Book Review: Improving Your Soil
Karen Good soil is basic to any garden and Keith Reid’s book, Improving Your Soil, is a comprehensive guide for learning how to create the best soil for your plants. Written…
Collecting Seed: Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida)
Orange coneflower is a perennial in the Asteraceae family and is native to North America. It grows one to three feet tall and has flowerheads two to three inches across…
Growing Plants from Seed: Hollyhock (Alcea rosea)
The tall spires of hollyhocks are always a welcome sight but especially in cottage gardens where they evoke a nostalgia for times past. Hollyhock is a native of China and…
Collecting Seed: Spider Flower (Cleome hasslerana)
Spider flower is an annual native to southern South America but grown widely in the US for the large unusual flowerheads that feature long stamens that give a spider web…
Growing Plants from Seed: Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)
Zinnia are warm weather annuals native to Central America, Mexico, and southwestern US. They are grown for their intensely colored flowers which are held singly on long stems. Flowers may…
Growing Plants from Seeds: Hardening Off Seedlings
Hardening is the term used to describe the process of gradually exposing young seedlings grown indoors to the rigors of outdoor living in the garden. When plants are grown in…
Growing Plants from Seed: Germination Test
Many seeds are viable a lot longer than you might think. For example, seeds of lettuce, cucumbers, eggplant, radish, cabbage, spinach, and musk melon are good for five years if…
Plant Profile: Tree Dahlia (Dahlia imperialis)
This super large herbaceous perennial is native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia where it grows in the upper elevations of the mountains. It has a tuberous root system which…
Indian Inspired Flower Arrangement for Fall
While preparing for and Indian style dinner party I wandered in the garden looking for flowers and saw my marigold plants covered with flowers. I remember well the beautiful floral…