Gardening

Going Native – North Carolina Style

October 6, 2009

The North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill knows plenty about going native. In fact, this 600-acre botanical garden is all about helping the public better understand and appreciate native plants. As you can see from the praying mantis above, the beneficial insects feel quite at home here too. The conservation garden is affiliated with […]

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A Tour of Montrose Gardens

September 30, 2009

Reaching Montrose Gardens in Hillsborough, North Carolina is a pleasant affair. The scenic road into these nationally-known gardens (now part of The Garden Conservancy) passes by charming cafés, elegant shops and art galleries, not to mention 19th century homes perched majestically on lush green lawns. The picturesque setting is what one would expect from such […]

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Harvest Time in the Garden

September 20, 2009

“In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil.” Rose G. Kingsley, The Autumn Garden, 1905 It’s harvest time, a time when many gardens are loaded with late-season vegetables and fruit ripening to perfection. So, it seemed the right time […]

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Inside an Innovative Idaho Garden

September 18, 2009

Step onto this shady and serene back porch, and you might think you’d landed in Italy. Not Idaho. A fountain bubbles in the background. ‘Niagara’ and ‘Suffolk’ red grapes hang from the pergula. Comfy chairs are scattered among green leafy plants, and the courtyard looks like it’s been there for generations. That level of detail […]

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Six Tomatoes for Cooking and Preserving

July 21, 2009

‘San Marzano’ paste tomatoes about to ripen. If you’re craving delicious homemade tomato sauces, pastes, salsas or ketchup — not to mention sun dried tomatoes — look no further than the paste tomatoes. Beefsteaks, grape and cherry tomato varieties taste delicious in salads and on sandwiches. But when it comes to cooking and preserving, the paste […]

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Respect Your Elders

June 30, 2009

It’s true that elder (Sambucus nigra; Sambucus canadensis) grows wild in moist places through much of the United States. But to call this plant “common” is just unfair. Few plants have generated as much respect as elder over the ages. In fact, once I learned about this plant, I was hooked and just had to […]

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A Poppy Palooza!

June 23, 2009
Thumbnail image for A Poppy Palooza!

Perhaps it was all those cool, rainy days we had this spring. Maybe it was the love we gave the soil before we started to plant. Whatever it was, we’ve had a fantastic burst of poppies in the garden in 2009. It all started when I threw some seeds of Shirley Single Blend poppies (Papaver […]

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The Story Behind the White House Garden

June 17, 2009

The seeds of the newly built White House kitchen garden were sown long before the Obama family arrived in the nation’s capital last January. In fact, the idea started the year before at a much smaller white house in Maine on a cold February day. Not the best time for outdoor gardening, but definitely a […]

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Spring in the City of Trees

June 1, 2009

Legend has it that Boise, Idaho got its name in the 1800s when a French-speaking guide yelled, “Les bois! Les bois!” (Translation: the trees, the trees.)  After weeks of walking through dry and rough terrain, the group was obviously delighted to see the wooded Boise River Valley – and get a little shade.  The name […]

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What’s Spring Without Radishes?

May 27, 2009

These sweet little radishes may be called ‘Easter Egg’ radishes (Raphanus staivus), but we didn’t harvest them until several weeks after Easter. Despite the delay, however, we’ve become fans of this early radish.  The pretty variety gets its name from the delightful pink, red, scarlet, lavender and white radishes it produces in about 25 days. […]

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