March 2009

Susan Wittig Albert is giving away an advance reading copy of the latest installment in her China Bayles series, Wormwood. If you don't know China, she used to be a high profile lawyer, but decided to switch careers and sell herbs in a small Texas town. Only she still has more to do with murder [...]

I hate to admit it to you Southerners, but when the snow melts, what it invariably reveals is…a mess. I'm not just talking about the dead vegetation that needs to be cut back. There's human-made messes that ought to be dealt with, too. But let's talk about the plants first. Cut back and clear out [...]

Mud season, despite its fickle weather, not only has color, but its own set of gardening chores. For those of us living in cold climates, these chores anticipate the growth that will soon come as so many plants emerge from dormancy. Growth is so slow at the beginning of mud season that it is easy [...]

As soon as the snow melts, before anything even blooms, there is color.If you are aware that some plants can grow underneath the snow, this is not a complete surprise, though I always marvel when it is an attractive garden plant that pulls this trick, and not just the tap-rooted and creeping weeds.The first flowers [...]

Mud season has finally arrived. As I have had more contact with gardeners in other climates, I've come to realize that certain aspects of my climate are completely foreign to them, so I thought I'd explain mud season for those who have never encountered it. It will sound pretty elementary to my fellow cold climate [...]

I used the random number generator, which picked number 26. Angie submitted comment number 26, so she is our winner. I have sent her an email with details on how to receive her seeds. Coupon code is good for another week But don't forget, for another week, everyone is eligible for the following online order [...]

After reading about the symposium and poking around her website, I was surprised I hadn't come across Kerry Mendez before. After all, she gardens in my state, in a similar climate. Some of her gardens are featured in Gardens Adirondack Style, which I reviewed for Horticulture in 2006. I decided I needed to know more [...]

Kerry Mendez (see above) emailed me briefly about the Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium that she has organized for the sixth year in a row. Since it is focused on gardening with cold hardy plants, I thought it was worth passing on to my readers. Besides Kerry herself, Paul Tukey, Tara Dillard, and Dr. Mark [...]

As a result of my membership in GWA, for the past three years I have received a media packet from Renee's Garden. A free packet of seeds is always included in the mailing, as well as an order form listing every seed they're selling that year, with an invitation to mark off which seeds you [...]