A new line of disease-resistant impatiens, a sunflower that thinks it’s a blooming bush, and a velvety trailer that people can’t resist touching top the list of interesting new annual flowers debuting in 2020. Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked those and more for the four-part, best-new-plants series I write […]
We’re only about nine weeks away from traditional pea-planting time (St. Patrick’s Day) and the beginning of a new growing season. It’s not too soon to think about what to buy, order, or make plans to plant while the selection is best. Especially with sought-after new varieties, supplies are often limited. For […]
Younger gardeners, succulents, eco-friendliness, and “plant parenting” are shaping up as some of this year’s hot trends in gardening. Here’s what gardening trend-watchers say they see in their 2020 compost-stained crystal balls: More gardening… and younger gardeners Interest in gardening continues to grow – and it’s no longer just mainly the over-50 […]
Gardening in Pennsylvania sometimes is a little hazardous, what with ticks and poison ivy lurking, slips on wet-clay slopes a threat in spring, sunburn likely in summer, and eye-pokes on hidden stakes possible anytime. But our kindred spirits in Arizona have it far tougher, risking bloodshed every trip into the yard. I’m […]
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. […]
Nothing comes close to the poinsettia as king of the Christmas plants. But lately, there’s an elegant floral queen that’s been closing the popularity gap – orchids. This large and diverse family of bloomers used to have the reputation of being expensive to buy and finicky to grow. Then mass merchants […]
The grass is always greener on the other side (unless you’re a fertilizer fanatic). The same is often true with plants when you travel to other climates and see what those gardeners can grow that you can’t. Warmer winters, different soils, and less erratic/extreme weather add up to a lot of amazing […]
One of the best resources for making wise plant picks in Pennsylvania gardens is the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Gold Medal Plant Program. Each year, a panel of regional plant experts gets together to hash out what are some of the best trees, shrubs, evergreens, and perennial flowers that deserve greater use in our […]
For 30 years, Erica Shaffer was Highland Gardens, that small-but-homey neighborhood garden center along South 18th St. in Lower Allen Twp. She was the face and voice of the business who answered bug and fertilizer questions, yakked about plants with loyal customers who were more like botanical brethren, and spoke to every garden […]
In the last eight months, I’ve moved two dump truck loads of topsoil, 16 cubic yards of mulch, eight cubic yards of leaf compost, and at least 100 wheelbarrows of wood chips. I’ve lugged 400 wall stones and two tons of drainage stone up and down steps in five-gallon buckets, laid 100 feet […]