If Santa Claus could work his magic in the garden like he does in the toy shop, what would gardeners want him to deliver? Better weather would certainly be high on the wish list. Who else gripes more about the weather (too wet, too dry, too hot, too cold, too humid, etc.) than […]
A landscape is never ever really “done,” as any experienced gardener will tell you. However, the never-ending waltz of caring for a yard – and especially the amply landscaped variety – fits into one of three stages. Stage one is the beginning of the line – or the end of the line, […]
If you’re growing any boxwoods in your yard, you might want to make a note to check them starting next spring for the latest deadly threat facing our top-selling shrub. A new bug called the box tree moth officially entered Pennsylvania this fall. The state Agriculture Department confirmed reports of the bug’s […]
For a while there in late spring, my backyard mini-meadow looked like it was hitting the reputed third-year charm. About half of this six-by-20-foot experimental plot on my sunny back bank was in color for about three weeks in late May to mid-June. It was splendid and by far the best performance […]
I’ve been eating dozens of bioengineered purple-fleshed fruits of the new Purple Tomato for two months now, and so far I can report that I’m not taking on any snapdragon characteristics. I say that facetiously because this first-year variety is controversial for being the first bioengineered or “GMO” (genetically modified organism) vegetable being […]
The upstate New York seed company, Fruition Seeds, is taking a rather radical step for any business. As of today, the producer of organic, Northeast-adapted vegetable, herb, and flower seed is shutting down its online seed sales and moving to what co-owner Petra Page-Mann terms a “gift culture.” From now on, Fruition […]
Organizations of growers, horticulturists, researchers, and other plant experts each year bestow assorted awards on what they believe to be the best of the best plants. Some of these award-winners are new introductions. Others are under-known or under-appreciated oldies-but-goodies that deserve more use in home gardens. Here’s a look at plants that […]
Another warm winter has faked the landscape into acting like we’re farther ahead on the calendar than we really are. That’s not a problem if the weather course stays full steam ahead. So long as temperatures don’t nosedive in the coming weeks, the upshot is that we’ll simply have an early spring. Plants […]
The just-ended 2024 Philadelphia Flower Show was another typically wow event with its 75,000-flower main-entrance garden, billboard-sized floral map of the U.S., and floral “clouds” hanging from the ceiling. But among the blooming glitz was a lot of fascinating plant and gardening information. Here’s a sampling that filled this reporter’s notebook. See George’s […]
We’ve had purple- and dark-blue-skinned tomatoes for years now, but this month marks the arrival of the world’s first tomato that’s a true, dark purple throughout. For now at least, it’s called simply The Purple Tomato, and it’s a bioengineered cherry-type tomato that gets its purple coloring from the genes of a purple […]