Gardening for Beginners

Articles and gardening guides to assist you in planning and learning what to do in your garden. Growing Hardy Annuals Garden Ants Aphids Outdoor Garden Archways Aromatic Plants Autumn Fall Garden color How to grow a annual flower from seed. How to Plant Annuals flowers Where to plant Annuals and Biennials flowers Containers Edging and Paving Cut Flowers Annuals Biennials Annuals […]

YELLING ABOUT YARROW

No matter where I am, I always try to notice what is growing around me. Last week I was stuck in traffic on a busy commercial street not far from my house. Gazing at the gas station on the other side of the intersection, I noticed that the owner had installed a long raised planting bed, about 18” high, made […]

LOOKING BACK

Fall in this part of the world is often more of a collision of summer and winter than a season in its own right. Temperatures swing wildly between unseasonable warmth and unexpected cold. Trees color and leaves fall right on top of lawns that still need mowing. The days grow shorter as the weeds grow taller. The tall, wild white […]

Do you have the Correct Bedding Plants in your Garden?

The description bedding plant is not an exact one and only means that the plant is grown elsewhere in some quantity and then planted out as a temporary occupant of the bed; this being known as `bedding out’. The bedding plant in private gardens has, in general, had its day, since this style of gardening entails much expense. In public […]

Out of Sight Out of Mind, How to build

Occasionally we are faced with a feature that is something of an eyesore. We tend to think of pergolas as free standing but they can also be used to hide an ugly wall, shed or garage. The Challenge Our client had just moved to a new property and the garden was turf all over. The neighbour’s house runs all down […]

Living In Clover

One of the holistic healing gurus—Dr. Andrew Weill, I think—has suggested that one of the keys to wellness is surrounding yourself with flowers. I like to expand that idea and surround myself with plants, particularly ones with attractive and/or sweet-smelling blossoms. At the moment, my dining room window seat contains a miniature double amaryllis with luminous white trumpets; a kalanchoe […]

Growing Hazel and Walnut Trees

The commonest types of nut grown are the hazel and walnut. The two variants of the common hazel, Corylus avellana, are the cobnut with short husks and the filbert with long husks. Both are suitable for planting on poor, stony soils unsuitable for fruit trees, where they make medium growth and crop heavily. On rich soils growth is lush but […]

TREASURES OF THE ORIENT – Gardening

Two weeks ago I went to a wonderful lecture at the New York Botanical Garden.  The speaker was Barry Yinger, a well known plantsman and author who specializes in Asian flora.  The topic for the day was “New Japanese Plants for the Garden.  Mr. Yinger, who also owns Asiatica, a Pennsylvania retail nursery, is one of those intrepid people who […]

Growing information on Annual flowers

Annuals Most of the flowering bedding plants sold in the spring are annuals. Annuals usually bloom continuously for months and are then killed by frost. They are often used as companion plants to perennials or bulbs (which bloom for a much shorter period). If you want a lot of summer color in your garden, be sure to include plenty of […]

PREHISTORIC PROTEA

I used to spurn exotic plants, even those with glorious flowers. Looking back, I think the avoidance was probably yet another form of adolescent rebellion. After all, my grandmother was passionate about birds of paradise, and my mother probably bought thousands of poinsettias in her time. It makes sense, in a Freudian way, that I would emerge into adulthood with […]