Blog

 Alliums for Everyone, Saving Herbs, Vines for Fall Color, and Scotland Garden Tour Slideshow    It's October and time for our New England zone 5 garden and landscape to be ablaze in color. Because of the drought this late summer and fall, the colors aren't as dynamic as usual and many leaves have dropped from the trees already. But there still is plenty of color around to enjoy! I'm always amazed at how daily the colors of tree and shrub leaves change this time of year. The weather has been generally warmer than normal for fall, but...

    Luscious Lamiums, Let's Beet It, Strawberry Pots and What's Up North Garden Blog   I'm taking a break from racing with the weeds. It seems they're winning. With cool temperatures and lots of moisture, our zone 5 garden has exploded with weeds. I spent a day weeding out most of the gardens last week, but they're back with a vengeance this week with more rain. I'm just trying to keep up! But many of our perennial flowers are loving this weather including our lamiums. These colorful ground covers are spreading and will be...

Last Call for Webinar Sale, Holiday Plant Care, Growing Microgreens Indoors and My New Book     The holidays are continuing and the end of December is coming closer. New Year's will be here before you know it! That means New Year's resolutions, new habits and the end of my annual Gardening Webinar Sale. If you haven't taken advantage of my sale yet, read more below about the different webinar packages and how to save lots of money. The sale will end on Friday. With the holidays you might have received many holiday gift plants....

Delightful Dianthus, Heirloom Tomatoes, Gardening with Kids and Rubber Trees I know it might be my imagination, but the days seem to be getting noticeably longer already! It is happening! Spring is getting closer so it's time to really start planning your next gardening moves. I have all my seed orders in and soon I'll be starting onions and leeks indoors for a spring planting. Also, this time of year it's good to have a plan for growing some new perennial flowers. One that we like, and have grown for years, is the Dianthus family of...

    Self Sowing Vegetables, New Coreopsis, Sweet Peas, and Propagating Houseplants As I look out at 5F temperatures and 1 foot of snow, it's hard to even imagine a garden growing out there in a few months. But I know it will happen. Nature is resilient and one of the ways I've been impressed by this with self sowing plants. Certainly many perennials self sow and spread their seed around the garden. But what about annual flowers, and more importantly, vegetables? In my new book, The Continuous Vegetable Garden, I talk about self...

    Milkweed for Monarchs, Bring on the Beans, Cosmos and Japanese Beetles   Summer is here in our zone 5 Vermont garden in a big way. With record setting temperatures and lots of moisture still in the soil, plants are exploding with growth. Fortunately, we stayed on top of weeding earlier this month, so it's manageable now. But insects have arrived. Most of the insects in our garden are neutral or beneficial. And some are even rock stars. Monarch butterflies have gotten a lot of press for their impressive flights to...