It’s that time of year again where The Savvy Experts – Niki, Jessica and Tara – dish on what they’d like to see under the tree, or what gifts they’d recommend for the gardeners on your list. We’ve also included last year’s recommendations of gifts for gardeners below. You can never have too many great ideas!
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Make a holiday swag in five easy steps
Our latest Savvy Gardening newsletter was filled with creative ways to use the garden for holiday decorations. There’s no easier way to do just that than to make a holiday swag out of items you probably have right in your own backyard.
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Amaryllis planting tips for holiday blooms
I cannot walk into a nursery or florist in late fall without taking home a holiday plant or two. Amaryllis bulbs fall high on my list. I also usually include a poinsettia, paperwhites, and other favorites. I feel like holiday blooms are festive necessities like the retro decorations I’ve had since I was a kid. There are a few tips to consider when planting and shopping for amaryllis to ensure that the bulb you select flowers for you.
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Why the “thrillers, spillers, and fillers” idea works for winter containers
Pine, spruce, and cedar boughs have suddenly appeared in garden centres and at my local grocery store. Each year, I like to figure out a new theme for my holiday urn. I started looking at some photos of the containers I’ve made over the past few years and I came to the realization that I apply similar principles to my winter urns as I do to my spring, summer, and fall creations: thrillers, spillers, and fillers.
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How to protect your hydrangea for the winter
I hosted a radio program on KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh for fifteen years, and the most common question my co-host and I were asked on-air is “Why doesn’t my hydrangea bloom?” Upon further inquiry, we would often come to learn the caller was asking about a big-leaf hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla. While these old-fashioned hydrangeas bear gorgeous balls of pink or blue flowers, they’re notorious for their unreliably here in the northern U.S. Some years they bloom beautifully, while other years there’s not a single bud in sight. If you’re a USDA zone 5 or 6 gardener who has faced this experience yourself, here are a few tips you can use right now to get better blooms from your hydrangea.
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Three quick steps to winter carrots
Carrots are the most popular crop in our winter garden with the cold temperatures turning the roots into sugar-filled ‘candy carrots’. Our winter carrots are planted in mid-summer in both garden beds and cold frames, and although ‘Napoli’ and ‘Yaya’ yield the sweetest orange carrots, the kids also like to seed a rainbow of colours including red, yellow, white, and purple.
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