Have some fun learning about Charlie's summer hat collection with stories about where they are from and why he likes them. stay cool and protected this summer. Wear a hat! Excerpted from Connecticut Public TV's New England Gardening with Charlie Nardozzi...
Learn about the various types of herbaceous peonies that you can grow including information on diseases, ants on the peony flowers, dividing and moving peonies, supporting the heavy blossoms and the seed pods. Learn more about peonies here.
Bio Charlie Nardozzi is a nationally recognized garden writer, speaker, radio, and television personality. He has worked for more than 20 years bringing expert gardening information to home gardeners through radio, television, talks, on-line, and the printed page. Charlie delights in making gardening information simple, easy, fun and accessible to everyone. His energy, exuberance, and love of the natural world also make him an exciting public speaker and presenter. He has spoken at national venues such as the Northwest Flower Show,...
Garden Coaching and Consulting What's a Garden Coach? A coach is a cross between a consultant, designer, and a landscaper. A designer will give you ideas and plans, but won't do the work. A landscaper will come in and do the work, but won't teach you how. A coach is the best of both worlds. I'll come in and offer design and plant selection ideas and maintenance tips. Then I'll come back and actually work with you to perform some of the tasks. A garden coach is for those gardeners who want to do their own gardening and landscaping,...
Learn all about harvesting herbs, such as oregano, thyme, parsley and rosemary for fresh eating and drying. Also, learn about the best way to harvest basil so you continue to get large leaves throughout the season. Learn more about herb growing here.
Learn how to grow common houseplants indoors as a way to clean your air. Listen to podcast: I recently heard a story about NASA sending basil and turnip seeds to the moon in grow chambers to see how they will germinate in that gravity-less, high radiation environment. It prompted me to remember the now famous research NASA also did on house plants. When looking at long term stays on the space station, one of the challenges was to produce clean air for astronauts to breathe. We all know plants are the reason we're alive today for their...
Sun Requirements Bright indirect light is best. They also grow well under grow lights. Bloom Period and Seasonal Color African violets bloom on and off all season long especially if grown under lights Mature Height x Spread 4 to 16 inches tall and wide, depending on the variety. Some miniatures are literally only a few inches tall. African violets are a forever popular plant that delight growers with their diversity of flower colors and shapes. Although they are native to Africa and grow outdoors there in the mountains, they are threatened...
in Ageratum houstonianum Other Name floss flower Sun Requirements full sun, part sun Bloom Period and Seasonal Color Ageratum bloom summer to frost in colors such as blue, white, violet and pink Mature Height x Spread 6 to 24 inches x 6 to 12 inches Added Benefits Ageratum attracts butterflies, drought tolerant, deer resistant Ageratum is a workhorse annual flower in many New England gardens. It's a low growing, low maintenance annual that blooms all summer in sun or part shade with little care. The small mounding plants...
Learn about allergy free gardens, including how to plant and grow them. Listen to podcast: It's garden and allergy season. 50 years ago, less than 5 percent of the population had allergies to plant pollen. Now that number hovers closer to 40 percent. What happened? Plant breeders started selecting male trees and shrubs (which are loaded with pollen) over females (which have little pollen) to reduce that amount of "litter" that falls to the ground from female plants. The unintended consequence is that we have more street, park, and...
Allium spp and cultivars Other Name flowering onion Sun Requirements full sun, part sun Bloom Period and Seasonal Color Spring to early summer in colors of white, pink, yellow, and purple Mature Height x Spread 6 to 36 inches x 10 to 12 inches Added Benefits Attract beneficials, drought tolerant, deer resistant Alliums are a broad group of plants in the onion family. While we're all familiar with good common food crops, such as onions, leeks, and garlic, there are many alliums that are grown just for their...
