Newsletter

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...

    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...

  Creeping Phlox, Quick Carrots, Let's Eat Dandelions and Pruning Hydrangeas   Spring arrived on schedule in our zone 5 garden, then it decided to go on vacation. So now we get snow showers, chilly nights and flowers that are in suspended animation. It will change and I'm okay with the slow down. Things were moving along quite fast there for awhile. One plant that's showing lots of life is the creeping phlox. This is one of the first perennial flowers to bloom in spring and the colors put on quite a show. I talk about varieties...

    Peony Splendor, Perfect Peppers, Climbing Roses and Controlling Japanese Knotweed     With lots of rain in Vermont, we have lush, overgrown growth throughout our gardens. We've been spending time weeding, edging, transplanting (the rain is good for that chore), and caring for all our seedlings and new plants. We've been dividing and moving late bloomers, such as tall garden phlox, and transplanting self sown seedlings of lettuce and calendula. It's fun to watch it all come together as June approaches. In our zone 5...

   A Better Joe Pye Weed, Troubleshooting Brussels Sprouts, Paw Paws, and Montauk Daisy    After a bit of cold weather, here and there, that gave us a fright, we're back to sunshine and warm temperatures, even though is late September in our zone 5 garden. I've officially dubbed September a summer month since it now seems that warm temperatures persist throughout the month and many flowers and vegetables continue to grow. One of showiest of the , and most beneficial one for bees, birds, butterflies and pollinators, is Joe Pye...

      Gardening for the Birds: Webinars, Podcasts and Stories   There has been a lot of bird activity in our yard this summer. The nesting of bluebirds, swallows, robins, wrens and others has been largely successful leaving us in late summer with lots of adolescent birds hanging around. We removed the netting from the blueberry patch because we picked as much as we like, so now the birds can have a summer treat, too. It got me thinking about all the things we do in our yard to encourage birds to come and stay. That's...

    All About Pruning: Webinar, Podcasts, Videos and Stories It's February and time to get in the yard and start pruning. Pruning is one of those chores that intimidates many gardeners. Often gardeners are afraid to prune for fear of killing or hurting their plant. But with a little science know how and some creativity, you can prune easily and effectively keep your plants in bounds, flowering and looking beautiful. In this newsletter I highlight my Pruning Trees and Shrubs Webinar where I talk, in depth, about pruning various...