Holidays When shopping for a fresh-cut Christmas tree, check for green, flexible, firmly held needles and a sticky trunk base -- both indicators of freshness. Make a fresh cut ...
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Get holiday plants ready for their prime time
In some stores, Christmas decorations are as prominent as Halloween candy. We can use retailers’ jump on the holidays as a reminder to begin the process of getting our holiday ...
You Can Grow That: Paperwhites
Less expensive than Amaryllis and just as rewarding for holiday blooms are paperwhites, a narcissus that does not need a cold period to bloom and perfume the room. Paperwhites are ...
Fall colors take my breath away
Fall has been spectacular this year in my yard. The colors make me swoon. Here are my favorites: Brandywine viburnum Brandywine viburnum (C) Photo Jo Ellen Meyers ...
November garden checklist
Indoors Houseplant growth will slow so apply less fertilizer and water. Move plants closer to windows or to sunnier exposures if plants are dropping leaves. Pot up ...
Plant garlic in fall for a summer harvest
When thinking about planting tulips, daffodils and other spring-blooming bulbs, consider adding garlic to the list. Fall-planted garlic is harvested the following summer. Avoid ...
Raccoons dig grubs
Three readers sent me photos of their lawns with gouged soil and I observed this condition in several landscapes when on my walks this fall. Blame raccoons. They dig up the turf ...
Osage orange fruits can be fun…and hazardous
Poison isn't the only way plants can kill you. Take the legendary osage orange, aka hedge apple (Maclura pomifera). Orange, apple and pomifera make it sound all fruity doesn’t it? ...
October garden checklist
Indoors Keep poinsettia in dark for 15 hours a day for eight to 10 weeks until red bracts begin to show. Houseplants may drop leaves, especially if they spent the summer ...
Cracked, dry soil signals need for water
Cracked soil indicates the ground is very dry. This is a sign to water trees and shrubs to make sure they make it through winter. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp Everyone I’ve talked ...
