This is a classic tale of a good guy turned bad… except the star is a tree instead of a movie villain. It’s about the ornamental or “callery” pear, that hard-to-kill spring beauty that blooms white in yards, parking lots, and along streets all over Pennsylvania and beyond. When it came to […]
One question I get a lot is about plants that seem to be turning into something else (i.e. some other version of plant, not a lizard or monster or something). A common one is the popular landscape evergreen dwarf Alberta spruce, that dense little pyramidal upright that flanks so many front doors. […]
So here’s what I’ve learned after a year and a half of trying to garden up close and personal with deer. 1.) Deer are picky. That’s right. You might’ve heard (and seen) that deer will eat just about anything when they’re hungry enough. And that’s right, too. However, deer have definite preferences […]
We’ve reached that point in the growing season where much of our gardening time is spent dealing with “issues” that have cropped up with plants. By now, just about all bugs and diseases have made their annual appearances, not to mention troubles related to animals, weather, and such. Figuring out what’s gone […]
One myth about poinsettias that just won’t go away is the one that claims they’re poisonous – enough so to kill people. That belief apparently dates to a misdiagnosed death of a Hawaiian two-year-old in 1919. Despite numerous research reports ever since, about half of Americans still believe that poinsettias are poisonous. […]
Plants are generally pretty docile and defenseless creations. If your dog wants to dig up a daylily or you feel like decapitating a cabbage for dinner, there’s really not much the plants can do about it. Then there’s Toxicodendron radicans, better known as poison ivy. This is a plant that not […]
Way back when I was a Cub Scout leader, we started the year by having the boys discuss what the pack’s rules should be. The 8-year-olds’ first suggestion was, “No killing.” I wouldn’t have thought of that, but it was definitely a good place to start. That also happens to be […]
A lot of people hurt themselves gardening. Much can go wrong out there, from pruning your finger instead of the branch to straining your back from picking up a pot that you knew was way too heavy. I hate to be naggy, but I’d also like to see fewer gardeners hurt themselves. […]
Most of our yards are seriously under-bulbed – probably for several reasons. One is that bulbs have the unfortunate trait of lacking badly on the instant-gratification scale. You plant the things in fall, then end up with a bare bed for at least 4 months before anything happens. Another is the cost […]
I generally like birds. Sure, they poop on the patio table and sometimes crash into windows, but they eat enough bugs and look and sing pretty enough to make up for it. Where I draw the line, though, is at the berry bushes. I like fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries even more […]