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Gardening Advice
Annual flowers are like Rodney Dangerfield: They “don’t get no respect.” However, if you have no annuals in your garden at all, you are missing out on one of life’s joys and a whole lot of color. Let’s discover some of the best and easiest annual flowers—including beautiful pictures!Annuals provide gardens with all-season color, but they have to be replanted every year, so they often get the…
Discover the many gorgeous varieties of clematis—both a popular climbing vine and also a flowering shrub! Did you know that there are over 200 species and hundreds of hybrids of this popular flower? There are saucers, bells, tube shapes, tulips, open bells, doubles, and semi-doubles. Take a look.Clematis: A Flowering ShrubEveryone is familiar with clematis as a flowering vine, but what…
When and how to prune your clematis is one of those garden chores that may seem mystifying but is really quite simple. Just like hydrangeas, some clematis blossom on the previous year’s growth—old wood—while others bloom on the current year’s growth—new wood. Find out the best time to prune your clematis variety for continued blossoms!Clematis Groups ExplainedThere are many varieties of…
If you’re like me and can never have too many flowers, now is the time to start a cutting garden so you can have your flowers and cut them, too! Here are my tips—plus, the best flowers to grow for cutting.Not far from The Old Farmer’s Almanac is a beautiful U-pick flower farm called Rosaly’s Garden (pictured above). Look at all those zinnias! It’s absolutely heavenly to stroll…
Here are tips on how to plant a bare-root tree the right way—from digging the hole to watering the tree properly once it’s planted.What Is a Bare-Root Tree?“Bare-root” means that the trees are not grown in a container. They are shipped to nurseries dormant, and they do not have any soil around their roots (hence, they are “bare”).Why a bare-root tree?They are usually less…
If you love strawberries as much as I do, why not try growing some of these luscious berries yourself? The hardest part is deciding what kind of strawberries to grow. Here are the four types of strawberry varieties.
The strawberries were outstanding this year where I live. They were a little late ripening but it was worth the wait. If you love strawberries as much as I do why not try…
Lacking a sunny yard or space for gardening? Be part of a community garden with like-minded souls! But also keep in mind some of the dos and don’ts of community gardening before you join up! Many wanna-be gardeners are frustrated by a lack of space. Container gardening is fine for most things but if you really want to spread your gardening wings, turn to your local community garden…
Tomatoes aren’t just round and red. They’re also blue! Not only are blue tomatoes delicious but also the blue skin means that they have the added benefit of naturally-powerful antioxidants. Discover 10 delicious varieties of blue tomatoes.With 10,000 to 15,000 known varieties of tomatoes worldwide, there is no shortage of new varieties to try. Blue tomatoes aren’t new but the…
Add some delicious, unusual fruit crops, fruiting shrubs, and old-time fruit trees to your yard and garden—bush sour cherries, lingonberries, quince, persimmon, paw paws, and more! Winter is a good time to assess your landscape and see what spaces you would like to fill with fruit. Frankly, we want to plant them all—and wish we had enough room! Wonderful, Luscious Fruit For…
Join a citizen science project! If you can count birds, bees, or garden bugs, you’ve got all the skills you need. Learn more about citizen science and find three ways—in nature and beyond—to participate.
What is a Citizen Scientist?
Scientists often need more information than they can collect by themselves and the number of projects where volunteers partner with…
Imagine fragrant hyacinth, miniature daffodils, and colorful primroses brightening up your home in late winter. Learn all about forcing bulbs to flower into an early bloom to enjoy spring while there is still snow on the ground. Since bulbs contain all of the nutrients they need to grow and bloom, it’s not hard to force them. What is “Forcing Bulbs”?“Forcing” is speeding up the…
Sticky. Heavy. Soggy. Crusty. Not a band of wayward Disney dwarfs but instead words used by gardeners to describe their clay soil! While clay soil has its challenges, it also has its positives. Let’s focus on how to improve clay soil—and dispel some misperceptions.A good garden, like a good life, is all about balance and this is especially true when it comes to the texture of your soil. Let…
