Grafted trees with more than one kind of fruit are a classic way to maximize yield in small backyards. Now, to celebrate the beginning of 2015, here’s a different two-for-one—supersweet cherry tomatoes grafted onto a rootstock that features a crop of potatoes. It’s all one plant called Ketchup ‘n’ Fries™ by TomTato.® I talked with […]
I’ve been running into a lot of glasshouses in my midwinter reading. I just finished reading up about Edward VII, son of Prince Albert, who dazzled the world with the Crystal Palace in London in 1851. Albert was a better exhibition organizer than he was a father, but the book reminded me what a remarkable […]
Every year, as a professional garden writer, I am given products from manufacturers and businesses who want me to test them. And I do. Anything I receive gets a serious workout in my own garden. Now in this season of gifting, I’d like to pass along my recommendations for several that have been outstanding. Rain […]
The Gift List Recommendations for your gardening friends, and some for your other friends and loved ones: 24” Stake Rain Gauge Nothing matters more to gardeners than the rain. Here is a beautiful and efficient way to measure what fell. This handsome, rustproof model is based upon the Archimedian Principle and constructed entirely in the […]
If you have a heated greenhouse, you have a big advantage in growing amaryllis, those bulbs with huge, dramatic flowers that are such popular holiday gifts. Pretty much anybody with a bright window can get an amaryllis bulb to bloom, but to keep the plant alive and get it to flower again next year requires […]
“I’m telling you, I have full heads of broccoli and cabbage only seven weeks from seedlings in a six-pack—huge!” Joe Lamp’l is pleased. In a phone interview, the executive producer and host of the TV show “Growing a Greener World” is sharing with me the delight all gardeners feel about a horticultural achievement. The secret […]
Flavour is one of the main reasons most people grow their own food. You might be able to buy bags of low cost veg in the supermarket, but you can never replicate that just picked, fresh, harvest taste and by growing your own, you can have ingredients that are hard to find in the shops, […]
Although her first love was painting, Jacqueline van der Kloet seems to have made her peace with the medium her parents thought more practical—garden design. Her remarkable gardens both private and public throughout Europe, and in recent years, several highly visible U.S. gardens, including Millenium Park in Chicago and Battery Park in NYC, are testaments […]
One of the delights of a greenhouse is the opportunity to grow citrus fruits in pots. You’re never going to rival the Florida citrus industry, but imagine the joy of cooking with a Meyer lemon you grew yourself. And you can feel a little bit like Louis XIV, who ordered up the orangerie at Versailles […]
Seven Tree Warning Signs You Should Know Trees are your garden’s greatest asset. Whether evergreen or deciduous, they cool your home in summer and protect from harsh winds in winter. And they offer aesthetic appeal. Handsome trees raise property values. So late autumn is an excellent time to take thirty minutes and do a tree […]
The sumac leaves have turned scarlet and the end of the season is finally near. It’s time to clear away this summer’s garden and get tender plants into the house or the greenhouse before the first frost hits. Hygiene is important outdoors as well as indoors. Many insects, disease-causing bacteria and fungal spores can overwinter […]
As the gardening season goes into fall, I’m already looking forward to 2015. That’s because I just attended the Far West Show, a national nursery and greenhouse trade show in Portland, Oregon. It features the New Varieties Showcase—the hottest wholesale introductions in ornamentals—and I wanted all fifty-two of the selections. So gardeners, here’s the […]
