Are you thinking about peas, spinach and lettuce right now?  How about brand new tomato plants or a bounty of zucchini in mid-October?  No?  Beware, dear reader, the fall planting season is upon us, and a little thought right now will ensure vegetables into November.  Don’t make the mistakes I have made over the years.  [...]

Years of gardening have taught me one thing for certain:  to never rely on my memory of this year’s garden to help me plan for the next.   I’m not referring to my long term memory.   I can tell a argyranthemum from a leucanthemum in nothing flat.  I can tell you if hypericum likes wet feet [...]

July has come.  Heralded by the brilliance of fireworks in darkened skies, this month symbolizes summer in the hearts of most Americans.  Carnivals abound, the pool is fully open, and children can rest secure in the knowledge that, this year at least, school cannot touch this precious month of suntans, fireflies and freedom.

We have reached [...]

This year, I started a bed on the side of the house that I like to refer to as my “shade garden.”  Yet it would be far more accurate to define the space as “a-garden-made-up-of-free-plants-that-will-grow-in-the-shade-if-they-are-given-no-other-choice.”  Wherever you are in your gardening adventure, the thought has probably occurred to you that this is an expensive hobby.  [...]

Consider the scenario.  You have spent several years creating a garden of which Martha Stewart would be proud.  You have planted.  You have pruned.  You have micro-managed.  You have successfully made it through scores of bitter Januaries and scorching Augusts by slowly learning what works and what doesn’t.  It’s been a long road, but each [...]