Share my passion for all things gardening!
Starting & Saving Seeds: Grow the Perfect Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs and Flowers for Your Garden. Written by Julie Thompson-Adolf (Cool Springs Press, 2018, 160 pp., $25) Knowing how to start your plants from seed and saving seeds are two very important skills. Yet many gardeners shy away from them. Why? They think those skills are too complicated or challenging. Fortunately, […]
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While I was on Instagram, I saw a photo of some galvanized ribbed barrel planters on the Gardener’s Supply feed. I immediately fell head-over-heels in love with them! The style is right up my alley. They have that country look that goes perfectly with my favorite type of decor. When I swooned over them, they sent me one to test. It […]
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As many of you know, my husband and I are avid birdwatchers. Over the years, we’ve learned what will attract birds to our garden. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by adding birdbaths. Birds need to drink water and bathe — typically every day. Our bird feeders attract them, along with our landscape filled with trees and […]
Read moreAs a garden writer and a member of the professional organization, the Association for Garden Communicators, I occasionally receive seeds or product samples to test. (hey, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it) Last December, I received a cool package from Burpee Seeds that I wanted to tell you about. What they do is send out a type […]
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The Wellness Garden: Grow, Eat & Walk Your Way to Better Health by Shawna Coronado (Cool Springs Press, 160 pp., $24.99) Meet Shawna Coronado. Diagnosed with severe spinal degenerative osteoarthritis, her future looked bleak. She suffered from debilitating joint pain and inflammation that affected her everyday life, limiting what she could do. She could have resigned herself to the use […]
Read moreGardening Complete: How to Best Grow Vegetables, Flowers, and Other Outdoor Plants. (Cool Springs Press, 376 pp., $30) Are you looking for a comprehensive outdoor gardening book on just about every topic you could imagine? Take a look at the newest offering from Cool Springs Press: Gardening Complete. For this monumental project, they pulled together a team of authors with […]
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Whenever I review a garden book, my goal is to share a good source to learn from. It might be about growing vegetables, propagating plants, landscape design ideas, or cool DIY projects. This time, I’ve found something to help you learn from yourself. I’m referring to the Three Year Gardener’s Gratitude Journal from Chelsie Anderson and Donna Balzer. I love […]
Read moreIt can be easy for gardeners to get into a routine of planting the same old vegetable varieties year after year. We all have our favorites, right? Just when we vegetable gardeners thought we had it all figured out, here comes Niki Jabbour. She takes us out of our comfort zone with her latest book, Veggie Garden Remix (Storey Publishing, […]
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I know I’m forcing the issue here but I can’t help myself! The bulbs we’ve all known for so many years as Amaryllis are actually called Hippeastrum. So here is an update on how my Hippeastrum is doing! (After all, as a garden writer, I should probably be using the correct terms myself, right?) This gorgeous flower is ‘Papilio’ and […]
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Last year, while looking through a seed catalog, I saw a listing for something called “solar mulch.” Hmm, what’s that, I wondered? I learned that solar mulch is a green plastic sheeting that will do two important things for a vegetable grower like myself: If you like growing warm-season crops such as melons, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes and peppers, it’s important […]
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