Looking for a very big to-do list to help you keep track of what to do when in the yard this year? I just finished the writing part of my second garden book for Cool Springs Press – called “Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” – and it’s 242 pages on all the various jobs you might need […]
Looking for the perfect plant? Sorry, there is none. Like people, plants have their pros and cons. Your best bet when choosing is to weigh the pluses and minuses and go with the mix that’s best for you.
Another week, another polar vortex on the way. But at least we gardeners got a brief break from the snow and cold this past weekend, thanks to a welcome thaw and the annual Pennsylvania Garden Expo at Harrisburg’s Farm Show Complex. Expo’s attendance on opening day was up a whopping 48 percent from […]
A side effect of all the rain we’ve had lately is the unusually diverse bloom of fungi all over the landscape. Most of these common “lawn mushrooms” thrive in wet weather and are non-poisonous. But err on the side of caution because a few poisonous species look like the harmless ones. I’ve been seeing […]
Do I win a prize for the first killed plants of the season? I’d like to nominate the green mush shown at right – what was to be my 2011 collection of pre-July ripe tomatoes. Every year, I start a few tomatoes inside from seed around the end of January so I’ll […]
A few more thoughts on last week’s Philadelphia Flower Show before moving on… 1.) You might’ve heard about the protest that marred the PNC Bank exhibit last Wednesday – a first for the show. A group of about nine locked hands around the sponsoring bank’s green-wall display and chanted about “environmental crimes” and […]
Two bits of news this week: A new bimonthly magazine aimed at gardening in Pennsylvania is debuting in January, and York’s Mid-Atlantic Garden Show has changed hands. The new magazine — yes, a paper one like in the good ‘ol days — is the work of Louisiana-based State-by-State Gardening Magazines, which produces magazines […]
Add a little rain to warm soil and that’s a perfect recipe for June weeds. You’re not imagining things – they did spring up almost overnight. Have you ever heard the old weed saying, “Pull when wet, hoe when dry?” There’s truth to that. Weeds come out much easier when the soil […]
