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The Dallas Arboretum became one of my all-time favorite public gardens after just one visit. Jimmy Turner, the Director of Horticulture Research & the Garden Designer has a real knack for creating fabulous color combinations. He has a huge Texas-size pale...
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It’s the holiday season and for many of you, it’s time to relax, unwind, and spend time indoors by the fire reading catalogs and how-to magazines or watching gardening shows on television. I remember those days "up North". I also remember my husban...
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Last week I talked about the free way to build your soil by way of a compost heap. You can also hire some industrious earthworms to build an extremely rich soil amendment by way of a worm bin. Worm bins can be homemade or purchased. Using worms to buil...
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It’s cold and the weather is frightful. Staying warm and cozy indoors is delightful. Sorry, it’s time to go back into the frozen or mushy garden and start a compost pile. Why? Because you will want to grow vegetables next year and for many years a...
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Times have changed since our mothers and grandmothers cut back a plant and stuck the cutting in some dirt under a jar to make a new plant just like the old one. Now we gardeners have to be aware of plant patents and trademarks. Plants that carry restricti...
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When you give the gift of seeds, you also give the miracle of life bundled up in those tiny living packages. Give seeds to non-gardeners and who knows what might happen? You might give a gift of passion. Many passionate gardeners grow from a tiny seed....
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It is so pleasant outdoors this time of year; it is difficult to stay in front of the computer. A couple of weeks ago, I spent some valuable time outdoors removing the "Blackie" sweet potato vines from the front yard beds. These turned out to be the vin...
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It’s that time of year when your amaryllis bulbs (Hippeastrum) should be ordered right away or brought out of their summer rest. Start them in mid-November so that they will have flowers galore by Christmas. If you are starting with fresh bulbs, plan...
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Writers, gardeners, and gardener wannabe’s lost a good friend last week. So did I. Many retirees think that they have paid their dues and earned their place in the sun. Not Margot Rochester. She retired from teaching High School English after 28 ye...
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Purple was once reserved for royalty. Only kings and queens could wear the color. Now, we can clothe our gardens as well as ourselves in this regal shade. I remember one of the questions we were asked when we were studying to become Master Gardeners: "...
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● Collect seeds from Annuals, Biennials, and Perennials. ● Use a tomato cage as a frame to hold up blankets, sheets, or landscape fabric above tall plants when an early frost threatens. Remove it the next day. ● Hang a shoe holder in your potting s...
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Two weeks gone from the garden doesn’t seem like a lot, but two weeks out of the last four is a long time to be away. Today I took a stroll and took stock of what’s happening in these cooler days of autumn. There are clouds of blue mistflower, Eupato...
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PLANT TREES PLEASE Harvest season means change. Now it’s time to change out our wardrobe, not just to warmer clothes but also to the deeper colors of the season. The fall season inspires designers to decorate jackets, sweaters, and jewelry with the je...
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‘Tis the season to do your ordering and buying for your fall planting. Although most bulbs will perennialize in gardens, tulips have become more annual than perennial. They have always been treated as annuals in the warm states, but they even struggle...
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Fiskars pruners have been important garden helpers for several years now. I am especially pleased with the lightweight design and the edge holding qualities of the blades. Fiskars has entered the Green Age. I recently received a Fiskars rain barrel for ...
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Paul Thomas is a horticulturist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He, with the help of several Georgia landscape and greenhouse experts, has put together a list of heat and drought tolerant annuals and pe...
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Building a drought tolerant garden doesn’t necessarily start with the plants. Adding 4-6 inches of organic matter to the garden beds and then digging it in will do wonders for the roots and consequently what’s hooked up on top of them. If you have ...
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Low temperatures rode in on rain and clouds. The soil warmed slowly. Unusual spring weather brought about a late planting of warm weather vegetables. Plants that usually were vigorously growing by May weren’t even in the ground. Then the skies clea...
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One gardener’s thug is another gardener’s bonus. A gardener friend of mine cautioned against planting any purple shiso (Perilla frutescens) in my garden. “It will self-seed everywhere and soon be a pest,” she admonished. She, of course, was ...
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FOXYI admit I like wildlife in the garden. Even if you do not, these stately and well-behaved foxes are welcome in anyone’s garden.Foxgloves are a biennial. Many gardeners, eager for a quick and more permanent addition, have been reluctant to grow these...
