Memorial Day weekend is traditionally a big weekend for gardening. It’s the time when gardeners stock up on plants for transplanting into their gardens. Most transplants sold in garden centers, especially the small plants in trays, have spent their whole lives growing under glass in a greenhouse. As a result, they are quite tender and not always … Continue Reading →
Most of our daffodils, tulips and hyacinths are done blooming for the season. That doesn’t mean that we can forget about them. There’s still some work left to be done that will improve our chances for getting blossoms next year. Right now the plants are beginning to form seed pods at the end of the flower stalks … Continue Reading →
Those of you who are regular readers of this blog may remember a post from last fall. It was about a gypsy moth caught in the act of laying eggs. I decided not to destroy that egg mass. Early this week, the eggs hatched. In the photo you can see how small and seemingly helpless they … Continue Reading →
Bees and butterflies are fun to watch but, I think hummingbirds are the most fascinating visitors to a garden. No matter how many times you see them, they never fail to surprise and amaze. Hummingbirds use a huge huge amount of energy in relation to their size. Sugars found in flower nectar is source of this energy. Everyday they … Continue Reading →
It looks like a good spring for forsythia this year. I’m seeing plenty of yellow flowers on forsythia shrubs all around our area. Some bushes have loads of flowers while others look not quite as nice. The difference is, gardeners with forsythia loaded with flowers have taken the time to prune their shrubs, while the … Continue Reading →
Many gardeners have been enjoying the cool spring this year — especially those who spent days and days last fall planting spring flowering bulbs. In years past, I planted as many as 20 thousand tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth bulbs in one fall season. For many years I considered 10 thousand bulbs to be a light planting … Continue Reading →
Tilling the garden is a spring ritual we look forward to all winter. And after our cool, slow warm-up this spring, many of us will be tempted to get out there and till on the first warm day. Be careful though, it is possible to till too early. Tilling when there is too much moisture … Continue Reading →
Millions of Easter lilies are flowering in homes all across the country. Most of them get tossed out after they are done blooming. A small percentage of people plan to keep their plant hoping to have it bloom again next Easter. “That ain’t gonna happen,” as one famous pawnbroker on TV likes to say. There … Continue Reading →
“Plant your potatoes on Good Friday, ” the old farmers used to say. That usually was good advice even though the date of Good Friday changes from one year to the next. It arrives as early as March 20 and as late as April 23. Potatoes can sprout and grow under relatively cool conditions, which is why … Continue Reading →
Mid-March is the time when gardeners begin to sow seeds indoors. A friend mentioned to me that she knew someone who started cantaloupe seeds already. It’s about a month too early for cantaloupes. Those seedlings will end up leggy and weak. It’s likely that they will not fully recover from transplanting out into the garden. I know it’s hard … Continue Reading →