Winter doesn’t necessarily seem like the best time to be starting seeds outdoors in most of North America, but for one very valuable group of plants – the milkweeds – winter is the perfect time to get planting. In case you aren’t familiar with this particular group of plants, milkweeds are in the genus Asclepias, and they are the sole monarch butterfly host plant. Before we dive into how to grow these wonderful plants from seed, let me introduce you to some of the very best milkweed species for monarchs.
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10 plants with showy blooms
Sassy, flashy, frilly, flouncy. I was trying to think of some good descriptors that connect all the flowers I’m about to talk about. I decided on showy, which means impressive and ostentatious. Because these plants are not meant to be wallflowers, gently fading into the rest of the garden. They are meant to stop you in your tracks to take a closer look. Don’t be shy, they’re brazen blooms, begging for attention, and maybe a photo or two.
7 of the Best Vegetable Gardening Books
I’m always on the lookout for the best vegetable gardening books, and each year, I add several new titles to my collection. At this point, I have dozens and dozens of books dedicated to food gardening. It’s true that there are a lot of fantastic books on vegetable gardening available at local bookshops as well as online, so by no means is this a complete list. Instead, it’s a list of the books that I tend to reach for so often that they stay on my desk, not my bookshelf. They’re dirt-smudged, well-thumbed, and much loved by me. Without further ado, here are seven of the best vegetable gardening books that belong on every gardener’s bookshelf.
Organic fertilizers for container gardening: The best choices for success
When it comes to organic fertilizers for container gardening, you have two basic choices: granular or liquid. Let’s talk about each of them in detail.
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Zucchini growing problems: 10 common issues and how to overcome them
Zucchini and other soft-skinned summer squashes are usually pretty easy to grow. But, gardeners do sometimes face struggles with these productive crops. Perhaps your vines stopped producing in mid summer? Or the fruits were small or deformed? Or maybe your plants simply died before producing any fruits? If you found yourself asking why zucchini growing problems struck your garden, this solution guide is for you.
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Easy projects for mini holiday houseplants
One year in late November, as I was pushing my cart around a local garden center, trying to decide between an amaryllis and paperwhites, I discovered something sitting among a table of poinsettias: a mini poinsettia! I brought it home and popped it into a tealight candle holder. It was such a cute addition to my mantle, it sparked an obsession with mini holiday houseplants. Now each year when I go to purchase the usual festive assortment of plants, I also grab some minis to display in various ways. In this article, I’m going to share some easy mini holiday houseplant projects.
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