Raise Your Glass…to Plants
I just returned from the annual meeting of garden communicators, held in Atlanta this year. It was, as always, a feast of plants and people. Sitting in the airport on the way home I scrolled though the shots of people and gardens from this year’s event, and was...
Fresh Vegetables…Simple and Flavorful
Freshly picked vegetables have so much flavor that often the simplest preparations are best.
Echinacea ‘Milkshake’ – a love story
Imagine: Her New Year’s resolution was to make her perennial garden be easier to care for. Of course some weeding and mulching would always be needed, but this season she was determined to get rid of all the high-maintenance plants. That Siberian Iris that...
Veggie Garden Pasta
If you have a vegetable garden, you’ve got dinner! A group of fresh veggies, some lightly cooked and others raw, are tasty when tossed with olive oil, herbs, the cheese of your choice and salt/pepper. Chop the veggies you’ll cook – for this dish I...
I Love Plectranthus Ciliatas
Name: Plectranthus ciliatas Type of Plant: This is an annual unless you live in a zone 10 and above. It grows to a small bush-size in one growing season, however, and has yellow-green leaves that have purple undersides. Why I love this: I love the fact that when most...
Zucchini Shaming
It’s the dark side of community gardens that people don’t talk about. We focus on how great it is to see so many different methods of growing crops. We talk about sharing information about good varieties and extra seedlings. But amid all this group harmony runs an all...
A Weed Fondness…
As I walk around my gardens this week a weed catches my eye. It is Phytolacca americana, the pokeweed, and I love it. When we moved to Cape Cod and I saw it growing in the islands of our neighborhood I was instantly smitten. Bright green leaves, very pink stems, white...
I Love Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’
Name: Crocosmia x Curtonus ‘Lucifer’ aka Crocosmia Lucifer Type of Plant: A perennial plant that loves a full sun, hot location, and is hardy in zones 5-9. Why I love this: Bright red flowers on thin stems, blooming from July into August. This plant attracts...
Broccoli Makes Tiny Heads
“My broccoli only produces small heads!” many of my radio callers say. “What’s wrong?” New gardeners also ask about their broccoli producing lots of yellow flowers but nothing else. “How do I get my broccoli to make big bunches of...