Author: JESSIE KEITH

Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.

Ten Tips for Beautiful Container Gardens

You have purchased your pot, invested in potting soil, planted up your plants, and your container garden is well underway. In the cool of late spring, as container plants are rooting in, there are few stresses to disrupt your plantings. But, as plants grow and the summer heat ramps up, lots can go wrong. Here are tips for getting it all right.

The first half of successful container planting starts in the planning stages, by choosing the right pots, plants, soil, and fertilizer. The second half is knowing what to do to keep your container gardens looking great. Here are our top ten tips for container care from start to finish.

Pre-Planting Container Garden Tips

Colourful high-fired quality ceramic pots — High-fired, quality ceramic pots hold water well and overwinter better. Lighter-colored pots stay cooler in hot weather.

Choose the right pot – Large containers made of the right materials helps plants grow more happily through summer. Big pots hold more water, provide more root space, and remain cooler to encourage good growth through the hottest summer days. Pots made of water-impermeable materials, such as stone, glazed ceramic, plastic, or resin, hold water better. TerraCotta and porous cement pots wick water away from roots because they are porous, so they are better suited to drought-tolerant plants or succulents. Containers that are light in color are better for sunny plantings because they reflect the heat of the sun. Pots must drain well and have a saucer, internal reservoir, or basin to capture excess water. Those with a self-watering base must have an overflow hole to protect against the possibility of overwatering.

2. Choose the right soil – Great potting soil must hold water well, drain well, and have a neutral pH. When you buy a bag of potting soil, it should be loose and lightweight. If it is heavy, do not purchase it. Weight means it has been torn, improperly stored, and taken up water. For large, outdoor ornamental containers we recommend Fafard Ultra Outdoor Planting Mix, which is ideal for outdoor container gardens of all sizes. Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Mix is OMRI Listed for organic gardening and the best choice for potted edibles. Fafard Ultra Potting Mix with Extended Feed is just right for gardeners that like potting soils with added fertilizer. Cacti, succulents, and other low-water plants require a specialty mix, such as Black Gold Cactus Mix, or you can add perlite to increase the drainage of an all-purpose potting soil. (Click here to learn how to create mini potted cacti and succulent gardens.)

Metal bowl planter with Calibrachoa, sweet potato vine, Bacon, and geraniums — Overstuffed containers, like this metal bowl planter with Calibrachoa, sweet potato vine, Bacopa, and geraniums, look good in early summer but are often overcrowded by midsummer.

3. Choose the right plants and numbers. Will you place your containers on a sunny patio or window box, shaded porch, or bright, windy veranda? Is your summer climate hot and dry or mild and cool? The plants you choose must grow well in their destined location and in your local climate. Gardeners planting for sun must choose heat and drought-tolerant plants (click here for a list of Waterwise container plants), while shade-loving plants such as Begonia, Browallia, Impatiens, Torenia, and ferns are good choices for pots in partial to full shade (click here to learn more about growing Torenia). Consider the final size of each plant when designing containers, and do not overstuff the pots. Crowded plants compete for space, light, water, and nutrients, which causes them stress. Before planting, read about your plant’s needs and space them properly to ensure their best performance.

4. Choose the right fertilizer. Gardeners with little time should choose an all-purpose slow- or continuous-release fertilizer to apply at planting time. Vegetable and fruit containers should be fed with plant food specially formulated for edibles. Water-soluble plant food can give plants an extra boost to encourage renewed growth and flowering midseason–particularly after plants have been trimmed and deadheaded.

Hanging summer annuals — Most summer annuals cannot be planted outdoors until the threat of frost has passed.

5. Know when to plant – Spring containers must only contain frost-tolerant flowers, such as pansies, spring bulbs, and alyssum (click here to learn more about spring annuals for containers). Summer containers must be planted after the threat of frost has passed (click here to determine your last frost date). Summer containers can be livened up for fall with the addition of a few fresh pansies, ornamental peppers, or chrysanthemums.

Post-Planting Container Garden Tips

Watering plants — Good watering technique is essential to successful container gardening.

6. Know when and how to water. Good watering technique is all about common sense. Most garden flowers like lightly moist soil. If the soil is too wet for too long root rot will occur. If it’s too dry for too long plants will begin to wilt and die. When conditions are sunny, dry, hot, and breezy, plants use and lose more water (drawn up through their roots and lost through their leaves) and need more water. Likewise, when it has been rainy, cool, and still the need for water is reduced. Feel the soil before you water to determine if more is needed. If it is needed, irrigate until it flows from the bottom of the pot to ensure all the roots get moist.

Outdoor plants — Well watered and fertilized plants will look lush and flower and fruit well.

7. Know when to fertilize. Slow- or continuous-release fertilizer formulated for flowers makes feeding easy because applications are needed every few months, depending on the product. Apply at planting time and then as directed. Water-soluble fertilizer will encourage further flowering and growth during the height of summer. Containers also need a boost of water-soluble food after they have been trimmed back in mid- to late-summer. Proven Winners offers both a premium continuous-release and water-soluble fertilizer that we recommend for flower-filled containers.

Trimmed petunias — Many petunias continue looking good and blooming for longer if they are trimmed back later in summer.

8. Know if and when to prune and deadhead plants. To maintain any plant properly, read about its care. Some flowering plants are self-cleaning, such as sweet alyssum, Supertunia petunias, and Profusion Zinnias, while others, such as old-fashioned petunias and dahlias, need to have their old blooms removed to make way for new. Old-fashioned petunias, calibrachoa, and verbenas can become leggy, less productive, or overtake the pot as the summer wanes. Cutting the old stems back can rejuvenate growth and flowering for fall.

Old summer containers with fall elements and flowers — Reviving old summer containers with fall elements will give them a needed seasonal boost.

9. Know if and when to replace seasonal flowers. The pansies and stocks of spring often die back in the heat of summer and need replacement with warm-season summer flowers. Summer annuals that begin to look tired by early fall, like marigolds or traditional petunias, should also be replaced with seasonal pansies, peppers, or ornamental kale to keep containers looking great. (Click here to learn more about container gardening with ornamental peppers.) Don’t be afraid to replace struggling annuals when they start to visually bring a container down.

Winter pot in snow — Be sure that winter pots are crack-resistant.

10. Know how to overwinter pots. Be sure you choose the right pots if you want to overwinter containers outdoors (click here to read about overwintering containers). If your pots contain small shrubs or perennials, place them in a protected spot. Seasonal containers can be placed in a garage, basement, or under a dry porch where they will not become damaged by the freezing and thawing of winter.

Once you have the basics down, monitor your containers, protect them from pests and diseases, give them good care, and they will reward you with season-long beauty.

Zesty Edible Flowers for Good Looks and Good Eats

Some edible flowers pack a big ornamental punch in the garden and an equally large flavor punch in the kitchen. These include the blooms of a few traditional garden annuals as well as the flowers of some lesser-known ornamental herbs that should be a mainstay in any edible ornamental garden. Add them to salads, flavorful herbal butter, and vegetable dishes to provide an impressive flourish to your cooking.

Herbal Edible Flowers

There are lots of herbs that double up as garden flowers and garden flowers with herbal qualities. Here are some of the best.

This African Blue basil in bud — This African Blue basil is in bud and on the verge of producing copious lavender-pink flowers.

African Blue Basil (Ocimum ‘African Blue’, 18 to 24 inches) is likely the most beautiful garden basil of them all. Plant it as an ornamental annual for its purplish leaves and copious spikes of attractive lavender-pink flowers that just keep coming. Bees love them, too. Pick a stem of flowers to top off pasta dishes, salads, and vegetables. Pinch back spent flower stems to keep more coming. Its leaves also made a punchy pesto.

'Slam Queen' Thai basil — ‘Siam Queen’ Thai basil (Image thanks to AAS Winners)

Gardeners that love Thai food should not be without the award-winning annual Siam Queen basil (Ocimum basilicum ‘Siam Queen’, 12-18 inches). It is one of those plants that never disappoints. Not only do its leaves and flowers have a strong clove and anisette-like flavor ideal for Thai cooking, but its equally edible clusters of purplish-maroon flowers bloom nonstop and the plant thrives in the heat.

Herrenhauses oregano flowers — Herrenhausen oregano has beautiful flower clusters that are tasty and attract lots of bees.

There are many ornamental oreganos, but Herrenhausen oregano (Origanum laevigatum ‘Herrenhausen’, USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9) is a classic perennial that reaches 18-24 inches and produces flushes of rosy-purple flowers in summer that the bees cannot resist. The aromatic flowers are also very flavorful and impart a sweet oregano flavor.

Butterfly on chive blossoms — Chive blossoms have a mild oniony flavor, and the flowers lure bees and butterflies,

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum, Zones 3-9) are spring bloomers with some of the tastiest and prettiest mauve flowers that lend a gentle kick of onion to salads and vegetable dishes. The perennial herb looks lush in spring, tapers off in summer, and then provides a flush of fresh chive leaves again in fall.

When in full bloom, annual Signet marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia, 12-18 inches) create a mound of bright color and their little petals have a pungent, somewhat citrusy flavor that lends good taste to heirloom tomato salads and other festive summer vegetable dishes.

Lady Godiva® Orange pot marigold (Image thanks to Proven Winners®) — Lady Godiva® Orange pot marigold creates a spectacular specimen plant. (Image thanks to Proven Winners®)

Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis) is a cheerful, cool weather annual that has flowers in warm colors. Its petals have a spicy flavor that lends interest to salads. You can also dry them to make herbal tea. Normally, the plants start to decline as they set seed, but the Proven Winners® variety Lady Godiva® Orange does not set seed, so it blooms nonstop and creates a spectacular specimen plant with tasty petals.

Nasturtiums in the Alaska series have brilliant flowers and variegated leaves.

Summer blooming nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) have beautiful flowers of orange, gold, pink, and red with a peppery taste like watercress. The plants grow as vines or compact specimens. There are many beautiful varieties available. Those in the Whirlybird Mix are compact, come in all colors, are easy to grow, and just the right size for pots. Those in the Alaska series are equally compact and pretty but their leaves are variegated. If you’re more interested in a large, vining variety, try ‘Empress of India‘. The 1889 heirloom has blue-green leaves and deepest orange flowers. Add the blooms to salads or to decorate a savory summer cocktail, like a bloody Mary.

Growing Edible Flowers

Stressed nasturtium in this pot (Image by Jessie Keith) — The nasturtium in this pot is showing stress because the container is not quite large enough to sustain it through a season. (Image by Jessie Keith)

The beauty of growing these edible flowers is that all of them are very easy to successfully cultivate, and their growing needs are largely the same. Grow them in full sun and provide quality garden soil with good drainage and average soil moisture. The addition of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost will improve overall performance. A granular fertilizer formulated for flowering is also recommended. If planting them in containers, choose large containers spacious enough to accommodate the plants, and fill them with Fafard^® Ultra Container Mix with Extended Feed. Then harvest and enjoy your edible flowers through the season.

What is the Best Potting Soil for Potted Evergreens?

Question: I have been a Fafard fan for years. I am planting my first container boxwoods along with a few containers of evergreen cedars for a westward facing terrace. What is the best potting soil mix for these, and do I need to add organic matter to either container? Question from Angela of Memphis, Tennessee

Answer: Boxwoods have different fertilizer requirements when compared to cedars, false cypress, or coniferous evergreens but will grow well in similar potting mix. Our mixes are rich in organic matter, so you don’t need to add more.

Boxwoods (Buxus spp. and hybrids) grow best in soils that drain very well but also hold water and have a neutral to slightly alkaline pH of 6.8 and 7.5. I would add half Fafard^® Professional Potting Mix, which has the right porosity and water-holding ability for box, and half Fafard^® Premium Topsoil, which is formulated for trees and shrubs, is a bit denser and breaks down more slowly. Be sure to follow up by feeding them with a good tree and shrub fertilizer (there are several on the market), and follow the manufacturer’s application instructions.

For evergreens, such as cedars (Juniperus virginiana), I would choose the same potting mix blend but opt for a fertilizer formulated for evergreens and hollies because these shrubs often like soil that is a bit more acidic (5-7 pH), though some are quite soil adaptable.

I hope that this information helps!

Happy Gardening,

Jessie Keith

Fafard Horticulturist

Spur on Pollinators with Columbine Flowers

Eastern red columbine flowers are favored by hummingbirds.

The elegant spurs of columbine (Aquilegia spp.) trail behind each bloom like the tail of a comet. The spurs are elongated, tubular nectaries filled with sweet nectar to feed a variety of visiting pollinators, from hummingbirds to long-tongued bees to hawkmoths. These beautiful perennials are best planted in fall or early spring.

Aquilegia comes from the Latin name Aquila, which translates to “eagle” and refers directly to the flower’s talon-like spurs. They are unique in that many of the 60+ wild species are just as pretty as the hybrids offered at garden centers. All species hail from the North Temperate regions of the world and most bloom in late spring or early summer. The blooms attract pollinators of one variety or another, but many are specially adapted to certain pollinator groups.

Flower color is the main characteristic that dictates pollinator attraction, though spur length, scent, and nectar sugar levels also play a part. Organizing favorite Aquilegia species by color makes it easier to choose the right plants for your pollinator garden design.

Hummingbirds: Red and Orange Columbine

Aquilegia canadensis — The red flowers of eastern red columbine are a hummingbird favorite.

Native American columbine species with red or orange flowers are specially adapted for hummingbirds. Beautiful wildflowers, such as the eastern red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis, 2 feet) with its tall stems of nodding red flowers with yellow throats, or western red columbine (A. elegantula, 1-3 feet) with its straighter, nodding, comet-shaped flowers of orange-red, are sure to attract hummingbirds in spring and early summer. Hummers flying through western desert regions will likely visit the blooms of the Arizona columbine (A. desertorum, 1-2 feet) with its many small, red flowers with shorter spurs. All of these columbine blooms hold lots of extra sweet nectar to fulfill the needs of visiting hummingbirds.

Hawkmoths & Bees: Violet and Blue Columbine

Columbine species with flowers in combinations of violet-blue and white tend to be most attractive to hawkmoths and native long-tongued bees. (Hawkmoths are easily distinguished by their hummingbird-like hovering flight patterns and long tongues adapted for nectar gathering.) Blue columbine with long spurs, such as the Colorado blue columbine (A. coerulea, 1-3 feet), is most attractive to hawkmoths. Smaller, blue-flowered species, such as the alpine Utah columbine (A. scopulorum, 6-8 inches) and small-flowered columbine (A. brevistyla, 1-3 feet), are better adapted to bee pollinators.

Hawkmoths: Yellow Columbine

The yellow, long-spurred flowers of golden columbine are loved most by hawkmoths.

Some of the most impressively long spurs are found on columbine with ethereal yellow flowers that glow in the evening light. Most are adapted for hawkmoth pollination. One of the prettiest for the garden is the southwestern golden columbine (A. chrysantha, 3 feet) with its big starry flowers and long, long spurs of gold. From spring to summer the plants literally glow with beautiful blossoms. Another big-spurred beauty from the American Southwest is the long-spurred columbine (A. longissima, 1-3 feet) with its 4-6 inch long spurs. The upward-facing blooms are paler yellow than A chrysantha and bloom from mid to late summer. Both species look delicate but are surprisingly well-adapted to arid weather conditions.

Growing Columbine

As a rule, columbine grows best in full to partial sun and soil with good to moderate fertility and sharp drainage. Fafard® Premium Natural & Organic Compost is a great soil amendment for these garden flowers. They don’t require heavy fertilization and should be protected from the sun during the hottest times of the day. After flowers, plants often die back or develop a ragged look, so be sure to surround them with other full perennials with attractive foliage and flowers that will fill the visual gaps left by these plants. Good compliments are tall phlox, coneflowers, eastern bluestar, and milkweeds.

Columbines are great choices for pollinator gardens, so it’s no wonder that sourcing species is surprisingly easy. High Country Garden sells a western species collection, in addition to the dwarf eastern columbine, and many others. Moreover, columbine self-sow and naturally hybridize, making them truly enjoyable garden flowers for gardeners we well as our favorite pollinators.

Columbine hybrids come in many shades, attracting broader suites of pollinators.

Vertical Gardens for Space-Saving Vegetable Gardening

Vertical Gardens for Space-Saving Vegetable Growing Featured Image — Gronomics vertical, free-standing planters are constructed of long-lasting cedar and made in the USA.

More and more large, vertical planters are being designed for big harvests of vegetables and small fruits. Creative gardeners are even coming up with clever ways to create their own mega edible container gardens. Here are some of the better products and ideas, ranging from inexpensive make-your-own containers to state-of-the-art vertical gardens that perform well at a range of costs.

All planting systems are best suited to smaller vegetable crops, like lettuce, spinach, small kale, bush peas, baby carrots, beets, determinate (bush) tomatoes, bush beans, compact peppers, and bush cucumbers and squash. Everbearing strawberries and low-bush blueberries are the best choices for fruiting crops. (Click here to learn about growing blueberries. Click here to learn about growing strawberries. And, cl ick here for a list of the cutest, tastiest miniature vegetables for small-space gardens like these.) Just be sure that you consider planting time for warm- and cool-season crops as well as rotation. (Click here to read more about crop planting times and rotation.)

Vertical Gardens For Purchase

To be able to accommodate lots of plants, vertical gardens must be spacious and hold a lot of mix for ample root support and growth. That’s why the best vertical gardens have plenty of space.

Gronomics^® Vertical Garden

The Gronomics system is very sturdy and well-made.

If you like attractive gardens made from natural materials, then this is the vertical planter for you. The Gronomics Vertical Garden (32x45x9) is made in the USA from 100% western cedar and has a footprint of just 2 square feet. Simply fill it with a quality potting mix, such as Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Mix, and begin planting. The garden contains its own drip irrigation system for easy watering. Apply a continuous-release fertilizer formulated for vegetables at planting time.

The Gronomics Vertical Garden is best suited for growing greens, herbs, strawberries, and small root vegetables. The top planter is perfect for growing bush beans (as shown in the image).

Garden Tower^®

The Garden Tower® is a dual composter and soil-based vegetable garden tower that can accommodate up to 50 plants in just a 4-square-foot growing space. The system is watered from the top down and features a nutrient-tea drawer at the base, which catches fertile water for redistribution in the system. The Garden Tower has lots of room for root growth, which allows deep-rooting plants, like bush tomatoes, to grow well. Fill it with Fafard N&O. Gardeners growing greens should consider also mixing in some Fafard Garden Manure Blend, which is naturally high in nitrogen. It is made in the USA of high-purity HDPE plastic and has a 5-year manufacturer’s warranty.

Greenstalk® Stackable Vertical Planter

Greenstalk plants — Here’s a thriving Greenstalk planter community garden. (Image thanks to Greenstalk)

Just fill it with soil and plant! It is as easy as that. The modular Greenstalk® Stackable planter allows gardeners to raise it to various heights with its stackable segments. The planter is made in the USA and constructed from thick, UV-resistant polypropylene plastic (BPA, BPS & PVC-free), so it is long-lasting. One nice feature is the trickle-down watering well at the top that allows for easy irrigation and fertilization with a water-soluble fertilizer.

DIY Vertical Gardens

Vertical wooden crate garden — Vertical wooden crate or pallet gardens are popular, but beware. Some are made of pressure-treated wood, which contains dangerous heavy metals that leach into soils and are taken up by vegetables.

Creative gardeners have come up with economical DIY methods for vertical vegetable gardening. One popular method is creating pallet gardens, which are safe and inexpensive as long as they are constructed from untreated wood. Simply place the pallets upright, or affix them to a wall, fill them with growing media, and plant. Just find out whether the wood is pressure-treated before creating these gardens because treated wood contains heavy metals, which can leach into the soil and be taken up by vegetables. (Click here for a guide for identifying pressure-treated wood.)

Deck baskets hanging from a trellis — Here, deck baskets have been hung from a strong trellis to create a make-shift vertical vegetable garden.

Other gardeners transform everything from traditional baskets to hanging baskets and plastic tubs into makeshift vertical gardens. As long as you can provide the with planter good support, it drains well, and it holds enough soil for strong root growth, your vertical garden scheme should work.

Large wicker baskets with lettuce and cabbages — Large wicker baskets lined with burlap and supported by strong wire cages create a garden wall for lettuce and cabbages.

So many other materials can be used. Something as simple as a strong, tall tomato cage lined with mulch cloth (or burlap liner) and filled with quality potting mix and compost, such as Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost Blend, can create an outstanding structure for growing vegetables. To learn how to make one, watch this Black Gold video!

This sweet potato tower could be used to grow all kinds of vegetables. Get creative!

Eight Colorful Spring Annuals for Container Gardening

Click Here button for Nursery Ready Plant List

When spring is in the air gardeners want to get planting, and there’s nothing like the fast burst of color that spring annuals bring to containers. They boost bulb plantings and spring-flowering shrubs with an extra pop of pizazz. Place them on a porch, patio, or beside your front door to enliven your senses and home’s curb appeal.

As spring container gardening becomes more popular, the variety of pretty flowers for the job grows. Here are eight of the best that thrive in the cool weather of the spring season. Some are old favorites and some are newer types worth trying. Those that can tolerate light frosts are noted. All prefer full to partial sunlight. Plant them in pots of fresh Fafard^® Ultra Container Mix with Extended Feed, which feeds plants for up to 6 months, for best performance.

Pot Marigold

Calendula flowers look somewhat like marigolds, but these annuals grow best in cooler weather.

Old-fashioned pot marigolds (Calendula officinalis) look a bit like traditional marigolds with their single and double daisies of orange or gold, but unlike classic marigolds, they like cool weather. These flowers are easily started from seed in spring. Plant them indoors (click here to learn how), or simply sprinkle some seeds into an outdoor pot filled with quality potting mix, like Fafard Professional Potting Mix, cover them lightly, keep them moist, and watch them sprout and grow to blooming-size in a flash. The brilliant orange, double-flowered ‘Neon’ is a fun choice that reaches 2 feet, and the shorter Kablouna Lemon has frilled, bright yellow flowers.

Twinspur

Commonly called twinspur (Diascia hybrids), this easy annual enjoys cool, spring weather and becomes covered with colorful spurred flowers. The blooms attract bees and hummingbirds and come in shades of pink, apricot, salmon, and rose. The variety My Darling Berry is particularly high performing and has berry-pink blooms and a bushy, low-growing habit that reaches one foot. The delicate ‘Apricot Queen’ has a more trailing habit and soft, apricot-pink blooms. Twinspur is somewhat frost-hardy.

Trailing Lobelia

Trailing lobelia (Lobelia erinus) is a classic, heavy flowering annual that thrives in cooler temperatures. The blooms are small and numerous and come in various shades of violet-blue, purple, rose, and white. It does not favor frost, so plant it in mid-spring when the threat has passed. Plant it along container edges to make the most of its cascading habit. The varieties in the Laguna^® series, such as the deepest blue-flowered Laguna® Dark Blue, are very high performing. They can continue flowering into summer with good care but must be watered regularly and protected from the full, hot sun.

Nemesia

Sunsatia® Aromance™ Pink (Image thanks to Proven Winners) — Sunsatia® Aromance^™ Pink is an award-winning nemesia from Proven Winners. (Image thanks to Proven Winners)

Nemesias (Nemesia hybrids) are fragrant, big bloomers with low, somewhat trailing habits. They come in a riot of brilliant colors, such as bright orange, pink, red, yellow, and white, that really light up containers. They tend to favor the cooler growing conditions of spring or fall, but those in Proven Winner’s Sunsatia® series can tough it out through summer if protected from the hot afternoon sun and planted in a well-drained mix and given plenty of water. The orange and red Sunsatia® Blood Orange is a real standout as is the award-winning Sunsatia® Aromance^™ Pink, which has delicately colored blooms of mauve-pink, white, and yellow.

African Daisy

African daisy hybrids (Osteospermum hybrids) are derived from species that originate from the South African Cape, where weather conditions are mild and comparable to those in the Mediterranean. The plants bloom nonstop in spring and will continue into summer with good care. For a sunny show, add the 14-inch Lemon Symphony to a spring pot. Its large daisies are lemon yellow with a ring of purple around the eye. Lovers of pink should go for the 12-inch-tall Bright Lights™ Berry Rose, which has large daisies of the brightest pink. Plant African daisies after frosts have passed.

Sweet Alyssum

Wonderful fragrance and nonstop flowers are the high points of sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), which thrives in both cool weather and hot. It becomes covered with clusters of tiny, four-petaled flowers of white, purple, or pink that just keep going. It is sold at any garden center in spring, generally in inexpensive four or six packs. Spring classics include the low, spreaders in the Easter Bonnet series, which may have purple, pink, or white flowers. Sweet alyssum is tolerant of light frost and mixes well with just about any container combo.

Stocks

Classic stocks (Matthiola incana) are made for spring. The powerfully sweet fragrance of their pink, red, purple, white, or yellow flowers make them perfect for door-side pots. The plants thrive in cool weather and can even tolerate some frost, so they can be planted early. Look for these at your favorite garden center. Double-flowered forms are showiest. Once the summer heat hits, stocks tend to fade, but they can be planted again in fall.

Viola and Pansy

Planted pansies — Plant pansies in the same color groups for beautiful, easy compositions.

Pansies and violas (Viola hybrids) are everyone’s favorite spring annuals for containers and garden edges. They are very tolerant of frosts and bloom endlessly in cool weather with their funny whiskered, flat-faced flowers. Those with the biggest show are smaller-flowered forms, like the violas in the Sorbet series. They produce loads and loads of smaller flowers in many pastel colors that really produce up until early summer. Lovers of large-flowered pansies should look for packs of vigorous Delta pansies with many buds and bushy growth. Pull them once they begin to die back and plant them again in fall containers.

Mix and match these flowers in your front pots for personal enjoyment and to wow your neighbors. They’re the best way to reign in spring.

Late-Winter Garden Flowers for Bees

The late-winter blooms of glistening snowdrops, golden witch hazel or the earliest crocuses are all bee-pollinated. Most of the first American woodland wildflowers are also pollinated by native bees. These pretty flowers are vital early forage for bee populations everywhere, which is why they should be a part of our spring gardens.

How Honeybees Beat Winter Cold

Bees flying over crocuses — Bees are quick to respond to chance warm days in winter when flowers first appear.

Bees cannot regulate their own body temperature. That means when it’s very warm they are most active, and as temperatures drop, they slow down and become unresponsive. The perfect temperature in a honeybee (Apis mellifera) hive is 95 degrees F, and at just 55 degrees F honeybees can no longer fly well. But, they never go dormant. They have found ways to keep themselves warm in the hive, even on very cold winter days, so they can immediately start flying to find nectar on a chance warm late-winter day when early flowers begin to appear. This helps them supplement waning stores of honey and stave off potential starvation.

Beehives in winter — Even on the coldest winter days, the inner cluster of honeybees inside is warm.

When temperatures drop, honeybees cluster in the hive around the queen. When temperatures head toward freezing, the bees closest to the queen begin to vibrate their wings and abdomens to physically create heat by friction–kind of like rubbing two pieces of wood together to create a fire. The bees on the outside of the cluster huddle tight, and still as insulation. This keeps hive interiors warm and bees ready for action.

Bee inside crocus — Reflective crocus flowers are actually several degrees warmer inside.

Spring flowers also help out! Some actually act like little greenhouses and warm up several degrees for bees. These blooms lay low to the ground, face upwards, are reflective, and track or catch the sun, which allows the temperature within each blossom to be a little higher. So, at each visit, the bees warm up a little. These mini-greenhouse flowers include adonis, crocus, and daffodils.

The First Bee Blooms

Bee on a Glory-of-the-snow flowers — Glory-of-the-snow is beautiful, early garden bulbs for bees.

Most of these are bulbs and wildflowers, but some bee-favored blooms appear on shrubs. Bees are most attracted to fragrant flowers with blooms or nectar guides of yellow, blue, or ultraviolet shades. That’s why so many bee flowers are yellow or blueish-purple. (Click here to learn more about the flower cues that attract bees and other pollinators).

Late-Winter Bee Flowers

Blue with blue pollen of blue Siberian squill flower — The pollen of blue Siberian squill flowers is also blue.

The small, bright yellow blooms of Amur Adonis (Adonis amurensis, Zones 3-7) are some of the first garden flowers to appear, sometimes flowering as early as January during warmer winters. Their clear, golden flowers have many petals, reach just several inches high, and rise above attractive ferny foliage. The leaves will disappear a couple of months after flowering. Winter aconite (Eranthus hyemalis, Zones 3-7) is similar, but it only reaches a few inches, has fewer gold petals, and naturalizes over time. Plant very early daffodils (Narcissus hybrids, Zones 4-8), such as ‘Jetfire’ and ‘February Gold’, alongside these and look for bees on their sun-drenched blossoms.

Bee on buttercup-yellow flower — The buttercup-yellow blooms of winter aconite stand on 3- to 4-inch plants.

Many little blue bulbs (4 to 8 inches) are all charming, naturalize, and provide essential bee forage in January, February, or March, depending on your zone. Siberian squill (Scilla siberica, Zones 2-8) with its nodding little bells of the richest violet-blue, has equally blue pollen, which is a fun site to see on a bee pollen basket. The flowers of glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae, Zones 3-8) look a little similar, but they are infused with white, upward facing, a little larger, and have yellow pollen. The even larger flowered Jessie spring starflower (Ipheion ‘Jessie’, Zones 5-9) is a bit taller (8 to 12 inches) and has the deepest blue starry flowers and looks very pretty alongside classic, super fragrant, violet-purple grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum, Zones 4-8), which blooms in earliest spring. (Click here to read more about grape hyacinths.) Plant all of these among the violet-blue, pink, or white daisy-like flowers of Grecian windflower (Anemone blanda, Zones 5-8) and woodland crocus (Crocus tommasinianus, Zones 3-8), which all bloom at the same time and attract bees just as powerfully

Bee flying towards snowdrops — Snowdrops can appear as early as late December or early January when winters are mild.

White, nodding snowdrops (Galanthus spp.) of all kinds bloom as early as December or January during very mild winters and attract bees to their sweetly scented flowers in flight. The simple, easy bulbs naturalize in small sweeps and resist late snowfall with ease.

Bee on a North American wildflower — Native bees rely on the numerous bloom of spring beauties, a North American wildflower.

Some North American native spring wildflowers are essential for native bees. Spring beauties (Claytonia virginica, Zones 3-8) with their tiny pink and white striated flowers, are some of the most important. They create vast sweeps of tiny flowers that bloom in the latest months of winter. The feathery-leaved Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria, Zones 3-7) is another, which has delicate stems dotted with little v-shaped flowers of white. Early bumblebees find them irresistible. The yellow-flowered American trout lily (Erythronium americanum, Zones 3-8) with its flared, yellow, lily flowers and spotted foliage, is another to draw many early bees.

Late-Winter Bee Shrubs

Bee on witch hazel flowers — The strong scent of witch hazel flowers attracts bees on mild winter days.

Hybrid winter witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia, Zones 5-8) has the most exciting varieties to offer with flowers of yellow, orange, or rusty red. Even though they often bloom in January or early February, bees are drawn to their highly fragrant flowers. Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas, Zones 4-8) has a comparable habit, golden flowers, and bloom time with the added benefit of edible fruits in summer, which are relished by birds. The common Forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia, Zones 5-8) is another first-bloomer for bees that is easy to grow if given lots of sunlight. Their golden flowers are well-known and admired.

Bee on Cornelian cherry flowers — The golden flowers of Cornelian cherry are a favorite of bees.

All of these shrubs can be planted in fall or spring and appreciate a good helping of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost amended into the backfill at planting time.

Even a few of these flowers will make your winter landscape glow with color. And, the fact that they are some of the first flowers to feed bees makes them that more desirable and welcoming in the garden.

Trout lily (Erythronium americanum) — Trout lily (*Erythronium americanum*) is an especially pretty American wildflower for bees.

Vegetable Garden Resolutions—6 Steps to Success

Last year the weeds took over, you didn’t feed or water enough, you didn’t mulch that bed, or you failed to start that new raised bed you’ve been dreaming of for years. Never fear! It’s a New Year! Last year’s vegetable gardening woes can be rectified with good planning and smart garden resolutions. Now’s the time to troubleshoot and plan to make this year’s veggie patch better than ever.

When it comes to smart garden planning and success, experience is everything. Being a part of a large, bountiful community garden for the past 14 years has given me the opportunity to watch new and seasoned gardeners in motion. Not surprisingly, the seasoned gardeners always have well-planned, productive, weed-free plots, while new gardeners haphazardly start their plots in spring and end up with the worst weed patches by midsummer. But some novices return the following year ready to try again. Gardeners committed to success learn to turn their beds around through guidance from the old-timers and pros.

With garden guidance in mind, here are a few pro tricks to add to your vegetable garden resolution list. Commit to these, and you can’t go wrong!

1) Plan

Garden planning — Good planning, spacing, and crop succession are essential for vegetable garden success. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Truly productive beds are planned in advance with the seasons in mind. A good planning strategy starts with knowing when plants bloom and produce, and timing your garden to sequentially bloom and remain productive and pretty through the year, if possible.

It is important to identify cool season and warm season vegetables to correctly plan beds. Knowing the window of productivity and days to harvest (number of days it takes for plants to be harvestable from seed) for a given plant is also essential.

Click here for a table of Cool Season Crops for Spring and Fall and Warm Season Crops for Summer. The basic tables show some of the most common cool-season vegetables, warm-season vegetables, and their average days to harvest. Use this data when plotting spring, summer, and fall vegetable patches. Warm-season vegetables must be planted after the threat of spring frost has passed. To determine your spring and fall frost dates, refer to The Old Farmers Almanac frost dates.

2) Design & Plot

Freeman Garden raised beds for Darcy — Raised beds make planning and care easy. (Image by Mike Darcy)

The best vegetable gardens are designed and planned each year to consider space, light, succession cropping, and rotation. Choose a full-sun location, decide what you want to grow, and plot your beds to allow enough space to meet your gardening goals. Investing in raised beds can make the process easier, otherwise, establish your bed lines and pathways and maintain these yearly. (Click here to read more about garden planning and design.)

Next, determine where crops will be planted incrementally in spring, summer, and fall. Designing and planning your garden for the full growing season will help you stay in budget, time seeding and planting (Click here to view Johnny’s Seeds handy seed-starting date calculator.), and plan for harvest, preservation, and storage. When designing your beds, consider the space needed for crops, their overall heights, and include space to add cages and trellises, as needed.

Crop succession is another essential practice. Some crops must be rotated yearly, so consider what crops will succeed the next. For example, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and potatoes are heavy feeders that commonly harbor soil-borne pests and diseases, so they must be succeeded by fortifying crops, such as peas or beans, the following year. Legumes, like peas and beans, replenish essential soil nitrogen. (Click here to learn more about vegetable rotation.)

3) Feed Your Soil

Digging soil — Good soil is porous, early smelling, easy to dig in and high in organic matter.

Happy plants must have good soil. Organic matter is the number one additive sure to increase crop yields. Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost and nitrogen-rich Garden Manure Blend are two top-quality amendments to increase soil quality and improve plant production. The addition of an OMRI Listed all-purpose fertilizer approved for organic gardening will also increase plant vigor, yields, and keep common nutrient deficiencies, such as leaf chlorosis or blossom end rot in peppers and tomatoes, from appearing.

For raised beds, we recommend the addition of OMRI Listed Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Soil, which contains RESiLIENCE, an all-natural, water-soluble silicon additive for plants that encourages better root growth, earlier flowering, increased stem diameter, and longer time before wilting. Mix this soilless medium in with quality topsoil at a 1:3 ratio for reliable vegetable performance.

When calculating amendment needed for a particular area, use the following formula:

Amendment Application Formula
([area to cover] ft² x [depth in inches desired] x 0.0031 = ___ yd³).
Example: If you wanted to cover a 20 square foot area with 2 inches of compost, the result would be: 20 ft² x 2 inches of compost x 0.0031 = 2.48 yd³.

4) Manage Weeds

Mulching walkways with straw, hay or leaf mulch — Mulching walkways with straw, hay, or leaf mulch can really keep weeds down. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Save yourself major weeding time by applying thick organic mulch for weed control. Compost is a great choice for vegetable garden mulch in addition to seed-free hay, grass clippings, and leaf mulch. Compost should be applied directly around plants while coarser organic mulches are better for walkways and melon and squash beds.

Organic pre-emergents are also recommended to stop weed seeds from sprouting in the first place. Just be sure not to sprinkle them where you plan to directly plant seeds. Corn gluten, the most common natural pre-emergent, works by inhibiting root growth in newly sprouted seeds.

Of course, nothing beats regular hoeing and hand weeding for effective weed control. Monitoring, scratching, and digging weeds weekly are the best ways to keep them in check, and good tools make the job easy.

5) Invest in Good Tools

Good tools are a must for all garden tasks, whether you are weeding, digging, or pruning. Quality tools may cost a bit more up front, but they will last much longer and perform better.

Garden knives are great all-around gardening tools. (image from Gardeners Supply Company)

For hand weeding, nothing beats the classic ho-mi (hoe-mee), also called the Korean hand plow or cultivator. This sharp, downward-facing tool can get to the base of a dandelion root in seconds with a quick chop, chop, chop. It also pays to invest in a trusty garden knife (also called a soil knife or Japanese hori-hori). These can cut into the soil to deep roots below and saw through the bases of tough plants. They are even useful for harvesting greens and digging root crops. One side of the knife is sharp for slicing and the other is serrated for sawing. The classic Cobrahead hand weeder and cultivator it also a nice, effective, well-made weeding tool. It has a sharp, curved head for fast digging and hand hoeing.

A heavy-duty hoe is a necessity for larger weeding jobs. The Prohoes by Rogue are great tools that are so well made, they will last for years. And, for digging and planting, a good spade is a must. Of these, the sharp, all-steel King of Spades pro nursery spades is so tough it will last a lifetime.

Most established gardens will tell you that Felco makes the best pruners and loppers on the market. Pruning and harvesting are fast and easy with these sharp, Swiss-made bypass pruners.

Keep your tools clean and sharp for the best performance. A 5-gallon shop bucket filled with moistened sand is recommended for dipping tools in for easy cleaning. Handy garden tool sharpeners are also on the market. At the end of the season, apply mineral oil to clean tools to prevent corrosion.

6) Commit to a Time Schedule

Happy gardeners with vegetables — Provide garden care on a time schedule and you will never get behind!

Gardens need committed care. Regular scheduling of tasks is required for gardening success. Plan to harvest, weed, and water at least twice weekly. (Click here for good watering tips!) During hot and dry periods and high-growth windows, plan to add more time to assess water and plant needs. In no time, your schedule will become a habit, your garden will become your passion, and you find yourself there whenever time allows.

One trick to making any garden a pleasurable oasis is to create a spot where you can sit, sip a drink between weeding. Pick up a cheap patio table and chairs, add a sun umbrella, and make space for them in your garden.

Child in a vegetable garden with table and chair — Place a table and chairs in your vegetable garden for a place to sit and rest between tasks. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Renewed hopes and fresh ideas for the New Year offer new chances to make your garden amazing. In most parts of the country, gardeners have plenty of time to reshape their garden plans and set their resolutions in motion before the weather warms up. So grab your seed catalogs, and get planning. (Click here to get more garden planning tips!)

Mini Indoor Cactus and Succulent Gardens

The beauty of succulent house plants is that they demand little attention. The beauty of little succulents is that they demand little space. When placed in an indoor terrarium or rock garden, they create quaint little easy-care landscapes to enjoy year-round.

Mini cacti and succulents are basically comprised of those that form rosettes, clumps, or gently spread/cascade. Just be sure that you know growth habits–final heights and widths–before creating your planting. Stay with small, slow-growers to avoid fast overgrowth. Some plants may be able to withstand close quarters, but overpacking your pots will eventually smother the least aggressive plants in the group.

Blue containers with a variety of succulents — Choose plants with varying shapes, habits, and colors, but be sure not to overstuff the pot.

When designing your potted succulent garden, include little plants with varying shapes, habits, and colors. Play them against colorful pots, add pebbles, rocks, or shells for interest, and you’re set. You can also use rocks to create varying topographies within the pot to add drama and interest.

Because the design process requires that you know your plant palette, here are a few plants to consider to get your project started.

Some Miniature Succulents

Aloes

Lace aloe in a pot — Lace aloe is small and delicate.

Some aloes are tiny, compared to the common Aloe vera and lack medicinally useful foliage. Aloes are known for their impressive red, coral, orange, or gold spikes of tubular flowers as well as their attractive clumps of foliage. Here are two good small ones that can be found at garden centers or online.

Lace aloe (Aloe aristata) is named for its dark rosettes of foliage decorated with lacy white edges and spots. It reaches just 3 to 5 inches high and 6 inches wide. If given good sunlight indoors, or brought outdoors in summer, it will produce stems of pendulous, coral-orange flowers in midsummer.

Little Gator Aloe™ (Aloe ‘Jimmy’) is a very tiny variety that reaches just 3 to 5 inches. It has silvery foliage with white markings. If provided good, consistent sunlight, it will produce a spike of Creamsicle-orange tubular flowers in summer.

Cacti

There are hundreds of very small cacti perfect for indoor potted landscapes. Types that are less prickly and/or bloom well inside are good choices.

One for all-round good looks is feather cactus (Mammillaria plumosa), which is tiny (to 4 inches), round, and covered with feathery white plumes that are finger-friendly (no spines). It is cuter than cute, reaches just 3 to 5 inches and produces yellowish-white flowers in spring. Over time, it will form a clumping mound.

The flowers of the Easter sea urchin cactus are huge compared to the little cactus.

Small urchin cacti (various Echinopsis spp.) are also good bloomers, and the little Easter lily sea urchin cactus (E. subdenudata ‘Dominos’) is spectacular when in bloom. The plant stays between 3 and 4 inches high and looks like a green, ribbed sea urchin with sparse tufts of white spines. In spring or summer, huge, white tubular flowers are produced that are very fragrant and bloom at night. (In the wild they attract bat and moth pollinators.) The flowers can reach between 6 and 8 inches long!

A good one that’s just lightly prickly and very textural is the thimble cactus (Mammillaria gracilis var. fragilis). It creates a 2- to 4-inch high mound of many thimble-sized balls with few spines. In late winter, expect a flush of tiny, pale-yellow flowers that are as cute as the plant itself.

Crassulas

Lots of crassulas become quite large, like the common jade plant, but others are tiny and terrarium-worthy. Tom Thumb rosary vine (Crassula rupestris ssp. commutata ‘Tom Thumb’) is one. Its short chains of succulent leaves are bright green and edged in red. Expect it to reach between 6 to 8 inches long.

The impressive miniature spiral jade (Crassula ‘Estagnol’) is even smaller and more visually impressive. It has dense clusters of brilliant green leaves that spiral into beautiful patterns. The maximum height is just 3 to 5 inches. On occasion, it may produce small clusters of white flowers in the fall.

Haworthias

Star window plants have translucent regions on their succulent leaves.

These popular little succulents are largely native to southern Africa, and there are lots of different varieties available. Some look like tiny aloes while others look more like little, rounded hens-n-chicks with translucent leaf markings. Sizes vary, but many stay compact.

Zebra plant (H. fasciata) is one that looks a bit like an aloe. It has dark spiky leaves with knobby white stripes and reaches just 3 to 4 inches high and 4 to 6 inches wide. The variety ‘Super White’ has extra bright stripes. Zebra plant almost never blooms indoors, but if it does, it puts forth delicate stems of white spring flowers.

Star window plant (H. cuspidata) and cathedral window plant (H. planifolia) are both squat, fat-leaved, and have variable, translucent markings at their leaf tips. Both are slow-growing with rosettes that reach 3 to 5 inches. Their flowers are comparable to those of zebra plant and equally uncommon in indoor specimens.

Senecio

There are several very cute succulent senecios, but most of them are aggressive spreaders. The small and bright mini blue chalk sticks (Senecio serpens ‘Mini Blue’) does spread, but slowly. It has slender, upright, dusty blue stems that reach 3 to 5 inches. Be sure to give it some room to roam.

Purchasing Mini Succulents

Potted succulents — Be cautious. Small pots don’t always mean small plants.

Visit any purveyor of succulents to discover lots of other interesting finds, but get informed before you make a purchase. Succulents sold in tiny pots don’t necessarily stay tiny. Some can become very large specimens, so check the plant tag for size parameters, and if the tag doesn’t say, then ask a staff person or look the plant up on your phone.

Mini Succulent Garden Preparation and Care

Start with the right pot and growing mix. Large planting bowls or bonsai pots look most impressive. These may be ceramic, plastic, or fiberglass. Be sure that they have good drainage and a watertight saucer below to catch excess water and protect table surfaces.

Mini succulents in white pots — Pleasing decorative pots and pebbles will make indoor succulent gardens look really sharp.

When it comes to potting mix, it must drain very well but also have some organic matter. A good recipe for succulents contains three parts Fafard Professional Potting Mix to one part perlite. The addition of crushed granite (Gran-i-Grit) is also recommended to add extra weight and increase drainage.

It’s also smart to top the soil with fine, decorative gravel to keep the surface dry and attractive. Pebbles and gravel for terrariums, potted plants, or fairy gardens come in different sizes, textures, and colors. Those in light or neutral shades let plants stand out without overstatement. A bold shell, geode, or another natural decorative element may also lend the final piece appeal and distinction.

Outdoor potted succulents — Take your succulent gardens outdoors in summer, so they can soak up with summer sun.

Grow your plantings in bright or indirect sunlight. A south-facing window or sunroom is ideal. Give them once-weekly water in summer and little water from late fall to winter. Even moderate watering in the winter months can cause cacti and succulents to rot. Taking your potted creations outdoors in summer will help with their overall growth and performance.

These little gardens take some time and investment to create but their beauty will reward you through the seasons. Give them good care and clip and divide them as needed, to keep them in bounds. Reserve any leftover pieces as welcome gifts to share with other plant-minded friends.

DIY Herbal Cold and Flu Remedies

Aside from COVID-19, it’s the season for colds, flu, and other bugs that bring us down in the chillier months. Despite social distancing, flu shots, good care, vitamins, and other attempts to ward them off, these bugs always arrive, unwelcome, and uninvited. So, how do you treat colds and flu naturally? DIY herbal remedies, of course! (Your favorite chicken soup recipe should be a close second.)

Healing Culinary Herbs

Tea infuser with loose leaf tea — Be sure that you have a tea infuser for the loose leaf tea recipes.

During the summer months, I grow plenty of herbs for teas, salves, soaps, and tinctures that I use in the winter. Some years I also grow medicinal herbs indoors on my sunny kitchen windowsill. They are inexpensive and effective, while also smelling pleasant and tasting good. Even nicer, some of the best grow like weeds, including peppermint, chamomile, garlic, cayenne pepper, lavender, and elderberry. Others, like ginger, are tender plants that can be grown indoors in winter or outdoors in summer. (Click here to learn more about growing ginger indoors.)

Anyone who has grown the classic herbs peppermint and chamomile knows that they’re wild and must be kept in bounds. Nonetheless, their usefulness far outweighs their weediness.

Pot Marigold

Pretty pot marigolds (Calendula officinalis) produce single or double daisies of orange or gold, and they thrive in cool weather. Their dried petals are used to make teas that are calming and ease the stomach. Combine them with other tea-making herbs that help with cold symptoms and congestion. Calendula is also used to make very effective creams to heal the skin. Let some of your calendula seedheads dry and sprinkle the seeds on the ground to sow themselves year after year.

Chamomile

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is a sun-loving herb that generally germinates in summer or fall, remains a low-growing foliage rosette through winter, and blooms in spring, producing a cloud of little white daisies. These choice flowers should be harvested at their prime and quickly dried to make herbal teas or inhalations. (Be cautious about letting them set seed; they can become weedy!)

Orange Chamomile Inhalant or Tea

A combination of dried orange peel and dried chamomile flowers makes a lovely tea or inhalant that will ease the stomach or gently clear the sinuses. Just add one teaspoon of dried or fresh orange peel and three tablespoons of dried chamomile flowers to two cups of boiling water. Steep it for 5 minutes, for tea, or place it in a heat-safe bowl and breathe it in after several minutes. Cover your head with a towel to keep the steam in.

Peppermint

Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) has rhizomatous roots that spread like wildfire, so I grow mine in large pots in sunny spots. The summer foliage and flowers are easily harvested and dried for year-round use. Peppermint can be used to make inhalations and compresses as well as head-clearing tea.

Peppery Peppermint Tea Recipe

A good, simple mint tea recipe for colds contains peppermint and a few other ingredients. For one pot fill your infuser with two teaspoons of dried elderberries, two tablespoons of dried peppermint leaves, and a few peppercorns or some cayenne flakes to fire up the spice. Fill your pot with boiling water, steep for 5 minutes, and serve with honey.

Garlic

Garlic has proven cold-fighting benefits and is truly a plant-it-and-leave-it crop requiring next to no care. Simply plant it in rich, well-drained soil in fall, and let it grow and bulb up in spring and summer. As any garlic grower can tell you, garden-fresh garlic is worlds more flavorful than the store stuff. Still, grocery garlic works just as well as a cold fighter.

Lemon Garlic Tonic

Fresh lemon-garlic tonic is a standby for cold sufferers. Simply add three large (or four small) sliced garlic cloves and the zest and juice of two lemons to three cups of boiling water in a saucepan. (Add some cayenne if your sinuses are troubling you.) Allow the mix to boil for 5 minutes before removing it from the heat and straining. Add a teaspoon of honey to each cup, and you’ll have a truly useful cold treatment.

Cayenne Pepper

Nothing clears the head and chest like something spicy. That’s why cayenne and other chilis (Capsicum annuum) are sought after as herbal remedies for cold sufferers. The sun- and heat-loving vegetable is easy as pie to grow during the summer months and just as easy to dry when red and ripe. Crushed cayenne can be added to any simple herbal tea as a stimulant to get the blood flowing. It is believed to help with headache pain and it clears stuffy sinuses.

Lavender

Lavender (Lavandula spp.) is one of the most beautiful, sun-loving plants, and its dried fragrant flowers and leaves are versatile herbs for health. Not only can they be added to soaps and creams, but they make wonderful cold inhalations.

Lavender Eucalyptus Inhalation

Infuse one tablespoon eucalyptus leaves and two tablespoons of lavender flowers into two cups of boiling water, steep for 5 minutes, and breath in under the cover of a towel. (Keep in mind that eucalyptus cannot be ingested, so do not drink this mix.) The two fragrant botanicals are harmonious partners. In fact, their oils may help to relieve depression, inflammation, and congestion, according to the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH).

Elderberry

Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis 'Nova' — Elderberries can be dried and added to various herbal tea remedies.

Gardeners with a good bit of space can and should grow elderberries (Sambucus spp.). Not only do they make delicious jam, jelly, and wine, they are also healthful and medicinal. The shrubs grow well in full sun or partial shade, though plants grown in more sun yield more fruits. Umbels of fragrant, yellowish spring flowers give way to dark, edible berries in late summer. Both the flowers and berries can be dried to make teas. The berries also make a delicious syrup that can be used to sweeten and flavor any herbal tea. All are believed to alleviate cough and allergy symptoms.

One warning: Elderberry seeds contain toxic chemicals (glycosides). There are two ways to make them safe. Avoid cracking elderberry seeds when drying them, or cook the fruits. They are rendered safe in the cooking process because the harmful chemicals are broken down.

Elderflower and Apple Tea

Fill your infuser with 2 tablespoons chopped, dried apples, and two tablespoons dried elderflower, and fill the pot with boiling water. Let it steep for 5 minutes and then sweeten with honey or sugar.

Ginger

Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) is delicious and desirable in more ways than one. Like cayenne, it’s spicy, so it acts as a stimulant that gets the blood flowing and clears the head and sinuses when added to tea or an infusion. It also helps soothe the stomach. Ginger is most easily grown in a pot outdoors in summer or in a sunny window or sunroom in winter. It’s plump, spicy roots can be harvested as needed.

Fresh Ginger & Cinnamon Tea

For delicious fresh ginger tea, boil five large slices of ginger root in three cups of water with a cinnamon stick for 10 minutes, strain, and serve with sugar or honey. (Click here to learn how to grow ginger.)

All of the plants mentioned grow best in soils with average to good fertility and excellent drainage. Before planting them in spring, amend the soil with Fafard Garden Manure Blend. Likewise, ginger plants grown indoors thrive when planted in Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Mix.

Two great reference books for medicinal herbal plants are The Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easley and Steven Horne (2016), Grow It Heal It by Christopher Hobbs and Leslie Gardener (Rodale Books, 2013), and the classic Complete Medical Herbal by Penelope Ody (DK, 1993)

Though all of these herbal remedies are deemed safe by health experts, but it’s always smart to talk to your doctor before partaking in any herbal remedies. Also, be sure that you have no allergies to these plants before using them. Some planning ahead is required if you want to grow your own herbal remedies, but when the winter sniffles arrive, you will be glad you broke ground and took the time.

Articles

Pre-Planting Container Garden Tips

Post-Planting Container Garden Tips

Herbal Edible Flowers

Growing Edible Flowers

Hummingbirds: Red and Orange Columbine

Hawkmoths & Bees: Violet and Blue Columbine

Hawkmoths: Yellow Columbine

Growing Columbine

Vertical Gardens For Purchase

DIY Vertical Gardens

Pot Marigold

Twinspur

Trailing Lobelia

Nemesia

African Daisy

Sweet Alyssum

Stocks

Viola and Pansy

How Honeybees Beat Winter Cold

The First Bee Blooms

Late-Winter Bee Flowers

Late-Winter Bee Shrubs

1) Plan

2) Design & Plot

3) Feed Your Soil

4) Manage Weeds

5) Invest in Good Tools

6) Commit to a Time Schedule

Some Miniature Succulents

Aloes

Cacti

Crassulas

Haworthias

Senecio

Purchasing Mini Succulents

Mini Succulent Garden Preparation and Care

Healing Culinary Herbs

Pot Marigold

Chamomile

Orange Chamomile Inhalant or Tea

Peppermint

Peppery Peppermint Tea Recipe

Garlic

Lemon Garlic Tonic

Cayenne Pepper

Lavender

Lavender Eucalyptus Inhalation

Elderberry

Elderflower and Apple Tea

Ginger

Fresh Ginger & Cinnamon Tea