Newsletter

  Saving and Growing Gladiolus, Winter Plant Protection, Fall for Parsley and Poinsettia It's almost Thanksgiving and time to really close up shop for winter in our zone 5 garden. We're scurrying to finish up garden chores before the nights really get cold and the ground freezes. The snows a week or so ago really got us moving. While we've dug the dahlias, we're just getting to the gladiolus. That's okay. Gladiolus are hardier than you think. I had three corms I forgot last fall and they actually overwintered in our garden and they bloomed...

   A Better Joe Pye Weed, Troubleshooting Brussels Sprouts, Paw Paws, and Montauk Daisy    After a bit of cold weather, here and there, that gave us a fright, we're back to sunshine and warm temperatures, even though is late September in our zone 5 garden. I've officially dubbed September a summer month since it now seems that warm temperatures persist throughout the month and many flowers and vegetables continue to grow. One of showiest of the , and most beneficial one for bees, birds, butterflies and pollinators, is Joe Pye...

      Gardening for the Birds: Webinars, Podcasts and Stories   There has been a lot of bird activity in our yard this summer. The nesting of bluebirds, swallows, robins, wrens and others has been largely successful leaving us in late summer with lots of adolescent birds hanging around. We removed the netting from the blueberry patch because we picked as much as we like, so now the birds can have a summer treat, too. It got me thinking about all the things we do in our yard to encourage birds to come and stay. That's...

  End of Year Gardening Webinar Sale Continues!    And   2 Openings for our Chelsea Flower Show and Gardens of Southern England Tour    Before I launch into my End of the Year Webinar sale, I just wanted to let everyone know, we've had some cancellations for our Chelsea Flower Show and Gardens of Southern England tour in May, 2026. Follow this link for more information. We'll take people on a first come, first serve basis. Thanks! Webinars are a great way to learn, especially in winter. I love watching webinars during...

    All About Pruning: Webinar, Podcasts, Videos and Stories It's February and time to get in the yard and start pruning. Pruning is one of those chores that intimidates many gardeners. Often gardeners are afraid to prune for fear of killing or hurting their plant. But with a little science know how and some creativity, you can prune easily and effectively keep your plants in bounds, flowering and looking beautiful. In this newsletter I highlight my Pruning Trees and Shrubs Webinar where I talk, in depth, about pruning various...

All About Houseplants: Webinar and Stories January is a great time to up your houseplant game. Greenhouses have new shipments of beautiful houseplants and you have time to repot, evaluate and fix your existing plants. I'm here to help! In this newsletter I highlight my Webinar, All About Houseplants, where I talk in depth about light, watering, fertilizing, humidity and pest control of your plants. I also offer lots of houseplant ideas for your home. Check it out below. I also provided links to articles on my website about houseplants. The...

Organic Pest Controls: Webinar, Video and Stories   July is when all those critters start catching up to me. I've been good about squishing squash bugs eggs, hand picking Japanese beetles and covering my Brussels sprouts and broccoli plants from the Swede midge and cabbage worms. But no matter how hard we try in our garden, pests still happen. So, I thought it's a good time to take a look at some pest controls you can do now to lessen the damage. These include for insect pests and diseases. I have many profiles of various pests on my...