10 Garden Plants You Can Bring Indoors for Winter
As summer winds down, I start looking at some of my favorite garden plants a little differently. Instead of letting the first frost take them, I ask myself, “Is this one worth bringing indoors for winter?” For many tender favorites, the answer is yes. Learning how to overwinter plants indoors can help you save geraniums, […]
First Frost Dates by Zone: What Gardeners Need to Know
The first frost of fall is one of those dates gardeners watch closely. It marks the point when tender annuals may need protection, plants you’ve been growing for cuttings may need to come indoors, and some of those last garden chores suddenly become more urgent. Knowing your average first frost date gives you a useful […]
Cottage Garden Design: 10 Elements That Create the Classic Look
Cottage garden design isn’t really about choosing the right list of flowers. It’s about how those flowers are arranged, repeated, layered, and allowed to grow together. A cottage garden has a distinctive look, but that look doesn’t come from one particular plant. Roses, delphiniums, foxgloves, daisies, zinnias, cosmos, and dozens of other flowers can all […]
What Is a Weed? A Different Way to Think About Weeds in Your Garden
A weed is simply a plant growing where you don’t want it. There’s no botanical category for “weed,” no genus or family that separates a weed from a wildflower. The word describes a relationship, not a species. A plant that’s a weed in one garden bed might be the exact thing you’re babying along in […]
How to Get Amaryllis Bulbs to Bloom for Christmas
If you want an amaryllis blooming right around Christmas, plant the bulb in early to mid November. Amaryllis typically take 6 to 8 weeks from planting to first flower, so counting backward from your target date is really the whole trick. I’ve timed dozens of bulbs for the holidays over the years, and I can […]
Geraniums: Pelargoniums vs Hardy Geraniums, Which Should You Grow?
If you want geraniums for a sunny windowsill, look for pelargoniums (the classic red or pink “geranium” sold in garden centers every spring). If you want geraniums to soften a walkway or edge a border, you want hardy geraniums, also called cranesbills, which are true perennial Geranium species that come back every year. They’re not […]
How Seed Saving Saves Me Hundreds of Dollars in the Garden
If you’ve looked at seed catalogs lately, you’ve probably noticed how quickly a handful of flower packets can add up. Mine certainly did. These days, I save enough seed from my own garden that some years I only buy special hybrid flower seed. Here’s where the biggest savings come from, what I always save, and […]
Why Are Aphids So Bad This Year?
If you’ve walked out to check your delphinium spikes or rose buds this week and found them coated in a sticky little cluster of green (or black, or gray) bugs, you’re not imagining things. Aphid populations really have exploded this year for a lot of gardeners, mine included. The short answer: a mild winter let […]
Are Zinnias Deer Resistant Enough for Your Cottage Garden?
Are Zinnias Deer Resistant? Short answer: Yes, mostly! Zinnias sit pretty solidly in the deer-resistant camp, and after several summers of watching deer stroll right past my zinnia beds to munch on my hostas instead, I can vouch for it from experience. But “deer-resistant” doesn’t mean “deer-proof,” and there are a few conditions worth knowing […]
Is Salvia Deer Resistant? What I’ve Learned After Years of Growing It (Despite the Deer)
Is salvia deer resistant? Yes and here’s why it’s one of my go-to plants. If you’ve got deer wandering through your yard at dusk like I do, you’ve probably already learned to be suspicious of every “deer resistant” label on a plant tag. Salvia is one of the few plants in my garden the deer […]