A recent trip to Buffalo, New York, makes me wonder if Indianapolis could embrace the idea of whole neighborhoods opening their gardens for tours. For the last 24 years, ...
What’s bugging your plants?
Sometimes veggies that you've grown for several years don't do as well as you expect. A reader wants to know why her squash, melon and peppers are not doing well, even though they ...
New plants to look for next year
As usual, I attended the country’s largest annual horticulture show, Cultivate’17, in Columbus, Ohio, in July. It’s a feast for the eyes for sure, and occasionally taste and scent. ...
Weigela is ready to bloom and bloom in today’s gardens
Many of us probably think of weigela as a plant in our grandparents’ yard. The ones on the market today are nothing like their predecessors. For one thing, plant breeders have ...
Pick your poison, carefully
In the NCIS episode "Viral," McGee tells Bishop to be careful because the area they are investigating (outside Washington, D.C.) is covered with poison oak. In fact, there have ...
Rain and more rain, and a garden, too
A Facebook friend reported that his Muncie, Indiana, garden received 30.1 inches of rain between April 28 and July 6, which he said was 75 percent of his annual rainfall. ...
Bee balms evaluated for mildew resistance and flower power
One of the perennials known to attract pollinators is bee balm (Monarda spp.). A member of the mint family, this aromatic plant attracts and supports at least 14 butterflies and ...
Gift of hydrangeas to adorn museum grounds
Endless Summer may be the best selling series of hydrangeas, but they frequently come with a lot of questions, with the main one being “why won’t my plants bloom?” For answers, ...
With all of this rain, plants can drown
We’ve had a lot of rain. We already know that the rain has promoted fast growth and early blooms on perennials, trees and shrubs. It’s also contributed to disease problems, ...
Indy gardener pots and prunes blog posts into book
Carol Michel has come a long way since I first interviewed her shortly after she won the 2009 Mouse and Trowel Award for MayDreamsGardens.com, voted the best blog by readers from ...