February 2014

A guest post about Meiwa kumquat trees for a blog about gardening in cold climates? Oh, yes. If you have a sunny spot in your yard in summer and a south- or south-west-facing window in your house, you'll love this little tree. I live in suburban Maryland, and am the happy owner of the two [...]

I always thought my garden held marvels, but until I read A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants by Ruth Kassinger, I didn't realize just how marvelous it was. And if you told me I was going to find a book on the [...]

Have you, like us, had more snow this winter than in the last twenty years?Perhaps, like us, you are getting a thaw? The temperature is well above freezing during the day, with intermittent rain? You need to get out! Take a walk through your garden--wear rubber boots and carry an umbrella if you must--but get [...]

I have Matt Mattus to blame (and thank) for these primulas. I never would have looked for them at my local Wegmans if he hadn't mentioned that's where he found his. (Wegmans in Massachusetts? Who knew?) Since he brought it to my attention, when I saw them for 99 cents each I grabbed two. Finally, [...]

Feeding the birds is one of the most delightful things a cold climate gardener can do while she is waiting for the snow to melt and the snowdrops to bloom. No, wait--I take that back. Watching the birds flutter and feed and jockey for position at the feeders is delightful. Actually filling the bird feeders, [...]

When I first started gardening, the "proper" way to prepare a garden bed was double digging. I wouldn't recommend that for anything except really long-lived plants, like peonies and asparagus. These days many people recommend lasagna gardening or something similar. I tried that, and it didn't work too well for me. The biggest mistake I [...]