Savvy Gardening

The best seed starting set up: 8 essentials for starting seeds indoors

Starting seeds indoors isn’t difficult and is the best way to take advantage of the wide variety of vegetables, flowers, and herbs available from seed companies. Plus, starting your own seeds produces a lot of plants for little money and lets you control the growing conditions. And that means the most robust seedlings for your garden. But what equipment do you need for indoor seed starting? Discover the best seed starting set up and 8 essential items I use to grow thousands of seedlings each spring.

Growing eggplant from seed: Expert tips for success

Written by Niki Jabbour

Growing eggplant from seed isn’t difficult and is the best way to take advantage of the many excellent varieties available in seed catalogs. Plus, you get to control the growing conditions which means the healthiest possible plants to grow in your garden. In this article you’ll learn two options for growing eggplant from seed, get step-by-step instructions, and discover my favourite eggplant varieties to grow.
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Growing celery from seed: An expert guide for gardeners

Written by Jessica Walliser

The process of growing celery from seed may seem daunting at first, but it’s incredibly rewarding to harvest crisp, flavorful celery stalks that you grew yourself. Homegrown celery is fresher, more nutritious, and often more flavorful than store-bought varieties. If you love adding vegetables to your garden that you’ve never grown before, celery is a fantastic choice. With the right techniques, any gardener can succeed, even those with limited space (try growing celery in a pot or a raised bed!). Let’s dig into everything you need to know to grow harvestable celery from seed, from germination to harvest.
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Avoiding English ivy, an aggressive and invasive groundcover in North America

Written by Tara Nolan

One of my neighborhood strolls takes me past a small wild area. There are no homes around it and yet English ivy is growing all along the ground and up several trees. Another walk takes me past a beautiful spring-flowering tree tree that is absolutely covered in English ivy. It’s wound throughout all the branches all the way to the crown. I’ve even found a tendril growing into one of my raised beds. How on earth English ivy found its way into this area of my garden I do not know. It doesn’t seem to have come from my neighbor. And it’s a strange place for it to have been planted deliberately by the previous owner. Wherever it came from, English ivy, also known as common ivy, European ivy, and simply ivy is invasive in North America.

Growing morning glories from seed: A complete guide

Written by Jessica Walliser

Morning glories (Ipomoea species) have graced gardens for centuries with their quick growth and spectacular, trumpet-shaped flowers. As tender annuals, they complete their life cycle in a single season, but what a dramatic season it is—bursting with magenta, blue, purple, and white flowers. These beautiful vines are renowned for their ability to climb and twine, rapidly covering trellises, fences, or arbors. They are great for bringing privacy and beauty to any space. Beyond their ornamental value, morning glories are magnets for certain pollinators, including butterflies and hummingbirds. By learning more about growing morning glories from seed, you can experience the joy of growing these charismatic flowers yourself, keeping your summer garden vibrant and colorful.
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African violet propagation: A step-by-step guide

Written by Jessica Walliser

For those who love African violets as much as I do, this article will tell you all you need to try your hand at your own African violet propagation. These small plants bring so much brightness into the room, and propagating them is fairly straightforward. Learning the two techniques I outline here, it’s easy to go from having too few African violets in your home to having a large collection. Read on to learn the why and how of African violet propagation, including the best timing, two methods of propagation—in soil and in water—and how to care for your newly rooted plants.
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