It could be the result of avoiding some common vegetable gardening problems, or might be another issue. Let’s see if we can figure out why this happens! Cucumbers are a popular warm season vegetable. …

Read More about Cucumbers Turning Yellow – Garden Problems – Are they Safe to Eat?

Trying to control squash bugs can seem like an insurmountable task when you find them in your vegetable garden.  If you grow zucchini or squash, you may be familiar with trying to deal with a squash bug infestation. These bugs can do a huge amount of damage, particularly to new plants. Young seedlings and plants …

Read More about Control Squash Bugs 12 ways – How to Kill Squash Bugs

Covering drainage holes in pots is a necessary evil. Without something to cover the hole in the bottom of your planter, the soil will eventually wash out of the pot through the hole in the planter and the plant will settle. This also means that your furniture will take a beating. Planters without drainage holes …

Read More about Covering Drainage Holes in Pots – How to Keep Soil from Washing out of Pots

If you have never tried to grow sweet potatoes before, you are in for a treat. Starting sweet potato slips is easy to do and lots of fun. Slips are the rooted sprouts that grow from an actual mature sweet potato. They are used to grow new sweet potato plants. Growing sweet potato slips is a …

Read More about Starting Sweet Potato Slips – How to Grow Sweet Potatoes From the Store

Do you use baking soda for plants? Baking soda in the garden can be used in lots of different ways. Many of us think of baking soda in conjunction with various  indoor “green cleaning” techniques.  It has so many uses in the house, that it makes sense that it will work outdoors too. We all …

Read More about Baking Soda for Plants – 20 Clever Uses for Baking Soda in the Garden

The weather is getting colder outside, but this does not mean that gardening is over. Read on to get some tips for Thanksgiving cactus care and enjoy blossoms indoors even when there is snow on the ground! We often think of Christmas as a time for lots of flowering plants in the house, but there …

Read More about Thanksgiving Cactus Care – Tips for Growing Schlumbergera Truncata

These top 10 ways to protect the environment at home take very little time to do. It’s just a matter of making a commitment to doing something good for the planet and sticking to that plan. I call this “my environmental to do list.” Earth Day happens in April and lots of people talk about …

Read More about Top 10 Ways to Protect The Environment – Save Our Environment at Home

Save your money and help the environment at the same time with these DIY log planters. They are rustic and easy to make and look natural in any garden setting. You don’t have to spend a fortune on planters at the nursery store. Like so much else in gardening, start by looking in your own …

Read More about 25+ Log Planters – Eco Friendly Planters – How to Make a Log Planter

It’s time for one of my DIY garden ideas on a budget!  This Rotisserie Chicken Mini Terrarium is inexpensive to make and looks great as a table decoration. It is also a fun way to get a head start on spring gardening by using the recycled container to start seeds. Early spring or late winter …

Read More about Rotisserie Chicken Mini Terrarium – Recycled Mini Terrarium or Greenhouse

Make your own seed tape with some seeds and a roll of toilet paper. Why waste money on store bought seed planting tape when you can make your own seed tape with this common household item? The tutorial shows you how easy it is to plant tiny seeds in a vegetable garden. Have you ever …

Read More about Make Your Own Seed Tape – Homemade Seed Tapes From Toilet Paper

These homemade greenhouse ideas make use of recycled household materials in a fun new way.  Extend your growing season with one of these creative ideas for DIY greenhouses, cold frames and terrariums. When I tour Botanical gardens around the USA, the ones that appeal to me most are those that have greenhouses as part of …

Read More about Homemade Greenhouse Ideas – DIY Greenhouses, Cold Frames and Terrariums

Plants need nourishment to perform in the best way.  Flowers and vegetables love potato starch and using potato water in the garden is a good way to give it to them.  To add starch in a “green way”, save the water you boil your potatoes in.   Starchy water will spur the release of plant nutrients …

Read More about Using Potato Water in the Garden to Nourish Plants with Potato Starch

Are you bothered by the cost of maintaining a garden? These creative DIY garden ideas on a budget should help to keep your costs down. I’ve put together a list of 30+ vegetable garden hacks that will make your gardening life easier and cheaper. One of the big pleasures of summer for me is tending …

Read More about DIY Garden Ideas on a Budget – 30+ Inexpensive Vegetable Garden Hacks

Propagating hydrangeas to get new plants for free can be done in several ways – hydrangea stem cuttings, tip rooting, air layering and division of the mother plant. Who doesn’t love the look of a lush, green hydrangea bush in their yard, just full of those gorgeous and huge blooms? Some varieties, such as climbing …

Read More about Propagating Hydrangeas – Hydrangea Cuttings, Tip Rooting, Layering, Division