Your Backyard Garden Information Source
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 […]
An old Latin name for violet (Violaceae). A genus of some 500 species of hardy perennials, mainly from northern temperate regions, including violas, pansies and violets of which there are many hybrids and strains. Species cultivated V. adunca, hooked spur violet, to 4 inches, violet or lavender with white eye, spring, North America. V. arvensis field pansy, 6 inches, cream, […]
SWEET CORN No other vegetable captures the succulence of summer like sweet corn. Whether you like your kernels white, yellow, or with both colors on the same ear, new hybrids offer incredibly delicious flavor with very little effort. A warm weather vegetable, sweet corn must not be planted until after the last frost when the soil is warm. Because sweet […]
Japanese Maples Landscape Planting If your soil is heavy, it should be an amended with sand, bark, or other material to improve drainage, and the soil should be mounded above grade to assure good drainage. Maples are very adaptable to soil types, so if drainage is good, the addition of compost for nutrients and tilth is all that is needed. […]
Gardening is such an integral part of my life, that I can’t imagine not doing it. That’s why I cringe inside whenever I hear someone say, “If we have a drought and water restrictions this spring and summer, I just won’t plant my garden.” Drought and water restrictions may force us to act differently. It may even force us to […]
Growing and planting Marigolds: African and French Marigolds Useful and Easily Grown Flowers for Garden and Greenhouse Tagetes (Tage’tes) are annuals of great decorative value during the summer and autumn months. They are natives of Mexico and South America and belong to the Daisy family, Compositae. The name is said to have been derived from a mythological deity, Tages. These […]
Useful and Easily Grown Flowers for Garden and Greenhouse Tagetes (Tage’tes) are annuals of great decorative value during the summer and autumn months. They are natives of Mexico and South America and belong to the Daisy family, Compositae. The name is said to have been derived from a mythological deity, Tages. These Marigolds are quite distinct from the Pot Marigold […]
How to Grow Rudbeckia Commemorating Olaf Rudbeck (16601740) Swedish professor of botany and counselor of Linnaeus (Compositae). Cone flower. A genus of about 40 herbaceous plants, mostly perennial and hardy, natives of North America, related to Echinacea. The flowers are showy, daisy-like, often with drooping petals and conspicuous conical centers. Most of them are excellent herbaceous border plants and are […]
Have small space to plant or little time to garden? Then look no further than a shrub rose. A potted Star® Landscape Shrub Rose blooms from spring well into fall frost with little care for year-round color and non-stop blooming Shrub roses look beautiful cascading from a hanging basket or spilling over the sides of a container either alone or […]
Many attractive plants are suitable for cultivation in suspended baskets. For this purpose plants of drooping habit of growth are preferable, as their pendulous stems, falling over the sides of the baskets, display the flowers or foliage to the best advantage. Hanging baskets are made of various materials; those of galvanized wire are the most popular, as they are light […]