The herbs are coming on and for many of us, we wonder what to do with them. Here are a few suggestions that you may not have thought of for summer fare. A few months back, I read ...
Today’s begonias are not like our grandmothers’ begonias
If your image of begonias is limited to the serviceable (yet pretty) wax-leaf varieties with bronze or green leaves (B. x semperflorens-cultorum), here’s an eye ...
Cicada redux in honor of east coast gardeners
In honor of gardeners in the eastern part of the United States, here’s a Hoosier Gardener column that ran in The Indianapolis Star April 21, 2007 about the emergence of the 17-year ...
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: June 2013
This is the time of year between spring and summer, when a few late spring perennials and shrubs are still lovely, but summer blooms are a few weeks away, the garden seems to quiet ...
Celebrate National Pollinator Week by planting in clusters
June 17 to 23 is National Pollinator Week when we celebrate insects and animals that help produce $29 billion worth of food, including apples, nuts and tomatoes. And then there are ...
Diseases create problems for bedding impatiens but not for maples
It’s been one of those springs—cool and wet, which is just the right formula for leaf diseases. Maples, in particular, have brown or black spots, most likely a fungus disease ...
You Can Grow That! June 2013: golden Japanese forest grass
‘Aureola’, a golden Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra), is a perfect plant for softening the front edge of a border, cascading over a wall, working as a ground cover or ...
No-no plants for the Indiana garden
Japanese honeysuckle vine smells heavenly, but it has escaped landscapes and rooted in natural areas, where it smothers native plants. This aggressive habit puts it on the invasive ...
Spring to summer change outs: a gardener’s dilemma
Pansies, Johnny jump-ups and violas love the cooler weather and right now, they are beautiful. But fewer than 5 feet from these spring bloomers site more than 100 annuals, ...
Creeping phlox ground cover helps control erosion along slopes
I never have to look outdoors to know what’s blooming. The customers at the garden center where I work part time keep me informed. They come in and ask for the plants they see ...