Succession planting is a great way to get more from your vegetable garden. Following one crop with another is easy to do, and requires just a little planning. Having a greenhouse to jumpstart your plants is a tremendous help and adds to the variety you can plant successively. Here in Zone 5/6 our main planting […]
Walking into any well-stocked GLASSHOUSE feels like stepping into a world of green. Quickly, your eye will pick out the exceptions to that green — pink orchids, red begonias. But the green background is what provides the overall sense of life in the greenhouse and makes the colors stand out. The same applies in a […]
Dan Hinkley’s suggestions turn gardeners into plant hunters Any plant Dan Hinkley likes, I want. And I’m not alone. When this world-class plant explorer spoke at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show on “Dan Hinkley’s Favorite 25 Plants,” the room was packed. As he reeled off the names of his choices, Dan never outlined cultivation […]
Leeann Lavin is a writer and blogger based in New York, her company Duchess Gardens has award winning, international experience of designing and implementing unique and creative custom garden designs. Leeann has also had publishing success with her book “The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook”, which shows off her passion for home grown cuisine […]
A greenhouse can be an ideal place to force daffodils into bloom in early spring. If the bulbs have been potted in fall and kept in a place that is cold but not freezing, they will have gotten the 12 to 14 weeks of chilling they need. Now they can be brought into the warmth […]
As part of an annual tradition at Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, rooted ivy cuttings are distributed to each incoming first year student–just one indicator of the botanic leanings of this prestigious women’s college. With late winter’s days lengthening, Smith’s Lyman Conservatory– one of the few remaining plant conservatories in the United States built in […]
Having decided what species of orchid you want, you need to consider how to heat your greenhouse. Many orchids have an aversion to the byproducts of propane or natural gas heaters, so this aversion limits the options in designing a heating system. In my opinion, the best way to heat an orchid greenhouse is with […]
With trees, size matters. Sometimes towering behemoths block light to gardens and greenhouses. Pruning with a chainsaw may be the only option. Or sometimes a lack of trees results in homes and outbuildings bereft of unifying plantings. In both cases, the best garden design strategy—plant the right-sized trees now. I talked with Nancy Buley, Communications […]
It may be cold and bleak outdoors, but this is definitely a time of year when it’s easy to appreciate the advantages of greenhouse gardening. Just take your cue from the Conservatory of Wave Hill, a public garden located in the Bronx, New York. Here, the fragrances and colors of other climes help us momentarily […]
Early March is about when I ought to be perking up and getting out in the garden a little. I should be cutting back the dead hosta flower stalks and all the other debris I didn’t get cleared away in fall. I should be chopping ornamental grasses off at a couple of inches to make […]
It’s time to plan for seed starting, whether you have a greenhouse or an indoor light setup. And it looks like this year, once again, I will be starting my own tomatoes instead of buying grafted plants. I have looked on longingly over the last couple of years as the developing technique of grafting has […]
It’s indoor seed sowing time! Whether you set up a small table, or a full-size greenhouse, seed starting can sometimes be fraught with challenges. Just when you think your seedlings are growing well, they can turn up their toes. It all comes down to the fungus among us, says Rose Marie Nichols-McGee, president of Nichols […]
