The perfect Mother’s Day gift is, of course, a little bit of mother nature. Giving a standard house plant or outdoor container planting is old news. Why not build a creative and fun container gardening gift for your Mom which will bring her joy all summer long like this stacked container tower?

Stacked container towers are an excellent way to liven up a sunny corner of a small garden. If you are looking to create a tower for a shaded porch or yard, be sure to choose shade tolerant plants.

Since this Mother’s Day gift would be awkward to transport, consider giving your mother a picture of the finished project before actually starting the project, to be sure the project ends up exactly where she wants her stacked container tower.

Continue reading for the Stacked Container Tower Tutorial

Sprouting plants from seed is an excellent money saving idea in today’s challenging economy. Seeds can be purchased at a fraction of the cost of vegetative plants and often allow far more variety in plant selection for your garden.

How To Sprout A Seed:

What you will need -

• Potting Containers – Purchase pots or flats to plant the seeds in. To save money, reuse containers such as egg cartons and yogurt cups.
• Potting Mix – Although seeds do best in a soil-less mix, traditional potting soil can also be used.
• Seeds – Purchasing seeds is very inexpensive or you can trade seeds with friends.
• Plastic Bags or Glass Covers – These will trap warmth and humidity where the seeds need it
• Tap or Rain Water
  
• Light Source – If you do not have a bright window, you will need some kind of florescent or high density plant light. No need to spend a lot of money on a specialized light – just use an inexpensive florescent.

Planting steps -

1. Read the information on the seed packet. It will tell you when to start your seeds and if you need to soak or score the seed itself prior to planting.
   

   A collection of seeds for the garden.

2. Start seeds in a flat shallow container with excellent drainage.
3. Fill the flat about 2 inches deep with soil or a soil-less planting mix.
4. Press the seeds into the planting mix to the depth recommended on the seed packet. Water gently; misting with a spray water bottle works well.
5. Cover with clear plastic wrap or a thin pane of reused glass to ensure humidity and temperature is good. Place in a area which offers warmth and light.
6. Water daily, keeping the seedlings evenly moist and watch for germination; when the leaves appear.
7. After germination, when the next set of leaves grow, thin the seedlings to the spacing recommended on the seed packet.
8. Transplant the seedlings when you see two or three sets of leaves to individual pots filled with traditional potting soil or directly into the garden if it is past frost season.

Seeds can also be started directly outside in the ground once all fear of frost is past. Save money and grow a beautiful, sustainable, garden by starting your plants from seeds this season.

Rock

Pro – Rock lasts forever and can be found at no cost in some areas such as fields and construction zones (be sure to ask permission before you gather the rock).

Con – Rock is heavy and requires more physical exertion to place as a garden edging. If you purchase rock it can be quite expensive.

Rocks as an edging in a front lawn vegetable garden.

Logs

Pro – Logs of any size make excellent edging for your garden. You can chop down a tree on your own property and utilize the waste as the edging tool saving you considerable money.

Con – Wood of any kind eventually rots, so will have to be replaced regularly. Rotting wood can invite pests into the garden.

Spring is a breath of fresh air for just about everybody. But for those of us bitten with the blossom bug, it’s a time of celebration. Spring flowers show up all over the yard and garden dressed in their Sunday best and there’s no point in resisting the urge to bring them indoors.

For the most part, the flowers you see blooming this spring are the results of a gardener that planted them last fall. So, if you’re still purchasing flowers for the bouquets in your home, make a note of the flowering plants below. With just a little fall planning, you’ll be enjoying indoor bouquets from your own yard next spring.  Before purchasing your plants, make sure that it’s a species (or variety) that will survive in your area.

• Daffodils (Narcissus) – Daffodils are a joy for many reasons, but the best one is probably because they’re pretty much fail-proof. Most people think “yellow” when they think of them, but daffs come in cream, bicolor, white, and salmon, too. Plant them 3-4 times as deep as the length of the bulb in September through November.

• Tulips (Tulipa) — Nobody van ignore tulips, they may be the most famous bulb of them all — and they’re anything but boring. Tulips show up in the traditional cup-shape to all kids of wild and frilly varieties. Colors range from white, red, apricot, salmon, maroon, yellows, pinks, and purples. Plant tulips three times as deep as the length of the bulb in September through November.

• Hyacinth (Hyacinthis orientalis) – Know as one of the main bulbs for indoor forcing, hyacinths offer fabulous fragrance. Colors range from baby blue to pinks, indigo, magenta, white, and yellow. Plant hyacinths 6-8″ deep in September through November.

photo credit: Ken_Mayer

5 Benefits of a Rain Barrel

1.  Rain barrels are great for the environment.

When home owners collect rain water that is coming off of their roofs, they are reducing the chance that pollutants like sediment, oil, grease, and bacteria will run off into your local creeks, ponds, and lakes. And keeping those areas clean makes it easier on your municipal water system who often times struggles to keep up with the demands of your city’s water requirements.

2. Rain barrels are a great way to protect your home.

Last year in my home state we had 51 days in a row of 100 plus degreed temperatures. These high temperatures cause the water to be drawn out of the ground. And if there is no water to replenish the soil, the soil shrinks which then can cause cracks in a slab foundation. Rain water can be hooked up to a soaker hose placed at a foundation to prevent this from happening.

In the opposite direction, too much water can also damage a foundation and homes with basements. Rain barrels can protect these homes by helping to collect excessive water from heavy rain fall that may damage these areas.

For healthier plants, higher produce yields, and fewer garden diseases, the first place to concentrate on is the soil. The key to healthy, productive plants is soil that’s rich in organic matter. This is the very heart of compost, and its final result; humus.

Good garden soil is about having as much organic matter in the garden bed as possible. Compost is the finished product of broken-down organic plant and animal matter and in its “finished” form, compost becomes humus. Humus makes complex nutrients in the soil easily available to plant roots. “Friable” soil is what you get when your soil is full of life-sustaining humus, which means that it has a full, loamy texture and crumbles easily in your hands.

Compost will add any number of nutrients to the soil depending on what materials have been added to the compost pile. It adds further value by providing it with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, (and others), plus micronutrients such as copper, iron, iodine, zinc, manganese, cobalt, boron, and molybdenum.

While humus is considered the ultimate goal, you can use compost in your garden beds at any time during the composting process. Organic matter at any stage can be used as a mulch for retaining moisture, suppressing weeds, and controlling erosion.

Why not just spread on any old synthetic fertilizer into the vegetable garden? While synthetic fertilizers may temporary mask the problem of poor soil by perking plants up with some temporary green, they don’t actually solve the problem of inferior soil. Compost, on the other hand, changes the structure of soil — making it nutritionally rich.

Compost is the perfect soil amendment

Keep reading to learn more.

Photo by EraPhernalia Vintage

February may sound like a typical winter month. buy for vegetables gardeners, it’s a month of beginnings. Gardeners that happen to grow food know that this month is prime for starting vegetable seeds indoors in anticipation of winter. If you’ve never started seeds indoors before, why not give it a try this year?

Get Your Seed-Starting Materials Together

Start with purchasing some of your favorite vegetable seeds. You’ll find seeds online, in catalogs, and at your local nursery. For each type of vegetable, there will be tons of varieties to choose from. If this becomes too confusing, look for guidance from a nursery near you or call the Cooperative Extension Office in your county.

You’ll also need containers. Garden centers, nurseries, and hardware stores have all kinds of seed containers, but this is one thing that you don’t need to put your money. It’s your chance to put recycling to work by using cottage cheese or sour cream containers, yogurt cups, egg cartons, paper, plastic, or Styrofoam cups, toilet paper rolls (cut in half), plastic milk or juice containers (top cut off), or those tiny, snack-sized ice cream containers. reused containers should be thoroughly washed and drainage holes should be added.

Photo by Girlingear Studio

While you’re at the garden center, pick up a bag of seed-starter soil. I’m usually a fan of do-it-yourself, but in this case, you really want the soil that has that special something for seeds. In this case it’s peat moss and no true soil. That’s right — the medium preferred for germinating seeds is a soil-less mix. It’s lightweight, offers good drainage, and best of all — wards off the killing fungus that creates “damping off” in seedlings.

No matter how hard I’ve tried to use natural lighting from windows, the plants never fail to end up spindly-looking and floppy. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t try if you have a strong enough natural light source. But I’ve found it works not to skip the strong, over-head lighting. Spend money on this part. An alternative is to “borrow” the shop lights that are hanging over your husband’s motorcycle parts in the garage. Yes, the plain, traditional fluorescent shop lights is all you’ll need to get your seedlings up and growing. Skip the fancy “grow lights”, they aren’t important here.

As far as heat goes, heating mats are wonderful if you want to put the money out for them. Some seeds (such as peppers) need a lot of warmth before they’ll germinate and the mats come in handy in this case. That said, I’ve started seed for many years without them and they’ve done fine as long as the environment temperature was between 60-80 degrees.

Photo by Kator 29

Photo by Mercedesfromtheeitghties

The first thing you need to know about heirloom or heritage plants is that they’re always open-pollinated. This means that the seeds from that plant’s fruit can be saved, replanted and the resulting plant (and fruit) will be a replica of the parent. It’s great news for both home gardeners and farmers because this means that potentially, the gardener never has to purchase those particular seeds again.

But, what makes a vegetable (or flower or fruit) variety an “heirloom”. It actually depends on whom you ask. Heirlooms were brought to America by immigrants world-wide. Rich with culture, many of these family heirlooms have wonderful stories attached to them. They’re favorite family vegetables whose seeds had been saved and passed down from generation to generation.

Many people consider that any variety that has a generational history — and a story– to be called an heirloom. Some don’t label an open-pollinated plant an heirloom unless it can be traced back 100 years. Although there’s no “officially-official” standard for heirlooms, today most gardeners agree that an open-pollinated plant that’s been handed down through families for 50 years is an heirloom variety.

Photo by Hello-Julie

What Can Heirloom Plants Offer The Home Gardener?

Now that we’ve talked about what heirlooms are, let’s explore what heirlooms can do.

• Fantastic flavor – Of course, any vine-ripe vegetable grown in the home garden (hybrids included) beats store-bought vegetables any day of thee week. Still, most heirlooms have a flavor factor that the prolific hybrids simply can’t match. These food plants were handed down generation after generation were selected and grown expressly for taste. Commercial hybrids are created for uniformity in color, shape, and size. As well as for yield, transporting abilities, and the ease of machine-harvesting. This isn’t to say that there aren’t delicious hybrids — there certainly are. But heirlooms come in a vast sea of varieties (and therefore, flavors) to please the palate.

• Adaptability – Heirloom plants have an inherent ability to adapt naturally to their environment. This includes acclimating to the soil they’re planted in and as well as the specific climate. Historically, as vegetable varieties adjusted to their environments they also developed resistances to local pests and diseases. In other words, there were strong, viable plants suited to every area. Because these plants evolved naturally, nothing was mechanically altered (and therefore given up) and their fruit was able to retain their delicious flavors.

• Control – Food is a basic human necessity and he who controls the seed controls the food supply. Unfortunately, five companies control all of out commercial seed world-wide. They can do this because they literally own the seed. Heirlooms are owned by no one — and everyone. They give you control over how your food is grown, what’s put on it, and which vegetable types you’ll grow.

• Links to Our Heritage – Of course, heirlooms weren’t always called “heirlooms”. In fact, the term “heirloom” wasn’t even used until the 1980′s! They were those traditional vegetables grown in gardens everywhere. They were the staples of life. Some of the heirlooms that have been preserved by family seed-saving go as far back as 2000 years or more. Connected to those seeds is the history of our ancestors and who they were; giving us a basic definition of who we are. In a nutshell, seeds are a living heritage for people. We can hand down antique furniture, jewelry, and paintings, but none of these are living things. Along with great stories come the variety names. Monikers such as Beaver Dam, Moon & Stars, and Lady Godiva pumpkins, Rattlesnake and Dragon Tongue beans, Tall Telephone peas, Mascara and Drunken Woman, Frizzy-Headed lettuce always bring a smile…and questions.

By the way, the above characteristics belong to the open-pollinated veggies that aren’t necessarily considered heirlooms. They just may not have the extensive history as their counterparts.

Photo by kckellner

The impact that color has on the senses is undeniable. Color affects the mood of the garden, and affects the people who view it. Many of us are working with gardens on the smaller side. But, color principles are basically the same; no matter what size the garden. The first thing to keep in mind is that anything you want in color will benefit from you taking a glance or two at the color wheel.

Second, repetition creates unity throughout the garden — and the eyes love unity.One way to create unity is to repeat your colors in order to tie the garden-picture together. So, how many plants should you use per variety? The easiest technique is to apply the “Rule of Odd Numbers.” Plants look the most natural when planted in odd numbers, such as three, and five.

Photo by Tom Bech

Photo by Renee’s Garden

There are as many ways to create seed and plant markers as there are gardeners. Basic techniques such as Popsicle sticks or names painted on rocks are one of the easiest ways to go. But my favorite way to label seeds in my garden is to sue the seed packets themselves.

The first reason that I like to use them as markers is because they’re lovely looking in the garden and to be honest, while I adore anything garden “functional”, my girlie-heart yearns for “pretty”, too. While I don’t purchase seed packets for their beauty alone, there are companies that put that little extra something in their seed packets.  Botanical Interests, Renee’s Garden, Peaceful Valley, and  BBB Seed immediately come to mind.

Photo by Peaceful Valley

Probably the best reason to use the seed packets as markers is that you always have the seed specifics on the variety, growing directions, and plant picture right where you need them most — next to the plants that you’re tending. Of course you can’t just leave the seed packet willy-nilly in the sun, rain, and wind as they tend to disintegrate or become lunch for a passing snail or slug.

To protect the packets from the elements, I’ve been known to take them to a friend’s house who has a little laminating machine. One they’re laminated, tape or hot glue a craft stick to the back of the marker and sink it into the soil. Instant character for your garden even before the seed germinate!

Photo by BBB Seed

If you don’t have access to a laminating machine, purchase some clear contact paper, measure your packet and cut a piece that’s 1/4 of an inch bigger around all sides to make a good seal. Lamination will be firmer than the contact paper, but you’d be amazed at how well it’ll hold up.

In place of taping or gluing a craft stick to the back of your marker, hit up some garage sales and find some old silverware. Then just weave your protected packet through the tines of the fork.

Photo by Le Petite Poulailler

Photo by The Bitten Word

As the coldest months of the year set in, the growing season is considered either behind us or ahead of us. Either way, our landscapes look naked after the flowers of spring, summer, and fall hang their dresses up for the winter.  Of course, the plants that live inside our homes are tickled pink to have the gardener’s attention all to themselves.

I actually look forward to spending quality time with my houseplants along with the bulbs that I’ve forced to bloom while most flowering plants are outdoors sleeping. If you’ve conjured up an image of a non-descript plastic post holding a single amaryllis bloom, you’re missing the big picture. There are endless possibilities for creativity with flowering bulbs.

Amaryllis photo by The Greenery Nursery

Great bulbs for forcing indoors

First of all, don’t stop at the typical amaryllis bulb that all the big box stores are promoting at this time. Notice that I’m not saying don’t purchase the amaryllis; just don’t stop there.

• Daffodils
• Hyacinths
• Amaryllis
• Crocus
• Grape hyacinths
• Easter lilies
• Paperwhites
• Snowdrops
• Dwarf iris
• Striped squall
• Freesia

Some of these bulbs varieties will need some chilling before being planted and some will not. Be sure to do a little research on those that you’d like to force indoors. Also, when you purchase them ask if they’ve been pre-chilled.

If you’re partial to elegant decor, stick with a single bulb variety (in one or two colors) and a beautiful container. Mixing bulb varieties either with each other or other types of plants offers a more relaxed display, but just as fun and surprising.

Photo by James Qualtrough

Creative Containers for Indoor Bulbs

Second, don’t ever settle for the plastic pots! You can do better than that every time. Think about the decor and feel of the room where the display will be placed and stick with that style, you can’t go wrong. Keep an eye out for containers of unusual shapes and sizes.

• Terra Cotta pots
• Glazed pots
• Baskets
• Wood boxes
• Copper tubs
• Wardian Cases (Victorian terrariums)
• Glass Containers or bowls
• Vases

Photo by Charles D P Miller

Groundcover for Indoor Garden Displays

Covering any bare soil (if you’re planting in soil) puts a finishing touch on any indoor bulb display. You can use “inanimate mulches” such as dried moss or pebbles, or you use a “living mulch” such as grass.

• Colorful glass stones
• Pea gravel or pebbles
• Glass mulch
• Tiny sea shells
• Sphagnum Moss
• Dried green moss
• Grass
• Living moss
• Baby tears
• ‘Elfin’ thyme

Photo by Pizzodisevo

You can also try staggering the blooms for a longer display buy planting several bulbs into the container. One week later, add several more bulbs and finish planting the container. One of my favorite pairings is to plant miniature daffodils and dwarf iris bulbs into a long, rectangular container. I then plant grass seed over the entire surface. The planting resembles bulbs coming up in a lawn and is always a conversation piece. And yes, I end up having to use scissors to “cut” the grass on occasion!

Here’s a garden craft that’s perfect for kids even smack dab in the middle of winter! Because it’s hand’s on, crafty, and imaginative, this project is always a hit with my 4H kids. It also just happens to introduce a mini-science lesson on condensation and “rain”, it’s popular with parents and teachers.

Plus the earth gives it a thumb’s up because we’re re-purposing soda bottles instead of tossing them into the landfill (or using energy to recycle them), the earth gives these little gardens a thumb’s up, as well.

Soda Bottle Terrarium Supplies:

• 1 or 2 very small house plants. Depending on what you find in your area there may only be room for one plant and that’s okay. You can add an embellishment or two such as a plastic animal or colorful rocks for a little pizzazz.
• 1 (2-liter) soda bottle with the cap
• Scissors
• Small stones or pebbles to allow extra water to flow down to the bottom so it doesn’t rot roots or waterlog the plants.
• Potting or houseplant soil
• Spaghnum moss or Spanish moss – this will act as a screen so the soil won’t settle into the rocks beneath as the water flows through. This is also the finishing touch for the top of the soil after planting.
• Activated charcoal – acts as a filter that purifies the water as it cycles up and down the terrarium (check the pet aisle at a local store).
• Little plastic animals or other small-scale decorations such as colorful stones (optional)

Build YourTerrarium:

1.    A parent needs to cut off the bottom of the soda bottle at about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. Set the top aside.

2.    Put a handful of stones at the bottom of the bottle (1-2 “ deep).

3.    Sprinkle some charcoal over the pebbles. Just enough to cover the stones is fine.

4.    Add some moss — just enough to cover the charcoal.

5.    Next add a little potting soil. How much will depend on how much soil is in the container that your little plant came in.

6.    Now, add your plant (s). Use the potting soil that you purchased to fill in the rest of the space in the container.

7.    For a finished look, add some moss on top of the soil and between the plants.

8.    Place little animals or other decoration around the plant(s) at this point.

9.    Put the soda bottle/terrarium lid over the top, squeezing the bottom so the sides are tucked into the top piece. You may need to, cut a couple of slices onto the edge of the bottom piece to help the lid go on.

10.    Remove the top and gently water the plants until everything seems moist, but not sopping or the roots will rot. Secure the top back to the bottom.

As condensation builds up, remove the bottle cap for ventilation. Every once in a while remove the entire top to let the plants enjoy some great air circulation. We found that our plants grew so well, they we had to leave the top off permanently so the leaves had room.

I’ll tell you up front that you might as well purchase some extra supplies for the next one. And there will be a next one. After enjoying the process of making soda bottle terrariums with your kids, you’ll be compelled to make a few of your own.

Of course, you don’t have to stick with the soda bottles. Peruse garage sales or your own attic and bring new life to a glass bowl or vase. Take the project further by coming yup with a theme such as carnivorous plants, a living moss garden, an orchid collection, or colors that match your living room.

Photo by Sumtinelse

This indoor miniature garden project is one of the easiest you’ll ever put together as well as one of the prettiest and most interesting. Once you have the materials together, it’ll take just a couple of minutes to bring your indoor garden to life. Before we talk about how to put it together, let’s talk about which plants you may want to use.

Of course you can use any houseplant that strikes your fancy. But many tropical plants (such as ferns) don’t bloom and others have flowers of little significance. Enter African violets (Saintpaulia)– they’re one of my favorite houseplants. African violets are easy to care for, come on rich colors, and don’t get too large. Maybe one of the best things about them is that it takes very little encouragement for them to bloom over and over again through the years.

For these reasons, I generally like them for this indoor bird bath project. However, this is one of the easiest gardens in the world to manipulate, so feel free to change it up for an occasion such as a holiday or other event. For instance, small poinsettias or cyclamen would make perfect stand-ins for Christmas, just as daffodils or crocus make for excellent spring displays. For an elegant feel, try using orchid varieties.

What you’ll need:

• Bird bath — deeper is better

• 5-8  4″ potted plants — enough to basically fill in the birdbath

• Any bagged decorative green moss (such a spagnum)

• *Potting soil — this is optional

Photo by Tinyfroglet

Leaving them in their plastic containers, arrange the 4″ potted plants in the bird bath. If you’d like the center plant to be raised up to add depth, you can turn an empty 4″ container upside down and set the center plant on top of it. If that looks too high compared to the other plants, you may have to find something a little shorter.

At this point you can simply fill in the empty space between the potted plants with the green moss, or you could add soil in between the pots before adding the moss if it looks more natural for your display. This will depend on which plants you choose to use at the time.

Photo by Blumenbiene

Notice that you aren’t actually planting them into the bird bath its self, although you can do this if you fill the bath with potting soil first. The beauty of this project is that it can be rearranged from time to time for different effects. If you do choose to plant directly into the bath, be careful not to over-water your display or the roots will rot.

Quick Tip: If you’re using African violets be aware that they don’t like water on their leaves. So be sure to water them directly onto the soil, underneath the foliage. You could also take them from the display and let them sit in a sink partially filled with warm water so they can take their water up through the holes in the bottom of their container.

Many gardeners know that the best way to improve the quality of their soil is with compost. Help them turn their yard debris and kitchen scraps into rich compost with a spinning composter. These bins tumble the organic matter, increasing the rate of decomposition, decreasing the time it takes to break down from waste into rich, organic mulch.

Home Depot 60 Gallon Compost Tumbler
Retail Price: $98.00 

What gardener couldn’t use at least one more pair of gloves? Serious gardeners need serious gloves. The Bionic Women’s Gardening gloves fit the bill, they have a slender cut to fit smaller hands and have cuffs to keep the dirt out of your hand. These gloves are designed to be close fitting to avoid that bulky, clumsy feel so many of us are used to with other work gloves.

Do you have a slightly disorganized gardener on your holiday gift list? This magnetic board and tool set will not only give your gardener friend all of their basic tool needs, but a convenient and efficient way to store them.

StuckOnTools
Price: $59.95

Is there a gardener who has complained about how they love making their own compost, but hate the hassle of taking out kitchen scraps after every meal? This gorgeous Tuscan Compost Crock is a lovely solution to a messy problem. It’s dishwasher safe and can sit on the counter and no one would suspect it holds kitchen waste. Biobags make clean up an earth-friendly snap.

Gardeners.com Tuscan Crock
Price: $34.95

Seed bombs make a perfect stocking stuffer for the your favorite gardener. Your gardening friend can simply toss these chunks of seed and soil to spread wildflowers native to their region.

Anthropologie Seed Bombs
Price: $6.00

Have a quirky gardener on your list? How about give them the chance to try to their hand at mushroom farming. This interesting mushroom starter kit will help the gardener on your list decide if they’d like to delve into world of raising edible fungi.

Mushroom Growing Kit from Uncommon Goods
Price: $19.95

Do you have a dedicated container gardener on your list? They would love a potting bench to use as an outdoor workspace. Your gardener will appreciate having a space to work with their potted plants at a comfortable height, without lugging the mess indoors.

Potting Bench from Meijer
Price: $99.75

Photo Credit:msahades

Generally speaking, the term “bulb” is tossed around loosely, which is okay with me and most other gardeners. Still, there’s some merit in at least knowing what we’re referring to when we talk about planting bulbs or bulbous-like structures. You may, indeed, have true bulbs if you have tulips. But you might just as easily be tubers if they’re caladiums, or corms if you have begonias.

In horticultural terms, these bulbous-type structures may be different, but they all work under the same basic principle: They’re underground, food-storing structures that keep plants alive with food reserves bundled inside. Depending on the bulb type, there are some differences in how they’re planted and preserved from one season to the next. For now, let’s talk about bulbs that belong to the tender group.

Photo Credit: pissodisevo

Tender bulbs include dahlia, gladiola, crocus, caladium, cannas, anemone, tuberous begonia, and freesia. In regions that see mild winters, these plants can over-winter where they’re planted. But in regions that have freezing winters (north of zone 9), you’re better off lifting them from the soil and storing to protect them from the onslaught of winter.

Photo Credit: nestmaker

Over-wintering bulbs by lifting and storing is a simple task as long as you know where they are in your yard or garden! Before disturbing them, let the foliage die back as much as possible (turned mostly brown or withered). Then slide a garden fork under them, and gently lift them from the soil.

Cut the rest of the foliage off between 2″-6″ and don’t bother washing them off. Simply brush off the loose soil and lay them out in a cool, dry place for a week to ten days. They need to be dry before storing as they’ll rot if they’re moist. If you can have them under a fan during this time — all the better.

Photo Credit: Jeff Tidwell

At this point, some gardeners choose to dust their bulbs with a fungicide and some forgo the practice. Next, place them in an open container such as a wood crate, basket, or netted bag that’s filled with dry peat moss, wood shavings, or another appropriate dry material. Don’t forget to label the bulb containers by their variety (if you know) and their color.

Photo Credit: haversack

Keep them in a cool (50-55 degrees) and well-ventilated place until spring arrives and it’s time to replant. You’ll want to check on your bulbs periodically during the winter to make sure they’re not rotting, If you find a few that are rotted or damaged, throw them away. You may want to adjust your storing technique at this time, perhaps by moving the storage location if there’s too much humidity.

By the way, if you have flower bulbs planted in containers, most do quite well if simply stop watering them and move the entire container to a cool, dry location for the winter.

Every winter I end up suggesting somewhere or another that January is a great time to start a garden journal or notebook to record everything during the entire primary growing season. The new year is an obvious place to start one not only because it’s the beginning of the calendar year, but because it also happens to be the pre-garden season.

The records of what you were planning on growing in the garden, and where, and when you were going plant them is the beginning of a personalized custom book custom made for you. At first, garden journals may seem like extra nit-picky work at a time when your garden needs you most. But there are some excellent reasons for taking a little extra time to jot down some important notes. After a couple of years, your garden journal will become a valuable personalized tool for the future.

The single most helpful thing in a garden journal are the dates that you write down. It might be the date you planted the perennial or the date you planted tomato seeds or harvested fruit. But the dates are going to be your biggest helpful hint for planning next year’s garden. Especially if you’re a vegetable gardener, dates will also tell you if you’ve chosen the right vegetable variety for your growing zone.

The description of the plant varieties are the next most helpful information. What they looked like (pretty or not)? Difficult to grow or laid-back ? Too big? Too small or perfect for your yard? In the case of edible plants: How was the flavor? The yield? Were they an easy target for disease or pests? The answers will tell you if you should re-plant those varieties or try new something new.

Your journal should be scribbled from time-to-time especially during specific times for plants. When plants started blooming and when they stopped. When fruit showed up on the vine, when it was harvested and when it stopped showing up. When tree leaves unfolded and when the leaves fell off. If you’re looking to have continuous bloom in the garden, greenery, or more vegetables, this is the information you’ll need to purchase the right plants to fill in the gap.

You may have notes that remind you about which plant pests you battled so you’re prepared for it next year such as gopher, rabbits, or snails. These notes can remind you which perennials you already divided and where those new bulbs are located. If you were doing a lot of hand watering, you’ll be reminded to add a drip system or soaker hose to a certain spot in the yard.

Keep notes such as the surprising height of a tree that you thought was a “dwarf” variety for future reference. Use the old-fashioned cut and paste method of pictures of things you dream of doing in your future garden. Can you incorporate some of those ideas in the coming season?

If you used illustrations — and I certainly hope that you did — in your journal, they can potentially help you remember the variety, color, and placement of the plants you grew last season — even as they’re dormant now. If you used a plain pencil — use colored ones next time it makes a beautiful (and informational) difference.

Hopefully you added paper pocket dividers to your journal. If so, check there for pictures, receipts, and seed packets that offer clues to the plants that you started from seed and if they were successful for you. The pictures will also jog your memory on how the plants grew and looked in the place where you planted them.

Graph or plain paper with simple drawings of the placements of plants in your yard and garden can be a huge help for planning a better garden.  Did those plants fill in well? Or did they grow a bit too big? Were they getting enough water in those places or too little? Plant placement drawings can help you decide if you need to add more plants, more color, or more balance.

After you’ve made notes, pictures, drawings, clippings, and extra information to your journal pages, you’ll notice that your garden journal isn’t just about your garden. It becomes a timeline of the garden part of your life. It keeps the memories of what was important to you for each passing gardening year.

Photo of journal by WHSKR
Photo of stacked journals by Julie@Organikal
Photo of lady in garden by Mccheek
Photo of peppers by Muffet
Photo of hose by Analikewoahh
Photo of pencils by Horia Varlan

Fall Gardening Cleanup

To make sure that your landscaping remains fresh looking, cleanup in the fall is really important. Sometimes however, cleanup can see overwhelming, so I’ve divided your landscaping into three categories for you. Try tackling each category one weekend or two at a time.

• Lawn: 4 to 6 weeks before the first freeze is the ideal time to over-seed your lawn if needed. Over-seeding in the fall allows your grass to build a solid root before the heat of summer hits. Also remember to prevent disease and to promote winter growth keep your leaves picked up by using your lawn mower, a leaf blower or a by using a good old fashioned rake. I personally recommend a rake as it can serve two purposes, cleaning up leaves and dethatching your lawn.
• Garden Beds: A lot of clean up should happen in your garden beds in fall. First you need to remove all summer annuals, trim back all of your perennials, and trim and shape your bushes. Secondly you need to be sure to add mulch at least one inch deep to protect the roots of your plants and bushes from cold and disease.
• Trees: Like the bushes in your garden beds, it is necessary in fall to prune dead wood, low lying branches that would touch the ground if covered in rain or snow, and remove sprouts that appear at the base of your trees.

Finally when it comes to clean up and keeping your landscaping looking healthy you need to remember one critical thing.

You need to keep watering.

Watering is very important as most winter damage to trees, shrubs, etc. comes from their inability to draw water from the frozen ground. By keeping these items watered in the fall you are helping your landscape survive the harshest of winter months.

Fall Curb Appeal Decorating

Once clean up has been taken care of, you may be satisfied with what the curb appeal of your home, but to add that extra sparkle here are a few easy ideas for outdoor fall decor:

• Use supplies gleaned from clean up. Branches trimmed from your trees, pine cones from previous years, and even carefully dried flowers and leaves can be used to create beautiful arrangements to decorate your front door or entry way.
• Fall is pumpkin patch time. Have a fun day at the pumpkin patch and scatter your pumpkins throughout your landscaping for a burst of beautiful fall color. Read decorating with pumpkins for more ideas.
• Use your now empty flower pots and containers to create lovely displays. Stack a few pumpkins in them to create a tall splash of orange. Branches painted or unpainted and decorated with white or orange twinkly lights and/or pine cones also can be used to create arrangements to be placed throughout your landscaping and don’t forget fall flowers.

What ever you choose to do to add that extra oomph to your curb appeal remember that thinking outside of the box can often save you time and money. Try to include the items that remind you of the beauty of fall. And most importantly have fun creating looks that represent you and your family the most.

Leaf Image Credit:  tehsuck
Pumpkin & Flower Image Credit: hello-julie

Planting a container-grown rose bush is easy to do as long as you’re capable of digging a hole. If you’re not up to the task, have a helper do the digging for you. Before getting started, do a little research on the rose that you purchased. Many roses need full sun to thrive, but some roses will do quite well in light shade.

Roses that need protection from cold and wind can be planted near walls or other tall structures which act as a wind barrier. Remember, finding the right location in your yard or garden is the most important step, so know what your specific rose variety requires.

What You’ll Need:

• Potted rose bush
• Shovel
• Long, straight stick

*Thoroughly water the rose bush in its container the day before planting. This step will loosen the soil in the pot, moisten the roots, as well as hydrate the plant.

Dig a hole that’s a little wider than the rose bush container. The sides of the hole should be as deep as the container. But, you want to have a firm mound of soil in the bottom center of the hole for the plant to sit on.

To remove the rose from its container, pick up the entire pot and press the sides together moving your hands all the way around the sides and pressing as you go. You could also carefully lay the container on its side and roll it while pressing gently on the sides, as well. Holding onto the base of the plant (not the top branches), slide the bush out of the container.

Historically, people have used the natural world as symbols to communicate to their feelings or intentions towards others. Flowers in particular, were a popular way to send messages to friends, family, and would-be lovers. Although symbolic associations were used much earlier, the Victorian era is particularly associated with assigning meaning to flowers and herbs.

One of the most popular lists of flowers with meanings is the “birth month” flowers. Each month of the year has been assigned a flower (or more) which represent it and those that are born in that month.

The next time you send birthday flowers, personalize them by adding the recipient’s birth month flower to the bouquet. A particularly nice touch to celebrate the birth of a new baby is to send a birth flower bouquet to the new parents. Be sure to tuck in the special meaning behind the blooms!

Birth Month Flowers

• January: Carnation — love, purity, beauty, gratitude, pride, distinction, admiration, distinction, and fascination, Snowdrop — consolation, devotion, and fascination

• February: Iris — friendship, hope, wisdom, peace of mind, valor, faith, and valor, Violet — faithfulness, virtue, and modesty

• March: Daffodil (Jonquil) — rebirth, friendship, faithfulness, chivalry, respect, hope, modesty, unrequited love, regard, new beginnings

• April: Daisy – innocence, purity, love, bliss, I’ll never tell, and good fortune, Sweet Pea — blissful pleasure, innocence, purity, good-bye,

• May: Lily or Lily of the Valley — sweetness, beauty, majesty, purity, and humility

• June: Rose — Love, beauty, passion, admiration, perfection, gratitude, and sympathy, Honeysuckle — love and affection

• July: Larkspur (Delphinium) — lightness, open heart, laughter, and ardent attachment

• August: Gladiolus — character strength, generosity, sincerity, and moral integrity

• September: Aster — faith, love, valor, afterthought, wisdom, light, and elegance, Morning Glory — Talisman of love and daintiness

• October: Marigold (Calendula) – grace, joy, modesty, and sacred affection

• November: Chrysanthemum – loveliness, happiness, cheerfulness, wealth, optimism, rest, and abundance

• December: Holly – good wishes and foresight, Paperwhites (Narcissus) – egotism, formality, and sweet, Poinsettia – success, good cheer, celebration, and  reassurance

Violet photo by knottyboy

Daisy photo by kkimpel

There are two kinds of gardeners: those who put their gardens to bed in the winter and those who try to figure out what they can grow in the lower temperatures. For many years I could be found cleaning my shovel, rakes, and pruners to store them away for the winter. I also added compost and/or mulch to my beds for their long winter’s nap.

And then it dawned on me: broccoli hates high temps. Okay, that might not be the most exciting “A-ha!” moment, but there it was. I have put the cool weather to work for me ever since then. In fact, I’ve found that fall planting can be easier than spring and summer gardening because there are less pests to contend with and certainly less weeds.

In many regions cool-season crops can be grown during two seasons: spring and fall. They need temperatures to hang around 40 to 60 degrees. After you’ve experimented a season or three, you may find that your cool-weather lovers prefer one season to another in your zone.

Where I was in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had better luck with cilantro and broccoli not bolting (producing seed heads which signals the plant to stop producing) when I planted them at the end of summer as a fall crop. I could have certainly planted them in the late winter/early spring, but when Bay Area weather turns warm it usually does so with a vengeance, and I find that both of these crops bolt quickly in the spring.

Cool-season vegetables include the following:

• Carrots
• Endive
• Cauliflower
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Cabbage
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Swiss chard
• Collard Greens
• Peas
• Beets
• Radicchio
• Endive
• Radish
• Turnips
• Cilantro
• Kale
• Brussels sprouts
• Rhubarb
• Asparagus

Some varieties tolerate frost quite well, so not all cool-season vegetables are just for spring and fall. Some, like broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and collard greens can grow well into — and even through — the winter, with a little help from cold frames, hoop houses, and mulch.

Broccoli photo by Ting Chen

Cabbage photo by Jasmine & Roses

Cauliflower photo by Muffet

Carrots photo by color line

One of many fall flowers to add to autumn container arrangements!

Fall is certainly not the end of the growing season, and with back-to-school friends, fall parties and Halloween all still before us, you want your containers and windows boxes to look fresh and exciting.

Here are some fabulous flowers and plants to add to your garden landscape for autumn container delight.

Click here to view the embedded video.

These are the five fall flowers and plants to add for colorful autumn containers for fall arrangements in your landscape!

Pansies – Large, colorful flowers that won’t grow too tall. Perfect for lining the edges of your containers.

Kale – An autumn foliage plant, this cool-weather vegetable will grow straight through the frost!

Mums or Chrysanthemums – Lots of choices in color and flower style, these fall-blooming flowers are available in rust, bronze, orange, purple, red, pink and more.

Asters – Usually these fall-flowering plants coming in purple or pink and have daisy-like flowers that complement the look of chrysanthemums.

Fall Accents – I love the use of these decorative mini-pumpkins and gourds as fall season accents within the containers. I have seen the brightly colored “Indian corn” used in similar fashion and it can create a lot of interest.

Dress up your fall garden with one or more of these five fall container elements. Feel free to mix-and-match and be as creative as you want!

What is your favorite fall container look? Share with us in the comments, or come to the forums and show us a picture of how your fall containers turned out!

One of the many joys of gardening is being able to share plants from your garden with a friend. Passing plants along to other gardeners has been a tradition since planting gardens began.

One of the easiest ways to share a your favorites is to take softwood cuttings from perennial shrubs or climbing plants. Otherwise known as “slips”, softwood cuttings are one of the easiest from of propagation.  While you’re creating new plants for your friends, why not take a few for yourself and add to your own garden, as well?

What you’ll need:

• 2-3 inch long cuttings from the tips of the plant (young foliage)
• 4 inch clean containers
• sandy potting soil that had been dampened thoroughly
• pencil
• Plastic bag
• Popsicle sticks (or long twigs)
• Scotch tape
• *rooting hormone
• *gloves

*Optional

How to propagate plants from cuttings:

1. First, you’ll want to prepare the new plants’ temporary home by filling the 4 inch containers with the dampened potting soil.

2. Snip a cutting off of an older plant just below a node, which is the leaf “joint” where it attaches to the plant stem. You’ll want 2 or 3 nodes on the cutting.

3. Take the cuttings and clip off any flowers or buds. Then clip off the leaves at the bottom of the cutting so that the leaf node is left exposed. There will probably be just a single pair of leaves at the top.

4. Make a hole in the potting soil with the pencil – you don’t want to shove the soft stem into the soil.

5. There are two ways to go about the next step. The first, is to put on gloves then dip the bottom of the cutting (including the nodes) into a powdered or liquid hormone and then place it into the potting soil. This gives the cutting a greater chance at successful rooting. That said, many cuttings will grow roots even without using the hormone. For that matter, many plant species will root in plain water!)

So, this part is up to you. If you do choose to use the hormone, please put gloves on beforehand. The 4″ container can start more than one cutting at a time, so feel free to place 3 or 4 in the pot.

6. Put the cuttings into the soil and press the soil up around them. Make sure the places where you cut off the lower leaves (node) is buried.

7. To keep the cuttings moist while they grow roots, place a plastic (polyethylene) bag over the entire container and secure it around the container edge with tape. To keep the bag from touching the cuttings, you may want to use a couple of Popsicle sticks or small branches (that are a little taller than the slips) and stick them into the soil before covering with the plastic.

8. Keep them in a warm place, but shaded from any direct sun. When you see new growth on the cuttings, make some slices with scissors into the plastic as air vents for a few days. If the soil begins to dry out, gently add a little water using. Remove the bag completely after several days of having vents.

When you see more growth, use a spoon to scoop under the cuttings and place each little plant into its own container. Pass them out to friends, family, new neighbors as a welcome — don’t forget to keep a few for yourself!

Rooting hormone can be a gardener’s best friend, but it’s also a hazardous material. Please read the manufacturer’s directions before opening the container and always use gloves when handling the hormone. Keep out of the reach of children. If you’d rather not have this type of product in your home, try the alternative methods such as rooting the cutting in a planting media, or try it in plain water.

Photo by Kirsty Hall

“Everlastings” is a broad term used for any flowers, seed pods, or foliage that can be dried and used in permanent arrangements, potpourri, holiday gifts, and wreath making. Everlastings from both annual and perennial plants tend to not only hold their shape indefinitely, but their color tends to remain attractive, as well. Most everlastings are just as lovely as a cut flower as they are dried. Below are the top five everlasting annual plants to try in your garden.

1. Bells-of-Ireland (Moluccella laevis)

These unique annuals are as interesting in the garden as they are in dried arrangements. Bells-of-Ireland may look as if they’re covered in green, cup-shaped blossoms. But, to see the true flowers you’ll have to look closer. What we’re admiring as “flowers” on this plant are actually the calyxes around the dainty, white flowers.

The easiest way to grow Bells-of-Ireland is to sow seeds directly into the garden a few weeks before your last frost date in zones with cold winters. Cold temperatures are important to this plant because the seeds have to go through a chilling period in order to germinate. So, if you live in a climate that has mild winters, sow the seeds late in the fall or keep them in your refrigerator for two weeks before planting them. Be patient, the seeds can take a month to germinate.

2. Strawflowers (Helichrysum bracteatum or Bracteantha bracteata )

Probably the most well-known of all the everlastings, strawflowers are annuals that come in a wide array of bright colors. What looks and sounds like crinkly-paper flower petals are really modified leaves called bracts. The very center of the blossom is where you’ll find the true flowers.

Strawflowers have a lot to offer the gardeners as they bloom reliably from summer until a hard frost; and then continue to share their blooms as dried flowers. Most strawflower varieties grow anywhere from 12″ to 36′ tall; with the taller varieties requiring staking.

3. Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)

Globe amaranth comes in both annual and perennial varieties but are more often used as annuals than not. Again, the blossom parts that attract us are actually bracts, not the true flowers. They have an oval, clover-shaped head that come in red, pink, orange, white, and purple. Those of you blessed with good vision will notice the tiny white or yellow flowers poking out between the bright bracts.

In fact, you may see the true flowers best on the variety ‘Strawberry Fields’. This is because the little yellow flowers stand out against the red bracts and look like the seeds on a strawberry. Although Globe amaranth is usually grown in the full sun, they’ll do just finer in areas with part shade.

4. Love-in-a-mist or Devil-in-a-Bush (Nigella damascena)

A beautiful cottage plant, Love-in-a-Mist has “ruffles” of fern-like foliage around its delicate petals. This thin foliage makes it look as if you’re looking through the flowers. Nigella blooms in white, light-dark blue, pink, and violet during the summer. This everlasting makes an interesting transition from delicate and innocent (Love-in-a-Mist) to horned and devilish (Devil-in-a-Bush) once the seed pods show up. It’s a real charmer in the garden and beautiful as an everlasting.

Nigella damascena may be an annual, but it re-seeds easily and once you plant it, you’ll have it every year. Plant the seeds directly into their bed as they have a taproot and resent transplanting.

5. Delphinium or larkspur (Delphinium spp., or Consolida ajacis)

This classic, English border beauty comes in both annual and perennial plants. It’s available in varieties that grow anywhere from 15″ all the way to 8 feet tall! Some types will bloom all at once during in early summer and some have smaller side stems that will bloom after the main stem finishes. In any case, the spikes should be cut back after the first bloom to encourage another show.

Pastel-colored spikes can have single, semi-double, or double flowers. They love nothing better than zones that have summer warmth (not burning, dry heat) and humidity. They’re at their best in soils that are cool and loaded with organic matter.

Everlastings offer a second chance to be enjoyed long after they no longer need a vase and water. So, leave some room in the garden for this charming flower category.

Everlastings in the sky photo by Yagan Kiley

Bells-of-Ireland photo by greengardenvienna

Strawflower photo by Dale Gillard

Globe Amaranth photo by orchidgalore

Love-in-a-Mist photo by lilli2de

Devil-in-a-bush photo by wit

Delphinium photo by MShades

Chris Mclaughlin shows us how to recognize when our plants are being stressed by heat, and also ways to prevent it…

High temperatures can be a challenge for plants and leaf tissue will show signs of heat stress, along with blossoms or fruit. Many will survive the dry, often blistering conditions, and unfortunately some won’t. But there are ways to tip the odds in your (and your plants’) favor.

Heather has some great ideas for protecting your lawn from the heat, there are a few things that would have never occurred to me.  I love Heather.  She’s so smart.

 

Photo credit: Shiny Things

Realize that sometimes the HOA is just going to have to take a chill pill, no one’s lawn looks good when there is a ban on watering and the healthiest lawns are not golf course perfect when water is scarce.  Many of these tips work when rainfall is plentiful, but they are crucial during a drought.

Heather also wrote this article on watering during a drought.  She explains about using the resources we have on hand, that would normally, literally, go down the drain!

 

Photo credit: Mike Baird

Those of us who live in the dry areas may be wondering how to water the garden without breaking the no sprinkler ordinances established by many municipalities.

If you are like me, and had no idea how to combat the heat, make sure you take a peek at these articles!  My bliss is learning from ladies I know and trust. I hope you found these tips as helpful as I did.