A group of gardeners in Philadelphia is taking home less than half of its crop this year and giving the rest to local soup kitchens and food pantries. Volunteers at the Doylestown Mennonite Church turn up twice a week to tend their varieties of plants including tomatoes, peppers, carrots, potatoes, squash, beans, herbs and flowers, […]

Growing plants in a high-rise building can be a tricky proposition for even the most green-fingered of individuals, but getting it right can be very rewarding, an expert has suggested. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Center City landscape architect Michael LoFurno said the exaggerated weather conditions at height can be difficult to deal […]

I always have mixed feelings at this time of year. Overhead, the trees are closing in, like shade cloth covering a greenhouse. In my garden that shade, as welcome as will be when it protects me and my garden from the hot Midwestern summer to come, means an end to the season of sunlight and […]

Container herbs are one of the most rewarding plants greenhouse and gardening enthusiasts can cultivate as they look great and can make a real difference in the kitchen. According to Jo Ann Gardner in Fine Gardening magazine, lemon thyme is one of the best of the bunch and can be an "attractive, upright mound of […]

For gardeners working on a budget, there are several ways to improve an outside space and grow lots of produce without breaking the bank. That is the opinion of Patricia Ziegler-Boccadoro, who wrote in an article for the South Whitehall Patch that metallic pinwheels costing $1 each, for example, can keep hungry animals away from […]

Finally—after a notably cold spring, it’s time to shift my sun room plants outdoors. Over the years I’ve noticed that certain plants make the move more easily than others. Some show their displeasure by dropping leaves (the brunfelsia), getting sticky indoors before winter’s end (the Meyer lemon) or simply not thriving outside (the dracaena). So […]

On a recent spring day, I had the opportunity to visit Planting Fields, located in Oyster Bay, Long Island. Once a remarkable private estate, it is now managed by the State of New York. Its name comes from the Matinecock Indians–the original cultivators of the fertile clearings above Long Island Sound. Although Henry Hudson stopped […]

While real caterpillars may well be unwelcome visitors in some gardens, caterpillar-style coverings can vegetables keep safe all year round. That is according to one Alaskan gardening expert, who has advised green-fingered enthusiasts in Kodiak to build their own 'caterpillars' – essentially little more than small tunnels crafted from plastic sheeting secured over PVC hoops. […]

Nine Newcomers for Every Gardener’s Wish-List As a garden writer, I get to grow new plant introductions when they first come to market. But not all the freebies fare equally well in my garden. After a long cold Northwest winter and spring, here are the best and brightest. They not only survived—they thrived. Look for […]