About.com Gardening

Magnolias - Spring Flowering Charmers

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:01:28 +0000

A few weeks back, I wrote about growing fig trees in colder climates. We were talking about the extreme cautions gardeners take to protect their fig trees in winter. Kitty informed us that there are fig trees out there that have been bred to be hardy as far north as USDA Zone 5. She recommended 'Chicago Hardy'.

Magnolia trees can also be over looked by northern gardeners. Magnolias are associated with the Old South and a gentler lifestyle. Magnolias are a natural choice in the South, but there are plenty of magnolia trees for cooler climates and less hospitable locations. David Beaulieu has featured the Saucer Magnolia, Magnolia x soulangiana, with its impressive pink and white, spring blooms. Saucer magnolias grow in Zones 4 - 9, although they can lose buds to late spring frosts and winds. I've used David's suggestion to avoid planting them where they'd have a southern exposure, to delay blooming long enough to get past the period of frost danger, with other tender spring bloomers.

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

Magnolias - Spring Flowering Charmers originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 01:01:28.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Stop and Smell the Roses

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:30:18 +0000

A lot of roses are being ordered this week. Getting roses is a wonderful treat, especially in winter. Maybe it's got you thinking about ordering a few rose bushes?

We all know that roses aren't a holiday treat for gardeners. Every garden should have at least one rose bush. And if it can be an old fashioned fragrant rose bush, all the better. Here are my Top 10 Great Roses for Fragrance, to add to your garden.

Photo of 'Easy Does It' Rose Provided by AARS

Stop and Smell the Roses originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 01:30:18.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Companion Planting for Tomatoes

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:06:34 +0000

I've always found the idea of companion planting fascinating. I wouldn't swear it always works, but I suspect there's a lot more substance to it than its detractors will admit. Gardeners have been fine tuning it for years and there's no substitute for experience. Today I'm combining two of my gardening loves: growing tomatoes and companion planting. I culled through a few dozen articles and books and my own experience and pulled together my list of companion plants for tomatoes. Since you're going to grow some of these plants anyway, why not experiment with growing them together? There's still plenty of time to start some seeds.

Photo: � Marie Iannotti

Companion Planting for Tomatoes originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 01:06:34.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Where Do All the Aphids Come From?

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:09:53 +0000

Where on earth do all those aphids come from? Seriously, how do they find their way into our homes in the dead of winter? What were they living on until I so graciously started some seedlings?

What they lack in size, they make up in numbers. Debbie Hadley, About's Guide to Insects, says "...a single aphid could produce 600 billion descendants in one season." What chance does a gardener have against those kinds of odds? And they apparently have some type of twisted relationship with ants, who protect them in order to get their fix of honeydew. Debbie sheds some light on these little suckers of the plant world.

Photo: rgrabe / stock.xchng.

Where Do All the Aphids Come From? originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 01:09:53.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Featured Plant: Four O�Clock (Mirabilis jalapa)

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:00:02 +0000

I've yet to plant an evening garden, probably because the bugs come out at night, but I have a list of flowers I'd love to include in one, in the future. White flowers top the list for evening gardens. Of course there's moonflower, evening stock and night blooming cereus. But also near the top of the list is Mirabilis jalapa 'Alba'.

Four O'Clocks do indeed bloom sometime around four o'clock in the evening and they stay in bloom through the night. I've read that night blooming flowers do so because they are pollinated by moths. I can't confirm that, so if any of you have any knowledge of this, please let us know.

That bit of trivia aside, Four O'Clocks are tender perennials, often grown as annuals, that start blooming in mid-summer and continue to bloom profusely until frost. Why wait until you create an evening garden to plant them? Put some in a pot on the patio, tuck a few in your walk way and plant some under a window, so their gentle vanilla scent can catch you off guard when a breeze blows in. This week's featured plant may seem common to some gardeners, but it's a triple delight: flowers, fragrance and reseeding. Are Four O'Clocks on your seed list?

Photo: � Marie Iannotti

Featured Plant: Four O�Clock (Mirabilis jalapa) originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 01:00:02.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Gardening Question of the Week: How Much Should I Plant?

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:01:46 +0000

My well-meaning friend emailed a link to Gardener's Supply Kitchen Garden Planner and I can't stop playing with it, so I figured why no share it with all of you. You set the size of your garden and you'll get a square marked off in 1' grids. There are 47 different vegetables that you drag onto the grid and it tells you how many of that vegetable to plant in 1 sq. ft. For example: 9 beets or 2 cucumbers. (Although I question that 1 sq. ft. is adequate for a pumpkin vine. You an save your map, print it, even edit the plant names so you know which are the 'Blue Lake' beans and which are the 'Italian Bush'. When you print it out, you get more detailed planting tips. It's very addictive and a nice way to see how much you can squeeze into your plot.

If you're still wondering how much you should plant, so that your family doesn't mutiny when they see beans for dinner again, here are some guidelines for how much to plant in the vegetable garden, gleaned from my own experience, friends and the bean counters (literally) at cooperative extensions around the country. I say guidelines, because it all comes down to what you like to eat and how well it grows.

Photo: � Marie Iannotti

Gardening Question of the Week: How Much Should I Plant? originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 01:01:46.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Raising Gardeners

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:01:23 +0000

There's been a huge push to gets kids involved in gardening. You'd think they'd be naturals: dirt, bugs, food... Actually, most kids do enjoy working in the garden. It's being patient while things begin to grow that they can't stand. This week is National Green Week and the Green Education Foundation has set a goal of getting 10,000 school gardens up and growing this year, with their Green Thumb Challenge. They provide lots of help and direction on their site, if you'd like to help your child's school.

The Welch's company is teaming up with Scholastic to award Welch's Harvest Grants to schools planning to start gardens. There are indoor and outdoor garden packages of tools, seeds and educational materials. Five 1st prize winners will each receive a $1,000 package. Twenty-five winners will get a $500 package and another 70 winners will receive a package worth $250. The contest ends next week, so check it out now.

And Bonnie Plants has a charming program called Third Grade Cabbage Program. Participating 3rd graders will receive a free Bonnie O.S. Cross cabbage to plant grow and nurture. These are big cabbages that can get up to 50 pounds, so there's an air of excitement for a small kid growing one of these. At the end of the season, schools select the best cabbage, based on size and appearance. That student's name is then included in a statewide drawing. Each state's winner is chosen in a random drawing , by the Commission of Agriculture. The winners get a $1,000 scholarship to put toward their education. Last year, 1.5 million students participated in 45 states. That's Ohio State Winner, Dakota Gurney, with his champion cabbage. I sure hope Dakota likes cabbage.

Bonnie Plants' 3rd Grade Cabbage Program. Ohio State Winner: Dakota Gurney
Photo Provided by Green Earth Media Group

Raising Gardeners originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 01:01:23.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

February in the Garden Regional Gardening Tips

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:01:28 +0000

February is the toughest month in the garden. Gardeners in warm climates don't know what to expect from the weather. Those in cold climates would give anything to be able to spend the day outdoors. But for them, February also means that winter is half over and subtle signs of spring are there you really look.

So get out your sharpening tools or your grow lights. Look over this February in the Garden To Do List and let's get gardening!

Photo: � Marie Iannotti (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc.

February in the Garden Regional Gardening Tips originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 01:01:28.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

What Shape is Your Tree?

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:01:17 +0000

We're heading into February, which is about when winter has out stayed its welcome, for me. I like a change of seasons, but with winter, a little goes a long way. While I'm outdoors during this current cold snap, I've been distracting myself from by looking at the shapes of the trees. Honestly, some of them are more interesting without leaves than with. Once everything turns green, the gnarly branches and scaffolding get lost.

I don't think a lot of people take tree shape into consideration, when choosing trees for their landscape. We look for flowers, fruits and fall color, maybe we'll worry about how large the tree will get, but few of us say, "I'd like a nice pyramidal tree to contrast with the two ovals I have." Funny, because we do that all the time when choosing smaller plants for our gardens. If you've never really considered the different shapes of trees, I encourage you to look at a comparison photo gallery our Tree & Shrubs Guide, Vanessa Richins, has put together. Then the next time you're out for a walk and trying to distract yourself from your cold toes, look at how extraordinary trees look in the winter.

Featured Plant: Spinach

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:01:24 +0000

I am in such awe of plants that can take a chill. Any plant (or person) can stretch out in the sunshine, but it takes a hardy soul to flourish in the mercurial weather of spring. Or maybe that's why cool season crops mature so quickly, so that someone will pick them and bring them indoors where it's warm?

Whatever the reason, spinach is a treat to plant in the spring garden, months before there's any hope for a cucumber, let alone a tomato . Spinach is at it's tender best when freshly picked and grows fast enough to be planted several times, to extend the harvest further. Getting spinach to grow is easy. Keeping your spinach growing takes some finesse. Try these spinach growing tips and enjoy fresh spinach well into summer.

Photo: � David Paul Morris / Getty Images. Used with Permission.

Featured Plant: Spinach originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 01:01:24.

Permalink | Comment | Email this