Tomato Hornworm Feasting on a Pepper Plant

The tomato hornworm is the larval stage of the Five-spotted Hawk Moth. Both stages of this insect are formidable to see, but the hornworm is not a welcome sight in the vegetable garden. Their preferred food is the leaves of tomato and pepper plants. Since they blend in so well with the foliage, you may not notice them until you start to see damage.

Because the hornworm is so large (about the size of a pinkie finger), the easiest way to get rid of him is to simply remove him from the plant and dispose of him. You may be lucky enough to attract parasitic wasps to your garden who will do the job for you. Parasitic wasps won't hurt you, but take a look at the next photo to see what they'll do to this guy.

True Geraniums

The term geranium is confusing. The first geranium most gardeners encounter is not a geranium at all, but Pelargonium, a relative of the perennial geranium. True or hardy or perennial geraniums belong to the genus Geranium. You will sometimes see them referred to as cranesbill geraniums, because their seed pods do somewhat resemble a crane’s bill. The foliage is often toothed and remains attractive. The flowers float on top of the plant, in shades of white, pink, magenta, purples and blues.There is a great deal of variety in the geranium genus, but most of the commonly grown varieties are low growing, dense carpet-like plants. The leaves may be rounded, but more often they are serrated or lobed and quite attractive. T

The flowers are small (1") and cupped shaped, attracting plenty of butterflies and bees. Thin stems hold the flowers above the foliage. And they're deer resistant, too.

See more on the variety of true geraniums in the photo gallery Growing Hardy Geraniums.

Geraniums require little care, once established.

They prefer full sun and a well-drained, moderately rich soil. They can handle partial shade, but become more prone to mildew if kept damp.

Geraniums are not particular about soil pH, but a neutral to slightly acid soil is ideal. (5.8 - 7.0)

Maintenance: The plants can get a bit scraggly after blooming and deadheading is difficult with so many wispy stems. Shearing the plants back to basal growth will improve its look and encourage reblooming. The plants fill back in within weeks. The exception is Geranium macrorrhizum, which is easily deadheaded and needs no shearing.

Most species of Geranium live longer if divided every 3-5 years. You can divide more frequently, so keep them from spreading. But once you see the center dying out, it is definitely time to divide.

Problems: Slugs may attack young plants. Mildew and rust can infest foliage, especially in partial shade and/or humid climates. Shearing back and disposing of the infected leaves will help.

Passion Flowers

Passion flowers are exotic looking topical plants that can actually be grown in much milder areas. There are many different passion flower plants. Some passion flowers are vines, some produce edible fruits. Here are some tips for growing passion flowers at home.

Overview: The genus Passiflora contains over 400 species, so the common name Passion Flower can be a bit confusing. To muddle matters further, most are vines, but some are shrubs, annuls, perennials and even trees. What they all share are exotic flowers that only remain open for about 1 day. They have a wide, flat petal base with several rings of filaments in the center which surround a stalk of sorts, that holds up the ovary and stamens

Latin Name: Passiflora

Common Name(s): Passion Flower, Passion Vine, Maypop, Granadilla

USDA Hardiness Zone: USDA Hardiness Zones: 6 - 10, depending on species.

Size: Varies with variety. Most are vines: 15-30' (4.5 - 9 m) x 6-8 ft. (2-2.5 m)

Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Bloom Period: Mid- to Late Summer

Description: Passion flowers look extremely exotic, so it’s a surprise to find them growing in fields along the sides of the road. There is considerable variety between the species.

Flowers: 5 or 10 petals in a flat or reflex circle. The ovary and stamens are held atop a tall, distinctive stalk which is encircled by delicate filaments. The stigmas start out high above the anthers and slowly bend backwards to come closer for pollination. Colors in clude: blue, purple, pink, white and red.

Foliage: The most commonly grown forms are vines that climb and cling by tendrils. The leaves are alternate and either lobed or ovate.

Design Tips: Although passion flowers are native in many regions of the southern U.S., they can become a nuisance, to the point of being invasive. Check with your local Cooperative Extension or DEC to see if you should avoid passion flowers altogether or if certain species are preferable.

A lot of gardeners prefer to grow their passion flowers in containers. Passion flower grows quite happily in a pot and you have the convenience of being able to move it to a sunnier site or even bring it indoors for the winter. Plus, it limits the spreading by rhizomes.
Passiflora alata 'Ruby Glow' (Fragrant Granadilla) - 4" flowers with cranberry petals and rich purple filaments. Very fragrant. P. edulis - The species usually grown for the edible passion fruit. There are two types of passion fruit. A small, purple fruit and a larger shiny yellow-orange fruit (P. edulis flavicarpa). P incarnata (Maypop) - A subtropical passion flower native to the southeastern U.S. P. incarnata is also used medicinally.

Sun: Passion flowers need at least 4 full hours of sunlight a day; more in cooler climates and some partial shade in the hottest areas. Plants may need winter protection in Zone 6.

Soil: The soil should be well-draining, but rich. Passion flowers grow and bloom best when the soil is kept moist. They don’t handle drought well. Soil pH can be in the neutral range, anywhere from about 6.1 to 7.5. [

Planting: The addition of compost to the planting hole will help retain moisture. Some type of support is needed for the vines to grow on. It can be a trellis, a structure or another plant.

Most varieties of passion flower can be purchased as plants. They can also be propagated from either seed, softwood cuttings, layering or rhizomes.

Growing Passion Flower from Seed:

To save seed, allow the fruits to ripen completely. Open the pods and remove, clean and dry the seeds before storing.

Passion flowers seeds can be difficult to sprout and hybrid varieties will not grow true from seed. Start seed by soaking for 1-2 days in warm water. Viable seed will sink to the bottom of the glass. Floating seeds can be discarded.

Start seed in damp potting mix. Place seed on surface of soil and pat down, but don’t cover. Place pot in a plastic bag and seal to retain moisture. If you can provide bottom heat to the pot, you’ll have a better chance of sprouting. A heat mat or even the top of a refrigerator should work.

It can take weeks or months for passion flower seeds to sprout. Keep the soil moist at all times. When sprouts do appear, keep them out of direct sunlight until there are true leaves and don’t handle the plants until they are large enough to transplant.

To Grow Passion Flower as a Houseplant: Provide bright, indirect sunlight, but keep out of drafts. Minimum indoor temperature is about 50° F.

Maintenance: Passion flowers are low maintenance during the growing season and do not need to be deadheaded. Pruning is basically done to keep the size in check, to remove dead wood and to make the plant fuller.

Some vines will not need any pruning, but pruning will result in a fuller plant. Pruning can be done in late winter or early spring. In cooler climates, the vines may die back to the ground anyway.

To protect borderline plants during winter, stop feeding in late summer. Mulch the area around the roots, once the soil temperature drops.

It seems the more tropical the climate, the more pests there are to attack passion flower. But generally the plants have minimal problems. Insects pests could include: scale, spider mites and white flies.

Leaf spotting is generally caused by a fungus disease. Remove affected leaves, to slow the spread, and treat with a fungicide if necessary.

New Garden

Garden Maintenance - What to ExpectPhoto: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.Hopefully when you were selecting plants you did some background checking and didn't select too many prima donnas. All plants are going to require some maintenance. The idea that perennial plants require less maintenance than annuals is wrong. At the very least, your plants will require 1 inch of water a week. If it rains regularly, good for you. If not, don't let your plants get drought stressed. Once a plant is stressed it will never recover fully that growing season. There will also be weeding to do. Weed seeds come from all kinds of sources: wind, birds, soil on shoes... Deadheading or removing the spent blossoms from your flowers, will keep them blooming longer and looking fresher. Vegetables will produce more if you keep harvesting while young. Some taller plants may need to be staked, to keep from flopping.

It may happen that one of your choices isn't happy and dies. Move on and replace it with something else.

Choosing Pumpkins

Not all pumpkins are orange.

Photo Provided by Deborah Waller / stock.xchng.

If you think pumpkins are only for decoration and pumpkin pie comes out of a can, you’ve probably never known what a treat growing and harvesting your own pumpkins can be. All pumpkins aren’t created equal and bigger isn’t necessarily better. Although it’s easier than ever to grow some of those giant pumpkins entered into competition, an 800 pound pumpkin isn’t practical for carving and just think of the left-over pie!

The choice between carving pumpkins and cooking pumpkins is actually very practical. When choosing a carving pumpkin, you’re looking for a nice shape and a pumpkin that will last several days, once carved. The choice of a cooking pumpkin is all about taste and texture.

Whatever type of pumpkin you’re looking for, there are some basic guidelines. First, your pumpkin should be fully mature when it’s picked, so that it is hard enough for short-term storage. Never pick up or carry a pumpkin by its stem. It is not a handle. The stem can break off very easily, leaving the pumpkin with an open wound that invites infection and rot. Check the pumpkin well for soft spots and dark bruises. Once a pumpkin starts to rot, it goes downhill pretty quickly. The smallest nick is enough to let infection in. Don’t forget to look at the bottom of the pumpkin, where it’s been resting on the cold, damp ground.
Pumpkins are ready to harvest when the vines start to dry up and the pumpkins turn the expected color, whether that’s orange, white or some type of combination. You don’t want to pick your pumpkin too soon, because it will stop changing color once it’s cut. Check to make sure the skin has hardened enough so that poking it with your fingernail will not crack it. Pumpkins can be left in the field, even after the vines have withered. However don't leave them out if a hard frost is expected or if hungry critters are about.
You can carve any type of pumpkin, gourd or squash. A good carving pumpkin should be firm and healthy. Ideally you want one with a shell that is hard enough to protect it, but still allows you to get a knife through. Pumpkins with outer shells that feel as hard as a piece of wood are very difficult, and dangerous, to slice into. Tap the pumpkin gently and listen for a slightly hollow sound. Lifting the pumpkin will also give you a good idea of how dense it is. The heavier the pumpkin, the thicker the walls. Thick walls block the candle light and carving details will be lost. If worse comes to worse, you can shave the walls from the inside. The tall, oblong-shaped varieties tend to be stringier inside, making it difficult to make precise cuts. Shape is up to your own taste, but test to see if your pumpkin has a good, balanced base to sit on, so it doesn’t roll over when you try to display it. Don’t discount the smaller pumpkins entirely. They’re great for kids to carve and to use as decorations. ‘Wee-B-Little’, ‘Baby Bear’ and the white ‘Baby Boo’ are all charming. White pumpkins, like ‘Lumina’ give a spooky look to your jack-o'-lantern. They can also be painted more easily than orange pumpkins and most make great cooking pumpkins too. Your jack-o'-lantern will start to dry and shrivel as soon as it is cut and exposed to the air. If you need to carve your pumpkin a few days before you’ll be displaying it, try these tips to keep it fresh longer: Keep it in a cool spot, out of direct sunlight. Spray it with an anti-transpirant, like Wilt-Pruf. Drape the entire pumpkin with a damp towel. Protect it from animals that might be tempted to take a bite. Don’t leave it outdoors if there’s a threat of frost.

How to choose pie pumpkins and pumpkins for cooking.

Decorating the Garden Path

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Giant Vegetables

Many gardeners enjoy the competition of growing the largest vegetables and flowers - giant vegetables and flowers. It is truly amazing how large some of these giants will grow. I’m not talking about that baseball bat zucchini that hid out under the leaves. I’m talking about 100 pound cabbages and pumpkins that gain 25 pounds in a day. These giants take planning and care.

To seriously compete with the seasoned giant vegetable growers, you’ll need to put considerable effort into your soil, your choice of site and your gardening technique. But to get you started having some fun growing giant sized vegetables, here are 5 easy steps toward success. Choose the Right Seed

This is the most important step, because some varieties simply grow larger than others. Serious giant growers will often seek out rare seeds to grow. You can start your own giant lineage by selecting a promising variety, like Atlantic Giant Pumpkin or Old Colossus Heirloom Tomato and then saving the seeds from your largest fruits for planting next year. (This only works with open-pollinated varieties, so steer clear of hybrids if you plan to save seeds.)

You may have to do some research on varieties that dependably grow into giants, but the name usually gives it away, like Russian Mammoth Sunflower, that grows upwards of 17 feet tall. Here are a few suggestions to get you started. Cabbage: Northern Giant Cabbage (100 lbs.) Carrot: Japanese Imperial Long Carrot (12+ inches long) Cucumber: Mammoth Zeppelin Cucumber (16 pounds) Gourd: Giant Long Gourd (120 Inches) Onion: Kelsae Sweet Giant Onion (One held the world record at over 15 lbs.) Pepper: Super Heavyweight Hybrid Pepper (? pound each) Pumpkin: Atlantic Giant Pumpkin (400 to over 1000 pounds) or Squash: Show King Giant Green Squash (400+ pounds) Sunflower: Grey Stripe Giant Sunflower (2 foot heads) Tomato: Old Colossus Heirloom Tomato (2+ pounds) Watermelon: Carolina Cross (Giant) Watermelon (200 pounds)

If you’ve had success growing a giant vegetable or flower, let us know what it was.

Give Them a Healthy Start

Beef up the soil your plants will be growing in before you even plant. Spread some manure or compost the fall prior planting. If you’re serious about competing, you should have a complete soil test done and replenish any nutrients and micro-nutrients that might be lacking.

Giant vegetables tend to grow in quick spurts, so they need lots of food. Slow acting organic fertilizers added at planting time will ensure that the food is there when the plant needs it. It will also make for a healthier soil and less pest problems.

And know what type of fertilizer your plant needs. If you’re growing the plant for the fruit, like pumpkins and tomatoes, you’ll want a fertilizer that’s high in potassium and phosphorous, the last two numbers on the package. If you’re growing a leafy vegetable, like cabbage, you’ll want a higher nitrogen number.

Water

Giant vegetables won’t be as tolerant of sporadic watering as the common garden vegetable would be - and even the common vegetable is touchy about not getting its one-inch per week. You have to provide regular deep waterings or your fruits will either languish or split. I recommend using drip irrigation on a timer that compensates for rain, so there are no slip-ups. Because as much as your plants need regular water, they don’t want to sit in wet soil.

Thin to Just the Best Fruits

The more fruits on your plants, the smaller they will be. If they have to compete for nutrients, they’re never going to be giants. So prune or pinch out all but about three of the largest, healthiest looking fruits. Later in the season, you might want to thin down to just one, but keep a couple of extras at the beginning for insurance.

Don’t worry about too much foliage. The foliage is what will be feeding the fruits and helping them grow larger.

Keep Close Watch for Problems

Pests, diseases and cultural problems can move in quickly and ruin an entire crop, especially when there are only a handful of fruits to begin with. Check your plants daily and correct any problems immediately. Try and remove problems by hand, since using chemicals can disrupt the plant too. Hopefully since you’ve given your plants every advantage, problems will be few.

Now comes the hard part. You have to be patient. Look but don’t touch. Too much fussing with your plants is as bad as too little. Let them do what they do and just enjoy watching them grow.

If you find yourself addicted to growing giant vegetables, talk with the competitors at your local county fair. Some will be coy, but many are very open and generous with their knowledge. They’ll know who has the best seed and will be happy to discuss technique with you. There may even be a regional Giant Vegetable Growers organization in your area.

For a humorous, but very informative peek into growing giant pumpkins, I recommend the book Backyard Giants - The Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever, by Susan Warren. Ms. Warren follows competitors through an entire growing season and gives us plenty of tips along the way.

3rd Place Winner - Applicious

Scotty: Nannyannie lives in Ireland and when I think of Ireland I think of shamrocks rather than apples, but just look at these flawless specimens. Wow. That's as good as apples can get.

Marie: Anne has had a busy summer. "I've eaten all my peas, my lettuce too.....my strawberries are ripening at maybe 6 per day :) and are delicious , if a tad small, my spindly tomato plant is still producing tiny delicious tomatoes, my apples are bigger and better than ever before. Very tasty too. I still have to harvest my potatoes....if there are any underneath all the foliage. :)"

Well, I garden in an area known for its apples, but my own trees aren't even close to this perfection. I agree with Scotty, flawless!

Congratulations, Nannyannie!

Wildflower Gardening

Have you secretly been considering turning your high maintenance mixed border into a wildflower garden? It can be hard to resist when seed companies are out there promoting their instant wildflower gardens in a can, sack or roll. I spoke with a handful of gardeners who gave wildflower meadows a try. Their efforts to date have not met with much success.

Many gardeners naively believe you can simply scatter some seeds and wind up with a self-sowing meadow of bluebells and lacecaps. In truth, starting a wildflower garden is often more work than putting in a perennial border and it is not necessarily self-perpetuating.

If these plants are truly wild, (weeds, to most highway maintenance crews), why must they be coddled and coaxed out of the ground?

According to my local Extension office, wildflowers are species of flowers that have shown themselves to be hardy and self-reproducing, with little attention form the gardener. Although they will grow wild or on their own, they are not necessarily native plants. Wildflower gardens are considered a low cost alternative to high maintenance gardening. Many wildflowers prefer poor soil and neglect, making them ideal for tough to maintain areas of your property. My wildflower garden got little attention, so where did I go wrong? Even a wild look requires some planning and effort. The good news is that most of the effort is in getting it started. Chose a site with full to partial sun. If you want the plants to sustain themselves, you had better give them conditions they find agreeable. Weed control is paramount. Weeds are a successful wildflower garden's biggest threat. Of course, only you can determine what is a weed and what is a wildflower, but for the sake of simplicity I would suggest you start your garden with a clean palette and remove all existing vegetation. There are three proven methods of doing this. Weed or remove sod by hand. If you are starting with a small area or if you are planting where healthy grass is growing, this may be your best option. Solarization is a good way to kill all vegetation, including most seeds. Mow the area to be planted as low as your lawn mower will allow. Water the area well and then cover securely with clear plastic sheeting, leaving it there to bake in the sun for 6 - 8 weeks. This method relies on cooperation from the weather and you will probably still want to remove the dead vegetation before reseeding. Spraying a broad spectrum herbicide will kill everything within a few weeks. Be careful with herbicides. They don’t discriminate in what they kill and can accidentally drift on a breeze and wipe out garden plants. Again, you will probably want to remove the dead vegetation before reseeding. Till the soil shallowly to a depth of about 3 inches, once the existing vegetation is removed. You don't want to uncover and encourage more weeds. In fact, you may want to respray with the herbicide at this point to kill any weed seeds that may have surfaced. Rake and level the soil, leaving the grooves left from raking to help hold the seeds and give them contact with the soil. Packaged seed mixes will tell you how large an area they cover. In general, use 4 pounds of seed per acre or 4 oz. per 2,500 sq. ft. Most wildflower seeds are very small. Mixing some sand in with the seed mixture will make it easier to spread evenly. Broadcast evenly throughout the area to be planted. Rake lightly again after spreading the seed. Water the whole area and keep the seeds moist until they are a few inches tall. A light mulching with straw, peat or compost will help retain moisture and keep the birds from eating the meadow. It’s much like starting grass seed. Germination should occur in 10 - 21 days and your first blooms should reward you in 5-6 weeks. Some Wildflower Tips to Get You Started

Persian Shield

It is easy to see how Strobilanthes (pronounced (stroh-bih-LAN-theez) got its common name of Persian Shield. Its most striking feature is its colorful leaves, which have an iridescence that gives them an almost metallic look. Persian Shield is a native of Myanmar, formerly called Burma, not Persia. Strobilanthes is a sub-shrub that is evergreen in hot climates. It is also a very popular houseplant because it tends to bloom during winter.Persian Shield planted in partial shade will pick up the light and reflect it back off its leaves. It makes a striking border plant, particularly when paired with soft gray greens or chartreuse.

In USDA Zone 10 and higher, Persian Shield can get quite bushy and makes a wonderful focal point. It may even over-winter some years in cooler climates.

Even when grown as an annual, Strobilanthes make an eye-catching addition to borders and containers. Bring a plant or two indoors, and grow as houseplants through the winter.

Soil: Strobilanthes grows well in the neutral range of soil pH and can handle anything from about 5.5 through to 7.5.

Planting:You can start Persian Shield from seed or cuttings. Seeds require somewhat warm conditions ( 55–64 degrees F. (13–18 C.) to germinate.

Plants can easily be started by softwood cuttings, but some bottom heat will keep them from rotting before they establish roots. Spring and early summer are the best times to take cuttings.

Persian Shield prefers moist soil and some shade during the hottest parts of the summer. The less water it gets, the more shade it will need. Cold water may spot the leaves.

Since Persian Shield is grown for its foliage and the flowers are not particularly showy, many gardeners like to pinch back the leaves, to create a fuller plant. If left to grow on its own, it can get tall, leggy and floppy.

The exception would be immediately after flowering. The leaves may look sad at this point, but that is because the plant has gone dormant for the remainder of the winter. Resist the temptation to pinch at this point, to avoid disturbing dormancy. Resume pinching when the plant starts growin in earnest, in the spring.

If grown in rich soil with plenty of moisture, Persian Shield should only need light feeding at the start of the season and again about mid-way through the summer.

Growing Stobilanthes as a House Plant: Indoors, Persian Shield needs bright light, to keep its color, and temperatures above 60? F (15.6?C). Make sure it has humid conditions. Dry air will cause the leaves to dry and drop. Misting daily is recommended, but be sure to use soft water. Chlorine will damage the leaves.

Aphids and Whiteflies can become pests, especially when the plants are drought stressed.

Strobilanthes is not usually susceptible to fungus disease or other problems with the foliage, except water stress.

Winter Mulching

Winter Mulching in Cold Climate Gardens

In areas that experience freezing temperatures, winter mulching differs from mulching during the growing season. We mulch our gardens in the spring to suppress weeds, retain moisture and feed and warm the soil. While we may spread a layer of soil conditioning compost or manure in the fall, the primary reason for winter mulching is to protect our plants from the harsh conditions of winter freezes, thaws and winds.

The main idea behind winter mulching is to keep the ground frozen by shielding it from the warmth of the sun. A steady temperature will keep the plant in dormancy and prevent it from triggering new growth during a brief warm spell. Tender, new growth too soon will just result in more winter die back. Mulching now will also help conserve whatever water is in the soil, so hopefully you’ve been keeping your garden beds watered right up until the hard frost. Any loose, insulating material will do. Keep in mind that you’ll need to remove the mulch in the spring, or at least rake it aside. So choose a material that’s easy to handle. Shredded mulch, straw, pine needles or shredded leaves are all easy to remove or easy to work into the soil. If your ground doesn’t freeze until after Christmas, you can use the cut boughs of your Christmas tree as a mulch covering. These are nice because they’re so easy to remove in the spring. The easiest mulch is snow cover. Snow is a great insulator and protector of plants. Some plants will simply collapse onto themselves and act as self-mulches. Chrysanthemums survive best if allowed to do this. Protect Crowns & Surface Roots: (Especially newly planted plants) Mulching to protect most perennial plants is done after the first hard or killing frost. A hard frost is usually defined as temperature drop to below 25 degrees F., but you’ll know it when you see the last of the hardy annuals crumbled and brown in the morning. At this point, your perennials should be well into dormancy and mulching around them won’t encourage tender new growth. Go ahead and spread a 2-4" layer of mulch around the base of the plants.

Grafted plants, like hybrid tea roses, benefit from being mulched more heavily. These are usually mulched with compost or soil and are actually buried to just over the graft union. You can pile the soil up around the stems or you can use some wire fencing and fill with compost.

Prevent Dessication: Some shrubs that are evergreen or somewhat evergreen, like rhododendrons and viburnums, can become desiccated by harsh winds. You can protect the branches and buds by wrapping them with burlap or by spraying on an anti-desiccant, like Wilt-Pruf. (Anti-desiccants are handy to have around. You can prolong the life of your Christmas tree with a spray. They’re also good for coating carved pumpkins.) If you choose to wrap your shrubs, make certain there is space between the branches and the burlap or the burlap will freeze onto the branches and cause its own problem. You can also fill the space between the shrub and burlap with leaves, for additional insulation.

Woody plants don’t require as much protection as herbaceous perennials. However, a 2 - 4" layer of shredded bark mulch or compost does help conserve the ground moisture. Just be sure not to pile it around the base of the plants. Keep it several inches from the stems or you’ll invite rodents, like voles and mice, who like the cover of mulch while munching on bark. Mulching up against the stems also holds too much moisture against the plant, providing ideal conditions for diseases to take hold.

Prevent Heaving: When the ground repeatedly freezes and thaws, it expands and contracts. When a plant is sitting in ground that expands and contracts, its roots get loosened from where they are anchored under ground and the plant eventually gets pushed up through the surface of the soil, exposing its crown and roots to freezing temperatures and drying winds, which brings us right back to Reason to Winter Mulch #1. Again, you would wait until the top of the plant has died back and the ground has frozen, before applying a layer of mulch. Prevent Erosion: (Especially important for fallow gardens, like vegetable gardens during winter.) Mulching unplanted garden beds can be done at any time in the fall. Ideally, you would plant a winter cover crop and let it sit until you till it under in the spring. If you choose not to plant a cover crop, it would still be beneficial to spread a layer of compost, manure or shredded leaves. I like to use my fenced in vegetable garden as a corral for my shredded leaves. They mulch the vegetable garden all winter and in the spring, I spread them as mulch in my flower beds. The rule of thumb is to remove winter mulch in the spring, when all danger of a hard frost is past. That’s sometimes very hard to judge, as anyone who’s experienced an Easter snowstorm can attest. However when the ground starts to thaw and the smell of mud is in the air, it’s time to start raking and removing the mulch so that the ground can warm and new growth won’t be inhibited.

Growing Caladiums

Caladiums are tropical plants that are grown for their spectacularly colorful foliage. Although tropical, they grow fast enough to be enjoyed during the summer in cooler climates and all year long as houseplants. Shade and humidity lovers, Caladiums dazzle in shade gardens with their large, pointed arrow-shaped leaves splashed with shades of green, white, cream, pink and red.

A Word of Caution: Caladiums can be a skin irritant and are poisonous if ingested.

You can purchase Caladiums already in leaf or you can start with the less expensive tubers. Tubers purchased from a nursery will have a knobby appearance. Each knob is actually an eye that will produce a leaf. Sometimes the tubers are a bit desiccated and the knobs are hard to spot, but they should re-hydrate and sprout. Fresh tubers ordered from growers will sprout the fastest.

It can be confusing determining which end of the tuber is up, because the roots grow from the same side as the leaves. Trust the tuber to know what to do, and bury it about 2 inches deep with the knobs facing up.

When pottinng, start them in a damp peat/soil mix. Caladiums like a slightly acid soil (5.5 - 6.2). Once they sprout, move into indirect light.

To start caladiums indoors for outdoor planting, pot them up about 4 - 6 weeks before your last frost date. Wait until the soil warms to plant outdoors. Peat pots will make transplanting easier on the plants.

Winter Care in Cold Zones: If grown outdoors in a cold climate, they can be considered annuals or you will need to dig and store the tubers over winter. Do not wait for them to be hit by frost.

Division: You can divide your Caladium tubers in the spring, to create more plants. Cut the tuber into sections that each contain at least one eye or knob and pot or plant as normal.

Houseplant Care: When growing Caladiums as houseplants, water whenever the soil feels dry and feed monthly. Begin watering less in autumn, as plants naturally stop growing.

Problems: Although Caladiums are carefree growers, they can be subject to the following problems if growing conditions are not ideal: tuber rot (especially if planted outdoors in cold, wet soil), Southern blight, leaf spot and root-knot nematodes. Indoor Plants: aphids and spider mites.

Pumonaria

Most gardeners first encounter Pulmonaria with the old standard 'Mrs. Moon'. This is a charming little plant with lance-shaped deep green leaves spotted with small white moons. The buds start out pink and open to an azure blue.A low growing perennial flower

Leaves: with oval, pointed leaves. Leaves can be solid green, of varying intensities or variegated with spots or splashes of white.

Flowers: The small funnel shaped flowers come in vivid clear shades of white, blue and pink. Many will change color, as they mature and are pollinated.

Pulmonaria are a natural for shady woodland gardens. The white flowered varieties really glow against the green foliage.

You can also plant them in a sunny border, among later maturing perennials, for a shot of spring color. Pulmonaria can handle full sun in the spring and the leaves of taller, summer perennials will provide shade for them, later in the season..

For a winning combination, they look especially beautiful planted with the delicate foliage and soft pink flowers of fringed leaf Dicentra.

Pulmonaria 'Excalibur' - A clump former with silver leaves and long lasting violet-blue flowers. Mildew resistant.

P. officinalis 'Sissinghurst White' - Long, speckled leaves with pale pink buds that open to pure white

P. 'Spilled Milk' - Has the familiar pink to blue flowers. Young leaves are tinged purple, changing to film of white as they age.

Pulmonaria is a large genus with some form that will grow almost everywhere. Their season is early spring, when most other plants are barely poking out of the ground. Breeders have had a good deal of fun with Pulmonaria in recent decades. They flower in wonderful brilliant blues, pinks and white. The leaves can be solid green, speckled or completely frosted white.

Pulmonaria is a low growing plant, although the flower stalks can reach a foot and a half. Bees love the blossoms. Most varieties will self seed as well as spread by rhizomes, so they make a nice choice as a ground cover.

Pulmonaria are basically a woodland plant and prefer either shady location or at least a moist one.

Maintenance: After flowering, the flower stalks turn brown and flop over. The initial leaves also begin looking tattered. A removing the entire flower stalk and the older leaves will encourage the plant to rejuvenate and look fresh again. More de-leafing may be necessary if the summer is hot or dry.

Because they grow in moist conditions and low to the ground, Pulmonaria can be prone to mildew and slug and snail damage.

Wash Tub Planter

 

Overwintering Geraniums

Reviving Dormant Geraniums - What Happens in the Spring? Soak Desiccated Geraniums to Wake Them.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.

It can take a few weeks for your geraniums to wake up in the spring. About 6 weeks before the last expected frost, bring your geraniums back into indirect light. If they’re bare root, pot them up. Bare root plants can also be soaked in water for several hours before potting to re-hydrate the roots.

Give the potted plants a thorough watering and a diluted dose of fertilizer (about half what the package recommends for houseplants) and then let them be as they come out of dormancy. You should start to see them becoming more green and growing new leaves. Don’t move them back outdoors until all danger of frost is past. Good luck!

Overwintering Tender Plants

Whether you set your house plants out last spring, for a summer vacation, or you got carried away with container gardening until pots competed with the cat for every sunny nook of patio space, the cool night temperatures mean it's time to think about bringing tender plants back indoors. Chances are you have even less sunny nooks inside, so you will have to decide what's worth keeping and how to care for them. Keep only healthy plants. If something has been struggling all summer under the best of conditions, it is not going to improve indoors. Never bring in a plant with pests or disease. Don't convince yourself that you'll quarantine the plant until it's been treated. Problems spread more quickly among indoor plants than in the garden. Give dibs to your favorite plants, the ones you've been coddling for years, like a bay tree, anything you've trained into a standard and sentimental favorites. If the plant would look good as a house plant, bring it in and use it as one. Many people have the light to successfully winter geraniums and begonias in full bloom. Some tender perennials like a period of dormancy in winter. You can winter over potted lavender and rosemary in your garage. If the temperature doesn't go below 20 degrees F. or above 40 degrees F. they won't freeze, but will stay dormant. Just don't let the pots dry out. If you have the room, consider bringing in some small pepper or tomato plants. These are actually tropical perennials and given enough light, will continue to produce fruits all winter. Tomatoes need a large pot. You'll have more success growing a compact, patio variety. Cherry tomatoes and small-fruited peppers like chilies or cherry varieties will fruit easiest and give you a higher yield. Be realistic about space and available light. You can always start cuttings. Cuttings take up much less space.

Give your outdoor plants time to acclimate to being house plants. Bring them indoors while the windows are still open. They'll adjust to the change in temperature and humidity more easily if the change is gradual, rather than waiting until a frost is expected and then bringing the plants into a dry, heated home.

Signs of Cabbage Worms

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Garden Magzines - Top Picks

Gardening magazines are monthly garden inspiration. They tell us about new plants, garden design ideas and gardening techniques. While gardening books are like old friends, garden magazines offer endless new gardening possibilities.

Here are my picks for the top gardening magazines.

This magazine is a wonderful mix of maticulously cared for private gardens and articles about what's new. My favorite feature is at the end of each garden profile, when the owners share their knowledge and tips. Whether you lust after the look of an English garden or just want to hear from some of the most entusiastic gardens out there, each issue is a treasure.

If you only read one gardening magazine, I recommend Fine Gardening. They just seem to know what's important at the moment. There are regional departments and the writers come from all over and all aspects of gardening.

Garden Gate has no advertisements, just lots of colorful pages of gardening how-to and tips. They have regular features like: Before & After, Design Challenge, Container Recipe and Weed Watch. Garden Gate always offers something new to learn, while providing plenty of eye candy.

Sunset is not exclusively a gardening magazine, but since they set the standard for western hardiness zones and have produced such a wonderful library of western gardening books, they are often the first source turned to by western gardeners. Non-westerners could learn a thing or two from Sunset about upcoming trends, too.

Most gardeners enjoy attracting birds to their gardens and Birds & Blooms combines the two interests into one magazine. Their are tips on plants for attracting particular birds, education for those of us who can't identify all the birds that come to our gardens, crafts and projects and lots and lots of photos.

Colorado Potato Beetle

The Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is native to North America. The CPB was originally a western pest, hence its name, but it moved east with potato crops. It feeds on the leaves of the potato plant and can completely defoliate an entire crop, if left uncontrolled. Although potatoes are its favorite food, it will also feed on eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, tabacco petunias and sometimes even cabbage.
It is the larva of the Colorado Potato Beetle that does the damage to vegetable plants. The larva feed on the leaves of host plants, weakening and eventually killing the plant, if not treated.

The adult CPB overwinters about a foot below the soil surface. The adults emerge in late spring, find a nice potato patch or garden, mate and lay their eggs on the undersides of leaves. In cold climates, there is only one Colorado potato beetle generation per year. In warmer areas there can be up to three generations. A single female beetle can lay up to 500 eggs.

The best control of Colorado Potato Beetle comes from keeping them out in the first place. Mulching with wheat or rye straw seems to hinder the beetle’s ability to find potato plantings and it has the added advantage of being an attraction for CPB predetors like lady beetles and green lacewings. Cover susceptible crops with a floating row cover in late spring will protect the plants from egg laying female CPB. If you have a small garden or crop, you can monitor the undersides of leaves and scrap off or squish CPB eggs when they first appear. Rotating your affected crops can help lessen the population of CPB, but it won’t get rid of them entirely.

Hardy Annual

Pansies are one of the first flowers you think of as a hardy annual. But are they annuals?

Photo: © Marie Iannotti

Most gardeners think of a hardy plant as one that will survive cold winters. Hardy annual seems like an oxymoron, but the term, along with half-hardy annual and tender annual, are actually distinctions used in England to classify the relative cold tolerance of newly planted annual seeds. In the U.S., we’ve taken to applying the terms to plants, as well. That is often the case, but not always. And then again, sometimes the terms overlap. They’ve become a gray area, but this is what the terms were originally meant to define:

Seeds: Hardy annual seeds can handle being frozen in the soil and are often planted in fall or early spring. Most self-seeding annuals would be considered hardy seeds. For example: Alyssum, Dianthus and Viola. Plants: Hardy annual plants can handle a slight freeze and are good choices for early fall and late spring planting. Sustained freezing temperatures or a really good dip in temperature will do them in. Hardy annual plants will fair better if planted in the ground, rather than containers and plants that have had time to adjust to increasingly cold weather will be hardier than those that suddenly encounter it. Seeds: Half-hardy seeds can be direct sown after all danger of frost. They don’t like being frozen in the ground, but don’t need to wait until the soil warms. Sometimes it’s just easier to start these seeds indoors and move them out as plants. Examples of half-hardy annuals include: Comsos, Gazania and Petunias. Plants: Half-hardy annual plants can survive a couple of brushes with chilly night temperatures (35 - 45 degrees F.) and light frost, but anything colder will turn them to mush. Just like hardy annuals, the longer they’ve had to get used to the changing temperature, the hardier they’re likely to be. Most so called tender annuals are really tropical perennials. Tender annuals would include: Begonias, Impatiens and Zinnia (a true annual). Seeds: Don’t plant outdoors until the soil warms and nigh time temperatures are reliably well above freezing. Plants: Tender annuals can’t handle anything colder than about 55 degrees F.

As with all things gardening, there are no absolutes. Some plants will surprise you, for better or worse. When in doubt, it’s always a good thing to protect your susceptible plants with a row cover, at night.

What is a Biennial Plant?

 

Making Hypertufa

Hypertufa planters are a wonderful way to bring the look of stone into your garden, without the weight. Hypertufa is easy to make yourself at home. Although it can be messy, it’s also a lot of fun. Here are some basic recipes and some creative suggestions for hypertufa toughs and garden decorations.

Lettuce

Lettuce crops (Lactuca sativa) have been growing in popularity over recent years and for good reason: Lettuce is one of those crops whose fresh picked taste simply can’t be equaled by anything you can buy at the grocers. Most lettuce varieties are not yet grown commercially in any quantity . Greens don’t travel or store well. No store could possibly stock the amount of lettuce varieties you have available to grow. Greens are relatively easy to grow. Greens are high in mineral, vitamin and fiber content. It is cheaper to grow your own lettuce than pay premium prices for gourmet greens. Lettuce is a cool season crop and consequently is best grown in either spring or fall. However, lettuce likes a temperature around 70o to germinate, so early plantings should be started as plugs. Lettuce seeds need light to germinate. Just barely cover the seed with soil. After a couple of weeks check to see if the roots have branched out to the sides of the plug. If so, they are hardy enough to go in the ground. Don’t let the seedlings get too large before placing them out. If you have fertile soil, you shouldn’t need to feed lettuce plants, unless you plant the “cut and come again” varieties all summer. This is one crop where extra nitrogen can’t hurt, since all you want from the plant is leaf. Well-rotted manure or compost is ideal. The plants will need regular watering, as lettuce tends to have a shallow root system. Don’t keep the area damp or use mulch or you will be inviting slugs. A lettuce crop is ideal for the intensive gardening method which is getting a lot of attention lately, because it matures rapidly, can be planted quite closely and can be planted in succession if you choose seasonal varieties. Lettuce can even be grown in containers or used as a decorative border. If your lettuce looks like it’s about to bolt, pull it out of the ground, roots and all, and replant. This shock to its system will slow its growth. Keep well watered. For the longest harvest, direct seed or transplant every 7-10 days. When direct seeding, seeds can either be broadcast and planted in wide rows or spaced 8-12" apart. Spacing is best if you want it to mature into heads. If you are going for heads, be sure to harvest before the head starts to elongate. That means it’s ready to bolt and the flavor will suffer. And be forewarned, maturing to a head takes time and therefore makes it more difficult to grow without bolting than the looseleaf varieties.

Here's more on lettuce varieties.

Honorable Mention - Brandywine Success

Scotty: Tomatoes are called the queen of the garden and the heirloom 'Brandywine' is considered one of the best, if not the best tasting of them all. Very nice looking tomatoes. Well done, David.

Marie: This photo and David's comment that "Here are my Brandywine Tomatoes. They are very tasty and beautiful looking. Drought here in Southern region made it hard to produce more. I got 7 tomatoes on one plant and 10 on other one. Cherry tomatoes are doing great, it seems that they like the heat.", show just how tenacious a vegetable gardener has to be. We don't get do-overs. We're still thrilled to get 1 decent 'Brandywine' - or in David's case 17 beautiful 'Brandywines'.

Congratulations, David!

Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpu

Is it a wildflower? An herb? A perennial? Yes. Eupatorium purpureum may go by the common name 'Joe-Pye Weed', but it's a prized, late blooming perennial plant. You may see the species Joe-Pye Weed growing along the roadside, which can be an enthusiastic spreader. Newer varieties are better behaved. There are tall versions, dwarfs, some with darker foliage and some with white flower heads instead of the familiar mauve.

Named after a Native American herbalist, Joe-Pye Weed was used to lower fevers. Most gardeners now use it to attract birds and butterflies and for its tall, stately grace at the end of the season.

Eupatorium purpureum is an herbaceous perennial native to much of the U.S.

Leaves: The lance-shaped leaves grow in whorls around the stem. The otherwise green stem is purple where the leaves attach. Leaves reach about 6" in length and are usually serrated along the edges. In some areas, crushed leaves give off a slight vanilla scent.

Flowers: The compound flowers are composed of 5-8 florets and bracts in dusty rose to mauve, giving the appearance of large clusters. The corolla of each floret is tubular, making them popular with hummingbirds.

Joe-Pye Weed is usually reserved for the back of a border, partly because it can get so tall, but also because it blooms late in the season. It can hide out behind earlier bloomers until ready. With it's large flowers, Joe-Pye can become top heavy and flop over. Planting it behind a sturdier plant for support it is a good idea.

It's height adds an architectural element to a billowy cottage style planting. Contrast it with golden Rudbeckia and Solidago, for an instant autumn scene.

Joe-Pye Weed does best in slightly damp soil. It’s wonderful planted along side ponds and streams, but can get out of hand.

Soil: Eupatorium purpurea tolerates most soil pH. It’s more particular about having adequate moisture.

Planting: Many varieties can be sown from seed. In fact, you’ll probably get more than enough volunteers. If you choose to start your own seed, it helps to stratify the seeds before planting indoors. You could also direct seed in the garden, in fall.

Container grown cultivated varieties can be found in most garden centers and catalogs. Plant at the same depth as in the container. Water well at planting time and keep watered until established.

Joe-Pye Weed shouldn’t need much in the way of fertilizer, if planted in a somewhat rich soil, like a woodland edge.

Keep well watered. Don’t let the soil remain dry for longer than a few days, especially during hot temperatures.

You can keep your Joe-Pye plants shorter by cutting the stems back by half, in June. Cut back to just above a whorl of leaves.

Each spring, cut the plants back hard, to about 4-8".

Joe-Pye Weed is not usually bothered by pests or diseases. The biggest problem growing Joe-Pye Weed is keeping it from getting dry. The leaf edges will scorch if the soil is allowed to remain dry for too long. Too much strong sun will tend to yellow the whole leaf.

If grown in a damp area, snails and slugs can be a problem. In rainy seasons, fungus diseases like rust and leaf spot, may affect the foliage.

Gardening Websites

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Plants for a Small Garden

Garden Size: Obviously the smaller the garden space, the less plants you can have in it. This is especially true if you choose to use a large, focal point plant. A small space will look cluttered fast if there is too much diversity. Just think of how your home feels when toys and clothes are strewn all over the place.

Color Preferences: Limit your plant choices to 2-3 colors., maybe even only 2-3 different types of plants. If you start by selecting only 3 different plants. You’ll probably want at least 3 of each, so that’s already 9 plants. Play with positioning them in the space and take it from there. You can always add more.

Quantity: How many of each plant depends upon the size of the space and the width or spread of the plant. There are two schools of thought about how densely to plant a new garden. If you want your garden to look mature and full its first year, you will need to space young plants more closely or buy larger plants. You will get an immediate impact, but you will also need to begin dividing sooner. If you have the patience to allow your garden to fill in slowly, you can leave room for the plants to grow into their new home and fill in temporarily with annuals.

Average Spacing Guidelines 6- 12" spread - 2 plants per sq. ft. 12 - 24" spread - 1 plant per sq. ft. Larger than 24" spread - 1 plant per 2 sq. feet

Texture & Form: Unlike color, you will want some variety in texture and form, to give the garden depth. And with only a handful of plants, look for plants with long lasting appeal. Great foliage, perhaps variegated, colored or lacy, and a long season of bloom. You may be able to get away with a sequence of bloom if you include spring bulbs.

There really is no final choice, since gardens are never finished, but try to be as realistic as you can. Sketching it out on graph paper first, can help you to visualize how your garden will look. This may be the best route to go, but many gardens would never get planted if we waited until we felt things were perfect and it can be hard for a new gardener to equate what's on paper with reality. Sometimes you just have to get started. You'll learn as you go.

Just make sure that most of your plant choices fit of the criteria you've outlined and the growing conditions you have to offer. Try not to squeeze in too many different plants and you're small space garden should look and grow just fine.

Growing Hibiscus acetosella

Hibiscus is a large genus of over 200 shrubs, trees, annuals and perennials. Many can appear tropical and exotic with colorful, sometimes plate-sized flowers. Hibiscus acetosella is a short-lived sub-shrub or woody perennial, grown mainly for its foliage, which can come in stunning shades of copper and burgundy that rival red maples. The flowers and leaves are edible, with a pleasant tart taste.Hibiscus acetosella is a somewhat upright shrubby plant that has recently become popular with plant breeders.

Foliage: The leaves can be ovate or lobed, but the newer varieties have been bred to have deeply lobed, finely cut leaves like Japanese maples. You’ll find shades of green with red veining through to a deep burgundy.

Flowers: Typical Hibiscus funnel shaped flowers in yellow and red. The flowers are incidental on Hibiscus acetosella and some of the newer cultivars don’t flower at all.

Form: Although Hibiscus acetosella is an upright grower, mature plants can split and flop.

Hibiscus acetosella are fairly low maintenance. Their biggest need is water. Keep the plants moist, but don’t allow them to sit in wet soil. Container plants will need daily watering.

Fertilize monthly to bi-monthly during the summer, with any balanced fertilizer. Don’t over-feed container plants, unless you have a larger container to move them to.

Pruning is not required, but can be done to shape or control the size of your plant. Branches that grow fast and long will tend to arch and open the center of the plant. Some pruning helps this Hibiscus to maintain a bushy shape. Wind can also take its toll on long branches.

Overwinter indoors, where Hibiscus acetosella is not hardy. You can also take small cuttings in the fall, to overwinter for next spring.

Japanese Beetles will skeletonize the leaves.

Chardonnay Pearls® Deutzia (Deutzia gracilis 'Duncan' pp#16,098)

According to Danielle, "You always have your favorites even though we introduce more and more shrubs every year. Many of the varieties have a fragrance element that I feel is mandatory in any garden (Clethra, Abelia, Koreanspice) through out all the seasons. Others just really blow you away with their bloom performance. Chardonnay Pearls, Limelight and Wine & Roses are all plants that you will never forgot about once you have seen them in flower. The memory of them in bloom will be permanently burned into brain. It is truly a jaw dropping experience. Black Lace and My Monet are revolutionary advances in the world of horticulture. These varieties have created a whole new look for their category (genera). Similar to fashion, it is like when non-tapered jeans become the fashion and tapered and stone washed were out. Black Lace was the first fine cutleaf Sambucus to ever be introduced that is similar to a Japanese Maple look, but sold for less money. My Monet is the first dwarf, variegated Weigela to ever be introduced and it has the flower power of that of Wine & Roses. All are excellent performers in both of our gardens and like I said before you just always have your favorites."

The first favorite is Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls'. Chardonnay for its soft lime-yellow foliage. Pearls for the white, bead-like buds that open to star shaped flowers in spring. A compact, colorful accent for both borders and containers. The yellow foliage brings complements nearby purple foliage and flowers. USDA Zones: 5 - 7 Height: 20 -36", Spacing: 20 - 25" Exposure: Full - Partial Sun Bloom Season: Late Spring Flower Color: White Foliage: Lime Green / Yellow Growing Tips: Prefers well-drained, moist soil. Prune after flowers fade, in the spring. Notes: Deer Resistant. Fragrant flowers are popular with butterflies

Full Sun Means Full Flowering and Ongoing Color

Full sun opens the doors to a full spectrum of plant material. The sunny border design illustrated here runs 24' long and is about 6' deep. It would look lovely against a fence or in front of a hedge. The colors here are minimal, mostly shades of purple and yellow. They can be intensified with stronger hued varieties are by adding more hot colored flowers, like orange daylilies or red phlox.

Most of the plants are suitable for a range of hardiness zones, but alternatives are listed. Specifics about each plant follow on successive pages. Buddleia davidii 'Potters Purple' Phlox paniculata 'The King' Aster novae-angliae (New England Aster) 'Purple Dome' Heliopsis helianthoides (Sunflower heliopsis, False Sunflower) 'Golden Plume' Hemerocallis (Daylily) 'Hyperion' Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower) 'Vintage Wine' Sedum 'Autumn Joy' Achillea filipendulina 'Coronation Gold' Perovskia (Russian Sage) 'Blue Spires' Liatris spicata (Blazing Star) 'Kobold' Coreopsis verticillata (Tickseed, Threadleaf Coreopsis) 'Moonbeam'

Seed Starting Mix Recipe

If you want seedlings that not only grow, but absolutely thrive, this easy mix is for you. The problem with most pre-mixed bags of seed starting medium is that they are peat based (not the best option if you're concerned about the environment) and contain little, if any, nutrition for your growing seedlings. Traditional wisdom says to transplant your seedlings as soon as their first true leaves appear, but who wants to keep messing with seedlings, transplanting more than you have to? Forget it. This soil-less mix contains everything you need to not only get your seedlings off on a good start, but also to keep them growing strong and sturdy.

Basic Seed Starting Mix

3 parts** peat or coir (coir is preferable if you can get it)3 parts vermicompost (your own or purchased from a garden center or other supplier) 1 part perlite1/2 part greensand

Mix the first three ingredients together, then sprinkle the greensand into the mix and combine. This ensures that the greensand is evenly distributed throughout the mix.

What Makes This Mix So Great?

Let's break it down by ingredient:

Peat or coir provides the base for the mix and gives the seedlings something fine yet sturdy -- perfect for encouraging strong root growth. It also retains moisture well, as long as you don't let it dry out. (It can be a real pain to re-hydrate peat and coir once you've let them dry out.)

Vermicompost provides excellent nutrition for your growing seedlings, which they'll need once they have their first true set of leaves. The seed has everything it needs to germinate and send up a stem and cotyledons, but after that point, it will require outside nutrition to keep the seedling growing strong.

Perlite keeps the mix from getting too dense, and provides aeration to the mix.

Greensand is an excellent source of potash, which is essential for overall plant health and strong growth.

**Note: one "part" can be anything you want: a cup, a bucket, a shovelful, whatever. The point is to keep the proportions fairly close to the recipe.

Rose Companion Plants

A monoculture of roses, while pretty, is an invitation for pests.

Jason Riedy, Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License

The best companion plants for roses are those that share the same care requirements (in terms of light, moisture, and fertility) and also help the roses grow better. In some cases, companion plants may deter insect pests or make them less vulnerable to diseases. In others, they attract beneficial insects that will eat insect pests. Here are the most common rose companion plants.

Great Companion Plants for Roses - Members of the Allium Family

All members of the onion family are useful companions for roses. They deter aphids and other pests by confusing them with their strong scent. They also help roses combat black spot. While garlic and chives are most commonly recommended, ornamental alliums can also be used, and you get the bonus of beautiful flowers in addition to pest and disease deterrence.

GarlicChivesOrnamental AlliumsLeeks

Herbal Companions for Roses

Much like alliums, above, certain herbs help roses deter pests (most notably, aphids). The herbs below are the ones that work best with roses. There are several varieties of scented geranium, and they seem to all work equally well as companion plants for roses.

Flower Companions for Roses

Many flowers make attractive additions to a rose garden, and, if they have the same light, moisture, and fertility requirements, can be planted quite successfully near roses. The flowering plants listed below, however, also provide protection against pests and diseases.

Lavender - helps deter rabbits.Yarrow - attracts ladybugs, which will then eat any nearby aphids.Marigolds - deter pests, help encourage strong plant growth.

Frost Date Chart

The chart below shows the last and first frost dates for each USDA Hardiness Zone. This information is useful both in terms of knowing when to sow seeds as well as figuring out how late in the season you can plant perennials, trees, and shrubs.

Please note that the dates on this chart are approximate. Most years, the first and last frost will fall within two weeks of the date on the chart, but some years, we get a very early frost or a late snow storm that throws the dates off. Use your discretion (and your local weather forecast!) along with this chart to plan your seed starting and planting.

January 31st (sometimes earlier)

Iris Borers

 Iris borer, in its larval stage, which does the most damage to plants.

Courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder www.mobot.orgIris borer, Macronoctua onusta Iris borer moths lay their eggs on the foliage of irises in late summer and early fall. The eggs overwinter on old foliage, and emerge in the spring as tiny caterpillars that tunnel into the newly emerging foliage. Throughout the summer, they they tunnel their way down to the rhizome, growing to about two inches long. By the time they are fully grown, they start tunneling into the rhizome. Once they are ready to pupate, they leave the rhizome to dig into the surrounding soil. In late summer, they emerge as moths, and the cycle begins anew.The first signs of iris borer damage are difficult to recognize unless you know what to look for. Tunneling through the foliage that looks waterlogged is a sure sign of iris borers. If the tips of the foliage turn yellow, and then start to look dead, that's another sign. And, if the base of the stalk has become yellowish-brown and mushy, and has a sickly odor, they have gotten into the rhizome and rot has set in. If you are digging irises to divide or move them, you may notice holes in rhizomes as well.In some cases, the plant will, surprisingly, live on if rot hasn't set in. Most likely, it will bloom less, or not at all. In many cases, however, we aren't as lucky and the caterpillars cause so much damage that the rhizome rots completely. Monitor your plants closely throughout April and May. If you begin to see signs of tunneling, prune off the affected foliage below where the damage occurs. The caterpillar, still quite small, will be trapped inside the section you've removed, and you can destroy. If you are noticing rot at the base of the stalk, dig up the rhizomes to inspect them. If you see tunneling into the rhizome, but are unsure whether or not the borer is still inside, soak the rhizome in water. The borer will drown. Inspect the rhizome. If the damage isn't too bad, cut away the damaged areas, let the cut dry for several hours, and replant. The key here is tidiness. If there is no leftover foliage in which the eggs can overwinter, there will likely be no caterpillars to contend with. Always remove old stalks and foliage after the plants are hit with a frost. If iris borer is a persistent problem, consider planting resistant varieties. While iris borer can attack any type of irises, it is less likely to bother with siberian irises, because the rhizomes are planted deeper in the soil.

Seed Starting Equipment

There are several good reasons to start your own plants from seed. You have a wider range of varieties open to you than you would have if you purchased plants from your local nursery. It's much more economical. For the price of one plant you can buy a few packets of seed, resulting in dozens (and up to hundreds) of plants. And, it's fun. There's nothing quite as rewarding as watching a seed sprout and grow, and eventually produce beautiful blooms or delicious vegetables.

However, there are a few things you need to be successful with indoor seed starting. None of these items are expensive, and many of them can be used year after year.

Lights: The best lights for your indoor seed starting set up are the shop lights that you can find in any home center or hardware store. These are the four-foot long lights that you hang from the ceiling or a shelf with chains. They are very inexpensive, and are a good choice because you can fit a couple of flats (or several individual pots) under each light. Even more importantly, you can adjust the height of your lights over the seedlings. This is important because your lights should always be two to three inches above the tops of your seedlings. This will ensure that they get enough light and you won't end up with thin, scraggly seedlings. The chains make it easy to keep adjusting your lights during the weeks that your plants live indoors.

Seed Starting Mix: The key in growing successful seedlings is the same as the key in growing successful garden plants, and that is good quality growing medium. In the case of seeds, you need to start with a sterile, soil-free mix. There are several good bagged products that are composed of sphagnum peat and perlite. You can also make your own mix, which is a good option if you are doing a lot of seed sowing. Do not use garden soil, and potting soil is not a good option either. Garden soil is far too heavy and contains pathogens that can result in poor health or death for your seedlings. Potting soil can also contain pathogens, but, depending on the brand, can also be too heavy or contain items like sticks and pebbles. Some even contain chemicals that inhibit germination. A sterile, soil-less mix is what you need.

Containers to Sow In: There is a huge variety of containers that you can choose from when you decide to start from seed. You can use plastic or pressed peat flats for starting a large number of seeds that you will prick out and transplant later. You can buy plastic cell packs, which many of us are familiar with. You can buy individual peat pots or peat pellets, which you put in the ground along with the plant. You can even use recycled materials from around the house, such as individual yogurt cups, egg cartons, or milk cartons. What you use will depend on both your budget and what types of seed you are working with. Each type of container has its strengths and weaknesses, and it seems that every gardener has their own favorite kind of container to start seed in.

Plastic Bags or Covered Trays: When you first plant your seeds, they will need a period of high humidity and even moisture to ensure germination. The best way to guarantee that the soil stays moist is to cover your flat or pot with clear plastic, creating a miniature greenhouse. You can buy kits at the home center or nursery that consist of a bottom tray and clear plastic dome for this purpose, and these are very convenient. You can also buy large zipper bags and place your pots or small flats inside, keeping the plastic away from the soil so it doesn't impede germination.

Misting Bottle and Watering Can or Shallow Tray for Bottom Watering: Watering is a tricky proposition when you first plant your seeds. If the flow of water is too heavy, your seeds will float away or end up in corners of your flats or pots instead of in the center. Your best options early on are to either mist each container well, or to set the entire container in a pan of water for bottom watering. Once your plants have developed roots, a standard watering can will work fine. One with a "rose" attachment is even better.

Plant Markers: You'll need to keep track of what you planted, and plastic or wooden plant markers or tags are the best option for this purpose.

Larger Containers for Transplants: If you are growing large plants like tomatoes, you may need to pot them up into larger containers before they're ready to plant out into the garden.

Fish Emulsion: Once your plants develop their first true set of leaves, they'll need to be fertilized. The soil-less mix you started the seeds in doesn't offer any nourishment to your plants. Once every two weeks, water your seedlings with fish emulsion, which has been diluted by ? of its normal recommended dosage.

Seeds: The fresher the better, but if they are a year or two old just sow extras in case they don't all germinate.

Other Options: There are a few other items that can make your seed starting set up work easier or more effectively. Other items you might want to add are a timer for the lights (so you won't forget to turn them on or off), a fan to increase air flow and help prevent fungal diseases, and a heat mat for heat-loving seedlings like peppers and eggplants. With these inexpensive items, you can ensure that your plants will get off to a great start.

What is Organic Gardening?

Organic gardening has been described as several things: chemical-free gardening, Earth-friendly gardening, natural gardening are just a few. And it is all of these things, but these phrases tend to be so ambiguous they end up causing confusion. For example, “chemical-free gardening” is a total misnomer, because whether you are using organic or synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in your garden, they are all “chemicals.” “Natural gardening” espouses images of weeds run rampant and hornworm-infested tomato plants. “Earth-friendly” gardening works, except that everyone has a different view of what they consider to be “friendly” to the planet.

So, to try to narrow it down, organic gardening consists of three main tenets: Feed the soil.Focus on prevention.Use the simplest solution first.

The soil is the basis for everything that grows in our gardens. If the soil is nutrient-weak, compacted, or devoid of beneficial microorganisms, it will not support healthy plants. You can try to “fix” it with fertilizers, but it will never grow as well as a plant grown in healthy, rich, crumbly soil. By feeding the soil, you provide plants with a good foundation for healthy growth. Plants that are healthy are less likely to be bothered by pest and disease problems.

So, how do you feed the soil? By adding organic soil amendments, such as compost, manure, chopped leaves, and mulches in and onto the surface of the soil. A soil test will inform you of any mineral deficiencies, and explain how to remedy the situation.

There are several things you can do to help your plants thrive, which will limit their susceptibility to pest and disease problems. Pay attention to the plants' light, moisture, and soil preferences. Match the plant to the right site, and it will grow more robustly and be better able to resist pest and disease issues.Give your plants some breathing room. Fungal diseases run rampant when plants are planted too closely. Susceptible plants, such as lilacs, monarda, phlox, and roses should be given a site with plenty of space for air to circulate around the foliage.Purchase and plant disease-resistant varieties. Maintain a clean garden. Remove diseased foliage from the area. Pick up fallen fruit. Pay attention to pruning; powdery mildew and blackspot can be thwarted by opening up the plant and cutting back diseased or weak stems. Observe, observe, observe. If you catch a problem at the beginning, such as a case of blackspot or an aphid infestation, you can nip it in the bud right away and be done with it. It is much easier to deal with it in its early stages than having to fight off a full infestation. Check your garden regularly, daily if possible, to watch for problems.

When you see the arsenals of lawn and garden chemical available at your local home center, it seems so simple: if you have a problem with aphids, buy a chemical to kill them. But the fact of the matter is that taking care of most garden problems is simple, and requires much less drastic measures than drenching your garden with chemicals. For example, the first course of action when one notices aphids in the garden should be to try to spray them off your plants with water from the hose. Usually, this will solve the problem. The next option, if the water isn't enough, would be to concoct a simple, natural, home-made spray to treat the problem. Very, very rarely will a problem actually require a chemical spray. The most effective option, especially in terms of beetles and caterpillars, is to regularly pick them off with your hands and kill them. This is tied to the previous point; by regularly observing your garden, you'll be able to head off problems before they become a big deal.

Organic gardening is not difficult, and it isn't complicated. What it requires is an observant eye, an appreciation of all of the creatures that live in your garden, and the determination to deal with problems as they arise. And, think about it: it's much more pleasant to stroll through the garden, picking an occasional cabbage worm off of the kale, than to suit up in protective gear and start spraying insecticides.

Costoluto Genovese

"Costoluto Genovese." The name just sings of rich sauces, rolling off the tongue with a fullness that perfectly matches this tomato's flavor. Haling from Italy, where it is the favorite tomato for sauces and concentrates, the Costoluto Genovese dates back to before the nineteenth century.

It is an attractive tomato, with ruffled, round eight to ten ounce fruits that have a slightly flattened shape. The skin and flesh of this tomato is deep cherry red. Costoluto Genovese has a Brix rating of 5, well balanced with a bit of acidity, which makes it a great tomato for sauces or pastes. Surprisingly, it is also a fairly good tomato for fresh eating; very tasty sliced onto a sandwich.

Costoluto Genovese is an indeterminate variety, producing fairly regularly and providing a fairly early crop.

How to Grow Turnips

Turnips are easy to overlook when planning your vegetable garden. They're not flashy, like tomatoes. They're not exuberant, like squashes, with all of their vining and blooming. No, turnips are quiet, respectful little plants that pretty much keep to themselves and avoid causing the gardener too much trouble.

So, why don't more people consider them a "must," the way we do tomatoes? I think it's mostly because turnips are misunderstood. I mean, what do you do with the turnips once you grow them? And do they even taste good? We'll get to that, but first let's take a look at what they are and how to grow turnips in your organic garden.

Turnips are root vegetables, and part of the mustard family of plants. They are related to radishes, arugula, and rutabagas. They are generally harvested in the spring and fall. The entire plant is edible; the root can be eaten raw or cooked, and the greens can be eaten like any other leafy green. They are high in vitamin C, vitamin A, and fiber.

Turnips are easy to grow from seed sown directly in your garden. Plant the seeds four to six inches apart in soil that is loose and well-drained. They require very little care other than regular watering to prevent the roots from getting tough and woody. Cabbage worms can be a problem, so check for signs of them often during peak season, usually late spring. Look for tell-tale holes chewed into the foliage, and scour the foliage regularly for the small green worms. Remove them when you see them by hand-picking and dropping them into a cup of soapy water. If you're seeing a large infestation, you can treat your plants with Bt to take care of the worms.

Turnips should be harvested small. They have the best, mildest flavor when they are about two inches in diameter. If left to get larger, they can become rather woody and unpleasant. The greens should be harvested young as well, a few from each plant if you want to be able to harvest the turnips later on.

You'll find several ideas for how to prepare turnips from the About.com Food and Cooking Guides linked below this article. It really is a useful vegetable, adaptable to a wide range of recipes.

So, when you're planning your spring or fall garden, give turnips a chance. They're pretty, they're good for you, and (best of all) they are really easy to grow.

Tips for Raised Bed Gardening

Raised beds are great: the soil in them warms and dries out earlier in the spring than regular garden beds, so you can get planting sooner. They allow us to garden without fighting stones and roots, and the soil in them stays perfectly fluffy, since it doesn't get walked on.

Of course, there are a few drawbacks: in hot dry weather, raised beds tend to dry out quickly. Roots from nearby trees will eventually find their way into your nice, nutrient-dense soil. Roaming cats may find the nice, fluffy soil attractive for their own reasons. But these few drawbacks are easy to avoid with a little planning and prevention.

Ten Tips for Raised Bed Gardening

Don't ever -- ever! -- walk on the soil.

The biggest advantage of raised bed gardening is the light, fluffy, absolutely perfect soil you're able to work with as a result. When you build your raised beds, build them so that you're able to reach every part of the bed without having to stand in it. If you already have a raised bed, and find that you have to walk on parts of it, consider installing strategically-placed patio pavers or boards, and only step on that rather than on the soil.

Mulch after planting.

Mulch with straw, grass clippings, leaves, or wood chips after planting your garden. This will reduce the amount of weeding you'll have to do and keep the soil moist.

Plan your irrigation system.

Two of the best ways to irrigate a raised bed are by soaker hose and drip irrigation. If you plant it ahead of time, and install your irrigation system before planting, you can save yourself a lot of work and standing around with a hose later on.

Install a barrier to roots and weeds.

If you have large trees in the area, or just want to ensure that you won't have to deal with weeds growing up through your perfect soil, consider installing a barrier at the bottom of the bed. This could be a commercial weed barrier, a piece of old carpet, or a thick piece of corrugated cardboard. If you have an existing raised bed and find that you're battling tree roots every year, you may have to excavate the soil, install the barrier, and refill with the soil. It's a bit of work, but it will save you tons of work later on.

Topdress annually with compost.

Gardening in a raised bed is, essentially, like gardening in a really, really large container. As with any container garden, the soil will settle and get depleted as time goes on. You can mitigate this by adding a one to two inch layer of compost or composted manure each spring before you start planting.

Fluff the soil with a garden fork as needed.

To lighten compacted soil in your raised bed, simply stick a garden fork as deeply into the soil as possible, and wiggle it back and forth. Do that at eight to twelve inch intervals all over the bed, and your soil will be nicely loosened without a lot of backbreaking work.

Cover up your soil, even when you're not gardening.

Add a layer of organic mulch or plant a cover crop (read more about that below) at the end of your growing season. Soil that is exposed to harsh winter weather breaks down and compacts much faster than protected soil.

Plant annual cover crops.

Annual cover crops, such as annual rye grass, crimson clover, and hairy vetch, planted at the end of the growing season, will provide many benefits to your raised bed garden. They provide nutrients to the soil (especially if you dig them into the bed in spring), reduce erosion, and (in the cas of vetch and clover) fix nitrogen in your soil.

Think ahead to extend the season.

A little planning up front can enable you to grow earlier in the season or extend your growing season well into the fall. Consider installing supports for a simple low tunnel or cold frame, and you'll have minimal work when you need to protect your crops from frost!

Consider composting directly in your raised bed garden.

Worm tubes, trench composting, and dig-and-drop composting are all methods you can use to compost directly in your raised bed garden. You'll be able to enrich your soil without ever having to turn a compost pile.

Lasagna Garden Ingredients

Lasagna gardening (or sheet composting) is an efficient, easy method for making a new garden bed. To make a lasagna garden, organic matter is added in layers (hence the term "lasagna garden," coined by garden writer Patricia Lanza in her great book on the subject) wherever you want a new garden bed. The layers break down over time, and you are left with a nutrient-rich, fluffy soil in which to grow your flowers, herbs or vegetables.

The best way to build a lasagna garden is to alternate layers of "brown" (carbon-rich) materials with "green" (nitrogen-rich) materials.

Here are some of the best items to put in your lasagna garden, organized by "greens" and "browns":

"Greens" for the Lasagna Garden

Fruit and vegetable scraps Grass clippingsCoffee grounds, tea bags, tea leavesSeaweedWeeds that haven't set seedTrimmings and deadheads from the garden

"Browns" for the Lasagna Garden

Shredded paper, newspaperPine needlesStrawPeat mossFall leaves

It's best to start your lasagna garden with a layer of newspaper at least three sheets thick, moistened so it doesn't blow away. Cover that with peat moss, compost, or manure, then start stacking your other organic materials over that. If you want to plant right away, be sure to add in several layers of compost or peat. If you're building your lasagna garden in fall for spring planting, then this doesn't matter as much because the organic matter in the garden will have plenty of time to break down over the winter, and it will be perfect to plant in.

Growing Organic Lettuce

Water

The most important factor in succeeding with lettuce is meeting its moisture requirements. Because lettuce is shallow rooted and comprised mainly of water (nearly 95% water, actually) it simply will not grow if you let the soil dry out. The roots of lettuce reside in the top three to four inches of soil. If you stick your finger into the soil and the top inch is dry, you need to water. This may require watering several times per week in hot, dry weather.

Fertilization

Fertilization is also important. If you are growing in soil that is full of organic matter, you may not need to fertilize. However, providing your lettuce with nitrogen-rich fertilizer will keep your plant growing well and producing regularly. Fish emulsion is an ideal organic fertilizer for lettuces. Apply the fish emulsion at half of the recommended dosage every two weeks. It is best to apply the diluted fish emulsion directly to the soil. You can use it as a foliar feed as well, but be sure to wash your lettuce really, really well before eating it.

Mulching

As with anything in the garden, lettuces benefit from a good layer of mulch. Install a two to three inch layer of organic mulch, such as wood chips, straw, leaves, or grass clippings around the lettuce, being sure to leave a little space around the plant to prevent rot. This layer of mulch will help retain moisture, keep the soil cool, reduce the amount of weeding you have to do, and keep the lettuce clean by preventing soil from splashing up on the leaves when you water.

Pests

Lettuce is bothered by very few pests and diseases. Slugs are its biggest enemy, and they can be thwarted by setting out a saucer of beer to trap them in, or by sprinkling diatomaceous earth or crushed eggshells around your plants. These sharp substances cut the slugs' underbellies when they slide across it, and kills them.

Aphids can also be a problem. If they are, try knocking them off with a blast of water from the hose or try a homemade spray to get rid of them. Cutworms can also be a problem, and the best way to protect against them is to install a collar made of thick paper or cardboard around the base of any newly-planted lettuce seedlings.

If your pests are of the long-eared, four-footed variety, the best defense is to install a metal fence around the garden, or around the bed in which you are growing your lettuce. You can also try sprinkling cayenne pepper on the plants to deter the rabbits.

Lettuce is easy to grow, as long as you meet its basic requirements. And the benefits of doing so are well worth it: being able to harvest salads full of homegrown, tasty, organic lettuce mere minutes before mealtime is a luxury that you'll appreciate throughout the growing season.

How to Grow Zucchini

Learning how to grow zucchini and other summer squashes in your garden is like buying an insurance policy for your garden. Once you have a couple of thriving squash plants, your garden will provide plenty of delicious, fresh food for your family. In fact, in terms of the amount of food produced per plant, summer squashes are impressive. There's a reason that the stereotype of vegetable gardeners who hand out zucchinis to everyone they know exists, after all. And once you know the basics of growing zucchini, you can be that gardener, too.

What Are Summer Squashes?

Summer squashes, such as zucchini, crookneck squash, pattypan squash, and others, are classified as Curcurbita pepo, as opposed to winter squashes and pumpkins which generally belong to either C. maxima or C. moschata. Members of C. pepo do not store well, unlike their winter squash relatives, so they are absolutely perfect when eaten fresh and young -- baby summer squashes are absolutely delicious, and can be a rather pricey treat unless you grow your own.

Planting Zucchini and Summer Squash

Summer squash is grown very easily from seed. You can either start seeds indoors, three to four weeks before your last frost date, or sow them directly in the garden after all danger of frost has passed. Plant seeds in hills of six seeds, and thin to the three strongest seedlings after they have their first true leaves. Summer squash should be planted in full sun, in rich, well-drained soil that has been amended with compost and manure -- these plants are heavy feeders!

Growing Zucchini and Summer Squash

The two main things you can do to keep your summer squash plants healthy and productive are to provide plenty of water and to fertilize regularly. Water your plants when the top inch of soil is dry (test by poking your finger into the soil) and then, water deeply and gently so the water percolates down into the soil -- this will encourage the plants to send its roots deeper into the soil and they'll be less likely to suffer in hot, dry weather. Side dress your squash plants monthly with compost, composted manure, or vermicompost, and give them a weekly foliar feed of fish emulsion.

Pests and Diseases

Healthy summer squash plants rarely suffer from pest and disease problems, but there are four main issues squash growers seem to face:

All in all, summer squash is easy to grow, and will provide you with a bountiful harvest. Before you know it, you'll be sending friends and relatives home with armfuls of zucchini from your very own garden.

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Besides the luxury of being able to go out my side door daily and harvest my own organic greens, beans, squash, and tomatoes, I love being able to indulge in one of my absolute favorite culinary weaknesses.

I'm speaking, of course, of sun-dried tomatoes.

Of course, the easiest way to do this is to use the power of the sun. Traditionally, you would place your tomatoes between two simple frames constructed from wood and window screening (to keep pests off of them) and put them in a sunny spot to dry over the course of a few days. But if you live in a humid climate (like I do) then what you'll most likely get is a bunch of moldy tomatoes because the humidity prevents them from drying properly. So I rely on my oven to do the work, and the results are delicious.

Step 1: Get yourself some tomatoes, and some fresh basil doesn't hurt either. These are 'Costoluto Genovese' and 'San Marzano' plums, but any tomato will do.

Step 2: Slice the tomatoes. Plum tomatoes work well sliced in half lengthwise. For the 'Costoluto Genovese,' I sliced them about 1/2 inch thick.

Step 3: Arrange them on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper---the tomatoes tend to stick), about 1/2 inch apart. Sprinkle with coarse salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of sugar. If you've got basil (or any other herb you like!) go ahead and sprinkle some of that on, too. Put the tray in the center of a 170 to 200 degree oven. Drying time will take up to twelve hours. Check them regularly. When they look kind of leathery and are no longer exuding any juice, they're done.

Step 4: Remove them from the baking sheet, and let them cool completely on a wire rack. You can put them in a jar with a little olive oil, and keep it in the fridge for up to three weeks. Or you can seal them in any airtight container (don't add olive oil) and store them in the freezer for up to six months.

These dried tomatoes are a delicious treat on pizza, in pasta, or baked into breads. And there's a certain satisfaction in eating tomatoes from your garden on a pizza in the middle of December!

Strawberry Pots

For those gardeners with little space but a hankering for homegrown strawberries, a strawberry pot is the perfect solution. If you're unsure about what a strawberry pot is, they are those urn-shaped pots with a series of small pockets running along the sides. They are generally terracotta, though I've seen them made of glazed pottery as well. You can also find them in a variety of sizes, from very small four-pocket varieties to pots that stand nearly two feet tall and have a plethora of pockets. They can be a bit pricey, but you can often find them on sale in home and garden centers in spring and even on end of season clearance in the fall. Choose a size that matches up with the number of berries you'd like to grow. Keep in mind that a smaller pot will need to be watered much more often than a large one.

There are three types of strawberry plants: June-bearing, ever-bearing, and day-neutral. For a strawberry pot, the best types are the ever-bearing and day-neutral varieties. They will provide you with a regular harvest from late spring until early fall. You'll get higher overall yields from day-neutral varieties.

Planting a strawberry pot is a fairly simple process. Get the pot adequately moist. Terracotta pots will wick all of the water out of your soil unless you moisten them before planting. To do this, simply lay your pot in a tub of water for about an hour. It will soak up water so it won't suck it out of the soil later.Place a piece of window screening or broken flower pot over the drainage hole so the soil doesn't leak out.Fill with soil until you reach the lowest level of pockets. Insert your strawberry plants in these pockets, filling around them with soil. Make sure the crown of the plants is just above soil level.Insert either a one-inch PVC pipe drilled with holes along its length or a cardboard tube from wrapping paper near the center of the pot, but not directly over the drainage hole. You will be using this as a watering pipe to ensure that all of the pockets get adequate moisture.Continue filling to each level of pockets and inserting plants. Stop adding soil when you get to two inches below the rim of the pot. You can add three to four plants in the top of the container, and fill in with soil around them.Water everything in well. Pour water down the tube, on the soil at the top of the pot, and into each pocket (do this slowly so the water doesn't make the soil slosh out.)Place your pot in a spot that gets at least six hours of sun per day.

The type of soil you choose for your strawberry pot should be one that is high in organic matter. Any good, organic potting soil will work. Adding compost, peat, or leaf mold to the mix will make your plants even happier. Also, it's a good idea to mix some blood meal and bone meal into your mix before you plant. These will feed the plant and help them get off to a good start.

Basically, you'll be keeping your plants watered and fed for the remainder of the growing season. Test for moisture by sticking your finger into the potting soil up to your first knuckle. If it is dry, you'll need to water. Strawberries are shallow-rooted plants, and start to slow in fruit production if they are allowed to dry out. Fertilize your plants every other week with a diluted seaweed fertilizer to keep your plants producing. Harvest berries as soon as they are ripe, and remove any rotted fruit or yellowing leaves as you see them.

Strawberries are perennials, and will produce happily for years. If you want to overwinter them in the pot, you'll need to place the entire pot in a sheltered location such as an unheated garage. If you have some ground available to overwinter in, you can dig the plants out of the pot, place them in plastic pots, and bury these pots into the ground with their rims at soil level. Your plants will overwinter beautifully and you can revive them by potting them up with plenty of rich, fresh soil in the spring.

Growing strawberries in a pot is simple and rewarding, and you can do it even if you don't have any yard to speak of.

Decorate, paint, and landscape your way to a more beautiful home.

Storage Container Compost Bin

Maintain your bin.

Every day or so, as you think of it, you can aerate the bin by giving it a quick shake.

If the contents of the bin are staying very wet, or there is an unpleasant odor coming from the bin, you'll need to add some shredded fall leaves, shredded newspaper, or sawdust to the bin. These will dry it out and help restore the ratio of greens to browns that makes compost happen more quickly.

If the contents are very dry, use a spray bottle to moisten the contents, or add plenty of moisture-rich items such as fruits or veggies that are past their prime.

Steps to an Organic Lawn

Organic lawn care is much simpler than it seems. We've grown so used to the idea that a green, attractive lawn is attainable only through the use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides. The fact of the matter is that a healthy organic lawn will naturally withstand weed and insect invasions. All but the toughest weeds are nothing against a thick, strong, deep-rooted lawn. These five steps will result in a healthy, beautiful organic lawn.

Lawns are a bit picky about their pH level and nutrient requirements. The only way to accurately measure these factors is to get your soil tested professionally. For example, lawn grasses need a pH of between six and seven to thrive. You can add either lime or sulfur to your lawn, depending on the results you get, and your lawn will grow much better. The nutrient requirements for lawns are also rather specific: too much of certain types of nutrients will benefit weeds at the cost of lawn health. A professional soil test, performed by a facility such as your local county cooperative extension service, will accurately measure soil pH and chemical composition and supply you with recommendations for how to improve your soil based on their findings.

Adding amendments and additives without getting a soil test first is not only a waste of money, but can also potentially result in a less healthy lawn than the one you started with.

Regardless of what your soil test finds, every single lawn can benefit from a semiannual topdressing of compost. It will add trace minerals and some nutrition to your soil, which is always a good thing. Even more importantly, compost introduces beneficial microbes into the soil, which results in healthier soil that has better water retention rates. Also, earthworms love compost, and will tunnel through your soil to get to it, aerating your soil, adding fertility, and increasing worm populations.

So, how much should you add? A one-quarter inch layer of compost, raked evenly over your lawn, will accomplish all of these tasks without overwhelming your lawn. An easy way to figure out how much compost you'll need is to remember that for each 100 square feet of lawn area, you'll need one cubic foot (or .05 cubic yards) of compost. Simply measure your lawn area (total square footage = lawn length multiplied by lawn width) and divide by 100. Then, multiply that number by 1 (for cubic feet) or .05 (for cubic yards) and you'll know how much compost you'll need.

Mowing high, which is mowing at 2.5 to three inches tall, does several important things. First off, taller grass shades the soil, which helps prevent weed seeds from germinating. It also helps keep the soil moist and cool, so the lawn will require less water. Finally, mowing your grass high will increase its ability to photosynthesize. Each blade of grass soaks up the sunlight and converts that energy into food. The longer the blades of grass are, the more surface area there is to absorb sunlight.

Another beneficial mowing practice is to use a mulching mower, and leave your grass clippings right on the lawn. The clippings will shade and cool the soil while they decompose, and will give your lawn frequent, low doses of nitrogen at the same time.

People waste more water on lawns than anywhere else in the household. The fact of the matter is that lawn grasses need approximately one inch of water per week during the growing season. If it doesn't come from rain, then you'll need to supplement with a sprinkler. Lawns should dry out between waterings. The reason for this is twofold: first, a lawn that is watered frequently and never allowed to dry out only develops roots in the top inch or two of soil. These lawns are especially susceptible to droughts. The second reason is that while lawn grasses grow best when their roots extend deep into the soil, the vast majority of weeds are shallow-rooted. So, by watering frequently and not allowing the soil to dry out, you're actually encouraging weeds.

The best way to ensure that your lawn is getting the proper amount of water is to place a rain gage on your lawn while you're watering. Another good alternative is to place a cup or can out to catch the water, and then measure how deep it is every ten minutes or so until you reach one inch.

A note on watering: water early in the morning so your grass has a chance to dry out before evening. A damp lawn can lead to fungal issues, and that's something we definitely don't want to have to deal with.

Weeds are not the end of the world. No one wants a lawn that is more dandelions than turf grass, but a bit of white clover here and there isn't going to hurt anything, and can even be beneficial. Clover captures nitrogen from the air and releases it through its roots into your soil. In addition, it is a source of food for beneficial insects such as honeybees.

That said, there are several good, organic ways of dealing with weeds in your lawn. The first method is to simply pull or dig out weeds on a regular basis so they don't take over your lawn. This is especially important for weeds like dandelions, which can easily get out of control. The second way is to apply corn gluten meal, which is an organic pre-emergent herbicide, in early spring around when the forsythias bloom. Corn gluten is good at controlling dandelions, crabgrass, and other weeds, but it may take a couple of years of use before the corn gluten gets the situation under control. Another great method is to leave your fallen autumn leaves on the lawn, and simply run over them a few times with the lawnmower. A recent study by Michigan State University demonstrated that chopped leaves (especially maple leaves) left on the lawn and allowed to break down naturally prevented dandelions from germinating the following year.

Organic lawn care isn't hard, and, as you can see, it's not expensive either. By paying attention and changing a few longstanding lawn care habits, a beautiful organic lawn is within every home owner's reach.