As I walk my neighborhood in summer, I wonder: Why don’t I see more lilies? They have so much to offer a garden—color, elegance, fragrance. And yet mine is the only yard on my block with visible lilies, and I’m too sun-deprived to have many. Maybe people think that because lilies are elegant, they must […]

Keeping records of what goes on in a greenhouse can be an enormous help. It’s how I’ve learned precisely when to start my vegetable and flower seeds, as well as which potting medium and lighting conditions will give optimal germination and growth. From looking at my records, for example, I know that I get the […]

Optimal use of a greenhouse depends upon a careful balance of temperature, water, and light to maintain the ambient gases that keep the plants living within healthy, productive and happy. At this point in the proceedings I’ll climb up on my soapbox, so you’re excused if you don’t wish to hear about how we’re all, […]

Each year, at some moment in the gardening season, I’m overwhelmed by what needs to be done. The weeds are burgeoning, the midday heat limits my garden time, and every border or bed demands attention. But I have a work-around for overwhelm. The secret? I think small. I choose one area, one tiny area, and […]

I was rushing to plant shrubs on a recent hot day when the heavens opened. Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, rain ran down my neck and dripped off my nose. I kept at it for a while, because gardeners are waterproof and the shrubs desperately needed planting. I’d been putting it off through weeks of June […]

It’s a time-honored tradition to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea among your plants in the greenhouse. But what about growing tea there? Tea (Camellia sinensis) has been cultivated around the world for thousands of years, but in the United States it is a relatively new crop. With the resurgence of interest in […]

Hartley Botanic’s classic Victorian greenhouse was the centerpiece of one of the most relatable gardens at this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show, which was themed “HABITAT: Nature’s Masterpiece,” and geared to exploring “the beauty of life through nature’s kaleidoscopic lens.” At 189 years old, this is the first time the PFS has been held in the […]

During summer, greenhouse plants need a lot of attention. Temperatures inside a greenhouse can easily soar to over 100oF (38oC) even with all the windows and doors open. Such heat can significantly stress your plants. The problem with high heat is that it causes water in plants to get quickly depleted through transpiration. Transpiration is […]

Summer is upon us. The freezing nights of spring are over, and days are warm in the sun. Now my plants and I are facing a different threat: the sun itself. As a shade gardener, I’m always focused on sunlight. Light is a plant’s basic requirement, and in my tree- and building-shaded space, sunshine is […]

This is the month when gardeners enjoy adding to their collection of plants. So, I’ve called on knowledgeable colleagues from different parts of the country, to find out what they can’t live without. When I asked them to name two, one person replied, “That’s like picking a favorite child!” With a lot of culling and […]

Even in a larger greenhouse, choosing the right plants can be difficult. I once decided to grow a banana plant so I could harvest my own bananas. It grew and grew and grew right out through the skylight until it was about 4’ taller than the 12’-high greenhouse. Every summer the wind off the ocean […]

Habitat is a word much in use today and has come to mean many things, but one of its earliest descriptions, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was in 1796 when it was defined as “the natural place of growth of a plant or animal in its wild state. This is now generally expressed as […]