Your Backyard Garden Information Source
The big, bearded German iris (Iris germanica) in my backyard are going to need dividing this year. As it is, each plant has a full complement of muscular sword-shaped leaves, out of which sprout sturdy stalks with bulging buds that are almost ready to open. The show will be tremendous this year, though I have had almost nothing to do […]
Of all the fragrant annuals, the petunia is the best known and the most profuse flowering. At the time we buy plants in the spring, the moon vine is a poor-appearing plant; otherwise, more people would buy them. How delicately fragrant they are, how fragile! Have you sown seeds of them? They are hard and need to be soaked in […]
With the arrival of July and hotter weather, many gardeners leave the garden to fend for itself. Unfortunately, this doesn’t help the harvest. Although your planting may be done, to ensure good yields you need to spend time in the garden to water, weed, and check for insect pests. Some crops will benefit from a modest side dressing of nitrogen […]
Provided is a list of tasks you must perform in your garden during July. Please understand your gardening zone which is identified in the menu above. Look for Hardiness Zones. Zone 1 Reap herbs for maximum flavor by harvesting them as the first flower buds appear Lanky annuals need your help! Pinch them back now to encourage bushy growth and […]
Storing your own fruits and vegetables at home at the end of the growing season, following a few simple guidelines, will enable you to have food of good nutrition and flavor into the fall and winter. It is a good way to keep extra produce you can’t eat right away from the garden, and to save money later at the […]
In May gardening begins in earnest. April weather is too uncertain for many vegetables to be planted in the open and even early May cannot be trusted far. By the end of the month, however, practically the first planting of everything we wish to include in our program is in the ground. Tomato plants must be guarded carefully against frost, […]
Just because you stay in a small area doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy the health benefits of fresh vegetables. A small garden space shouldn’t restrain you at all; instead, it should make you more creative. The small garden can still give you enough vegetables to feed your family. You can bring out your creative side by coming up with a […]
In the 70’s, my father would pack all of us in the station wagon, and drive for what seemed an eternity to visit my relatives. I was pretty young, but I can remember two details quite vividly. My brother getting me to ask, “Are we there yet?” and, visiting my Grandparents. My Grandma was an avid cook and gardener. While […]
Growing butterfly milkweed, harvesting garden produce often, and keeping container plantings watered are some of the gardening activities for this month. Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is not a weed at all (a plant out of place that you don’t want in your garden). Better common names are butterfly or orange milkweed, as it is in the milkweed family, has orange […]
The women who says she doesn’t care for vegetable gardening ought to try some off beat crops that are fun to grow. There isn’t much that is stimulating about cabbage for winter storage, or potatoes no better than the ones you can buy at the corner grocery. Yet even cabbages and potatoes are fun to grow, if you grow the […]