LET’S PARTY: A 12-MONTH PARTY OF FLOWERS

Whether you are planning a birthday party or a formal dinner for business associates, flowers can play an important role in the decorations. But you don’t have to settle for run-of-the-mill, one-color arrangements of carnations and daisies. Why not key […]

How to make a Hypertufa trough

Hypertufa is a cast “rock-like” material which can be used for relatively inexpensive bonsai pots and slabs for plantings. It looks like rock, can be cast into almost any shape, is very lightweight and also strong enough to withstand the […]

Is Crabgrass in your lawn?

I admire tenacity. It is a trait that I strive for myself and have tried to instill in my child. I am moved when I hear stories about people who overcome adversity or achieve great things by trying repeatedly until […]

Fabulous Fir Trees to Plant

Even if you’re not a gardener, you may know the fir tree from the popular balsam firs sold as cut trees over the holidays.  This tree and other related fir trees make beautiful landscape plants, providing a habitat for birds as well. […]

Gardening with Shade Flowers

When acquiring plants for a shade garden, remember that plants grow slowly in the shade, so get large plants. Plants often grow differently in the shade and some experimentation with size and blooming times are in order. The following plants […]

Pegging Down Roses

There are exceptions, as may well be imagined, among the wonderful variety that is found in roses at the present day. The first exception is found in those varieties that make vigorous growth even when hard pruned; this would seem to […]

South America Hardiness Zone Map

A hardiness zone is a defined geographical area in which a specific category of plant life can grow, according to the climatic conditions, including its ability to withstand certain minimum temperatures of the zone. For example, a plant is described […]

John Innes Potting Soil Recipe

  John Innes Potting Compost JI #1 Base 7 parts sterilized loam 3 parts peat 2 parts sand or grit Fertilizer: 4 oz / 8 gallons (3 grams / liter) Lime or chalk: 3/4 oz / 8 gallons ( 0.5 […]

Decorative bark and good foliage color

Broad-leaved ACER CAPILLIPES Young bark striated with white; young growths coral red, leaves turning crimson in autumn. A. davidii, young bark shiny green, striated with white; leaves usually turn yellow and purple in autumn. Long chains of keys striking. A. […]