This is not about saving electricity, or about embracing solar power to illuminate our lives, but instead it’s about appreciating and enjoying darkness. Luxuriating in shadows, letting the stars and the moon be the radiance that punctures darkness ever so quietly. Especially in the greenhouse and the garden. I’ve been reading and absorbing a small […]
When I was six years old, living in a small town in Pennsylvania, the local garden club put on an indoor flower show with display gardens created on the gym floor of the YMCA. I was entranced by the artifice—little picket fences surrounded neat plots of flowers, bordered by sod pathways, and festooned with glass […]
A while ago a gardener asked me what my greenhouse’s greatest insect problem was. I answered whitefly, which is a terrible nuisance that can easily get out of control. That conversation got me thinking about the Sisyphean task of trying to eliminate my whitefly infestation by spraying infected plants with Safer’s Insecticidal Soap. The more […]
It’s that time again! From coast to coast, indoor garden shows are offering solace to those who are winter-weary. These exhibitions are bursting with color and fragrance, great plants to buy, and great ideas to take away—especially from the extravagant display gardens that make up the heart of the shows. And for several years now, […]
Well. Here we are. Our shiny pearl in the heavens has successfully completed another revolution around the sun, to the accompaniment, not of Richard Strauss’s Also Spake Zarathustra, (you know… 2001, Hal the Computer), but to a cavalcade of hit lists for 2023’s upcoming trends. Top of the recommendations appears to be for glass to […]
Have you ever heard about straw-bale gardening and wondered what it entails? The answer is more than just stacking straw bales to make windbreaks or taking them apart and using the straw for mulch. Straw bales are far more versatile. They can be used as a base for growing plants in a greenhouse. But when […]
And the winner is…KHEYTI, developers of…drum roll…Greenhouse-in-a-Box. Screaming and hugging ensues. Cut to video of project installations and co-founder, Kaushik Kappagantulu in voiceover, “The world depends on its small-hold farmers and yet their lives are amongst the hardest on earth. Our Greenhouse-in-a-Box is empowering farmers in India today. The steps we have already taken at […]
What should you consider when buying a greenhouse? Most people look first at the cost, then at the size, and only then at what they’d like to grow. But this order is backwards. The first consideration should always be what you want to use a greenhouse for. That decision will determine both the size and […]
Confined spaces, like in most greenhouses, need organization. The goal when working—seed sowing, transplanting, potting up —is to be able to grab the best tool for the job as soon as you require it, and smaller sized tools are easier to store. You can line them up, place them on a shelf, hang them on […]
Last month I attended the Garden Communicators International online conference. One of the presentations by the National Garden Bureau and All-America Selections featured the best new plants that will be available in nurseries next spring. These introductions are the result of years of development—chosen for better form, tougher hardiness, or disease resistance. So, as the […]
In my neck of the woods, being the foothills of Pikes Peak in Colorado, the old chestnut about making hay while the sun shines, is rehearsed by me and my gardening clan as “make haste while the sun shines”.  Old man winter is just around the next corner, and she who snoozes loses. Last week […]
With the cost of produce steadily rising, greenhouse owners may want to try growing their own vegetables this winter. Quite a few plants will continue growing in cool conditions as long as they don’t freeze. The minimum temperature in your greenhouse should be somewhere above 40°F during the night and on cloudy days, although at […]
