Woolly Bears in the Garden: Lore and Ecology

The banded woolly bear caterpillar is only about 1.5 to 2 inches long, but it carries a lot of weight on its small form. Since colonial times, folk wisdom has claimed that even before the caterpillar is old enough to metamorphose into a tiger moth, it has the power to predict winter weather. That is a big responsibility. The gentle caterpillars are also loved by kids and make […]

Fun Garden Jobs for Kids

It is natural for parents who love gardening to want their children to share that love.  The best way to grow a future gardener is to get him or her into the garden early and often.  Start off on the right foot by taking the baby basket with you and parking it in the shade when you go out to weed or tend the beds.  The sights, sounds, […]

Rainbow Vegetables for Kids’ Gardens

Rainbow Vegetables for Kids’ Gardens

The prettier a vegetable, the tastier it looks, and the more fun it is to grow and pick. Harvesting plain old green beans from the garden is certainly not as exciting as picking beans that are red-striped, gold, and purple. And plain red tomatoes are nice, but an all-in-one purple, red, yellow, and green tomato is something extraordinary. Rainbow vegetables make gardening with kids […]

Growing Hops at Home

Growing Hops at Home

If you’re into brewing your own beer, perhaps it’s time to start growing its components, too. Hops – the cone-like fruits that give most brews their signature flavors and aromas – are a cinch to cultivate if you have lots of vertical garden habitat such as a pergola or large trellis. A close relative of “weed” (it’s a member of the Cannabis family), hops (Humulus […]

Vining Vegetables for Vertical Gardening

Vining Vegetables for Vertical Gardening

Don’t have as much space for growing vegetables? Then maybe it’s time to go the way of Jack with his beanstalk. Numerous veggies are vines perfectly suited for training up a trellis, thereby taking advantage of upright, aerial space. Vertical veggies also hold their fruits clear of the ground, reducing their susceptibility to rot. Three-dimensional gardening offers multiple advantages.

There are a couple of common […]

Ten Tips for Beautiful Container Gardens

Good care will keep your potted plants looking pretty.

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 […]

Creative Four-Ingredient Edible Gardens

Creative Four-Ingredient Edible Gardens

Now that spring is well underway, it’s time to think about interesting ideas for simple, productive gardening.  Even the most efficient gardeners tend to glaze over when confronted with a long plant list, but most of us can cope with cleverly devised, four-plant gardens. 

Below are “recipes” for three different themed planting combinations containing edible and ornamental elements that can be contained or planted in […]

Zesty Edible Flowers for Good Looks and Good Eats

Signet marigolds are small, beautiful, and tasty.

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 […]

Climbing Roses for Garden Romance

For garden romance, nothing surpasses a climbing rose cascading over an
arbor, its arching canes laden with a torrent of voluptuous blooms.

Sadly, many climbing rose varieties do not live up to this promise. They
are – after all – roses, which are rightfully notorious for their
susceptibility to pests and diseases. Arching canes dripping with roses aren’t
nearly as romantic when they’re also dripping with fungal spores and sawfly
larvae.

On the other hand, […]

Easy, Attractive Edibles for Any Garden

For a horticultural and culinary adventure this stay-at-home spring, try planting a few of the following relatively unknown, easy-to-grow greens, herbs, and veggies that also feature colorful leaves or fruits. Within a few weeks, you’ll have a rainbow of edibles representing a broad spectrum of the world’s cuisines.

Amaranth

Young red amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) inflorescence closeup […]