It’s time to learn about growing heirloom seeds! Heirloom vegetable seeds have so much going for them. They end up giving you plants that you can’t go to a big box store and buy, they cost less than hybrid vegetables and you can save your own seeds from one year to the next. Have you …
Gardening Tips
Nephrolepis Exaltata Bostoniensis is one of the most popular indoor plants, and can also be grown outdoors in some parts of the country. Care of Boston Fern means providing extra humidity to keep the fronds fresh and fluffy and not giving the plant too much sunlight. Luckily for gardeners who don’t seem to possess a green thumb, …
Asiatic vs Oriental lilies – are they the same? This is a question that I often get asked by readers. These two types of lilies look similar and share many common traits, but they are two different types of hybrid lilies. Both of these lilies are grown commercially and are popular in cottage gardens. These …
What can you do if you don’t have the time or space for composting in the traditional way? This is where trench composting is your friend. Most organic vegetable gardeners are aware of the benefits of having compost pile. Even so, one of the most common vegetable garden mistakes is forgetting to add compost to …
When the weather outside is too cold for gardening, flowering houseplants bring a touch of the garden into your home. Blooming indoor plants add color and decor to any indoor setting and are cheerful year round. My first attempt at gardening started with houseplants. I remember coming home one day to the aroma of the …
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 …
These cold hardy vegetables are perfect for the cool weather of early spring. Now is the time to get them planted. Many of us have very cold temperatures going on right now but it’s never too early to plan ahead for vegetable gardening. With spring right around the corner and daylight savings on the horizon, …
One of the biggest pleasures that my garden gives me is its ability for attracting butterflies to it. With the right nectar plants, a garden can be swarming with these fluttering friends all season long. But it is not just the plants that attract butterflies. There are a few other things that you can do …
This tutorial shows how to clean a bird bath in just 30 minutes. All you need are a few household supplies. Clean bird baths will not only attract more birds to your garden, but they can also serve as a water source for pollinators like butterflies and bees. Dirty water can become a breeding ground …
These tips for the care of caladium plants will help you get the most out of them. Caladium tubers are one of the stars of a shade garden because of their brightly colored tropical foliage and rare flower appearance. If you have a shady patio location, caladiums can be grown in pots or containers. In …
To choose cottage garden plants, think of tall flowering perennials, self-seeding annuals, and hardy biennials to give your garden just the right look. English cottage gardens have a very romantic feel to them. The look may seem haphazard but is actually planned. A cottage garden has a very distinct style that throws formality out the …
There are many types of perennials, from tender types, which need to be grown in the southern part of the USA, to very hardy perennials that keep coming back after a freezing winter outside. Budget conscious gardeners have a very good friend when they turn to growing perennials. What is not to like about a …
I love to get new plants for free by taking cuttings of some of my existing indoor plants. Purple passion plant cuttings root very easily and I’ll be showing you how to propagate it today. Gynura Aurantiaca – also known as purple passion plant or purple velvet plant is an easy to grow houseplant with …
Many garden vegetables need full sunlight to grow and produce well. However, not all vegetables require full sunlight. This vegetable sunlight chart is a useful resource to tell you whether your vegetables should be grown in low, medium, or full sunlight. If your vegetable garden doesn’t get 6-8 hours of sunlight daily, don’t despair. There …
Are you tired of your fresh flowers wilting after just a few days? Do you want to know the secret of how to make flowers last longer in a vase? Look no further than vinegar for flowers! Using vinegar in flower water can help you keep your cut flowers looking fresh and vibrant for several …
If you grow irises, you’ll get to the point when dividing them becomes necessary. There are four telltale signs that will let you know when it’s time for transplanting iris. If you notice fewer blooms, overcrowded clumps, and rhizomes pushing out of the soil, these are indications that your irises need more space to grow. …
Have you ever wondered, “What is crop rotation?” Well, you are not alone. Many of my readers ask me this very question. Today we’ll be having a look at crop rotation in a vegetable garden and will learn why it is so important. This time-honored technique employed by farmers worldwide maximizes the yield in a …
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 …
Get a head start on spring gardening by starting seeds indoors with Jiffy Peat Pellets. These handy peat pots have the perfect soil for seedlings and they can be transplanted right into the ground as soon as the weather is warm enough. Some plants need a long time to mature. Others, like bell peppers, need …
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 …
Growing ginger from root is a fun kids’ project. Ginger is a tropical plant that is easy to grow indoors. All you need is a piece of fresh ginger, some water, and some soil to get a plant growing. It seems that I am on a growing from scraps kick lately. There are many vegetables …
Plants that close their leaves at night are interesting to look at, but have you ever wondered why they do this? Have you ever walked out into your garden in the early morning, or early evening and seen that the leaves or flowers of some of your favorite plants are closed up? Don’t worry – …
Growing onions is a pretty easy from a gardening standpoint, but did you know that you can also regrow spring onions in water? At times like these, when some food items are in short supply, knowing how to get more bang for your buck is a win in anyone’s book! Using parts of an onion …
Growing spring onions is a garden project that starts early in the year. You’ll end up with small bulbous onions that have a much milder flavor than a normal yellow onion but can be used in the same way. I use onions all the time in my recipes, and fortunately for gardeners, they are very …
For unbeatable spring color, try growing forsythia bushes. These easy care bushes require very little care. Nothing screams spring in your garden quite like Forsythia. With their vibrant yellow color, these perennials are one of the first bushes to flower in the spring. The shrub is very hardy, and relatively easy to grow. These tips …
It’s wonderful to watch wild birds in your backyard any time of the year, but if your goal is attracting birds to your yard in winter, there are a few things you’ll need to do to make sure this happens. Thankfully, it’s easy to attract birds to your garden when it’s cold outside! All you …