Light spectrum for houseplants


Tue. Jan. 8, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Light spectrum for houseplants

Yesterday I talked a little about the light spectrum for houseplants.  If you’re trying to get a houseplant to flower, ideally you’ll give it the full spectrum of light.  While you can achieve that with a combination of warm/soft bulbs and the cool/white bulbs you may consider full spectrum LED lights.   They cost more initially, but their cost savings over time makes it worth it, if you want that flowering plant!

According to a  … [Continue reading]

How to kill a houseplant in 5 easy steps


Mon. Jan. 7, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  How to kill a houseplant in 5 easy steps

Now why in the world would I tell you how to KILL a houseplant?  To try and stop you!

Seriously, most of us can easily kill houseplants – it’s the WHY we don’t always know.

  1. Poor light. Either too little, too much or poor quality. Your plant may need artificial light from the blue and red ends of the spectrum.  One soft/warm light and one cool/white light can usually
 … [Continue reading]

The catalogs are coming, time to start planning!


Fri. Jan. 4, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  The catalogs are coming, time to start planning!

Odds are pretty good you’ve already been getting catalogs in the mail from plant and seed companies.  It does a heart good at this time of year to dream of your newly designed garden with a plethora of perennials and a vast array of veggies.  It’s a really good time to look over last year’s journal. See what worked, what didn’t, what you might change.

Plans are fun to make  … [Continue reading]

Living Coral – Pantone color of the year 2019


Thu. Jan. 3, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Living Coral – Pantone color of the year 2019

As we push headlong into 2019,  Pantone has chosen the Color of the Year…  Living Coral.  As described on their website, it’s an animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge.  I see it as kind of a pinky-orangy salmon.

So who is Pantone and how come THEY get to pick a “color of the year”.  It’s a  … [Continue reading]

Clearing the air and a fresh start


Wed. Jan. 2, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Clearing the air and a fresh start

The aromas of holiday cooking still linger in our minds and perhaps in the drapes too if we’ve burned anything!  Not that I would know about that! But in case I did, I know a way to “clear the air”.

Plants!  Decades ago NASA, yes the THAT NASA, proved plants could remove volatile chemicals from the air Including formaldehyde which is found in, or used to produce, a multitude of everyday  … [Continue reading]

Champagne History


Mon. Dec. 31, 2018

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Champagne History

From “Mad wine” to “the Bubbly” – a history of Champagne – the wine most associated with festive occasions!

The bubbles in the wine are a natural process arising from Champagne’s cold climate and short growing season.  The grapes are picked late in the year. This doesn’t leave enough time for the yeast present on the grape skins to convert the sugar in the pressed grape juice into alcohol before the cold winter temps put a  … [Continue reading]

Deer resistant seeds?


Fri. Dec. 28, 2018

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Deer resistant seeds?

I’ll admit, when I first saw the ad for “Deer resistant seeds”, I thought they were genetically modified somehow.  That shocked me as the ad came from a highly respected seed company known for native plants!  They wouldn’t genetically modify?  Would they?  No, of course not.  So here’s what they did do….

Prairie Moon Nursery out of Winona, MN, has rolled out a deer-resistant seed mix for 2019.  They are a native seed company focused  … [Continue reading]

A glimpse of 2019 AAS winners


Thu. Dec. 27, 2018

Click below to hear my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  A glimpse of 2019 AAS winners

As we start getting all those seed and plant catalogs and start plotting our garden plots… I’ll be sharing some 2019 All America Selection Winners.

Veggies are some of my favorites to begin with as I have a penchant for peppers and tomatoes!

‘Sparky’ is first on MY list.  I love tomatoes and this little cherry is one of the few X-tended Shelf Life (XSL) cherry tomatoes available to home gardeners.

‘Sparky’ is  … [Continue reading]

The creation of All America Selections


Wed. Dec. 26, 2018

Click below to listen to my 2 min Garden Bite radio show:  The creations of All America Selections

The All America Selections for 2019 have been released. 

 The A-A-S designation means those flowers and veggies have been vetted and come out on top!  All America Selections.  

In 1932 a man named Ray Hastings (who owned a seed company) encouraged all seed companies to set up trial grounds, cooperatively test new varieties and agree to develop marketing efforts for new vegetables and flowers.  He recommended a national network of trial  … [Continue reading]

Garden design wrap-up


Fri. Dec. 21, 2018

Click below to listen to my Garden Bite radio show:  Garden design wrap-up

We’re wrapping up our series on the 10 Garden Design Principles as we wrap our heads around this First Day of Winter!  The shortest day of the year….

We’ve talked about using what you have, working with the soil you’ve been given, keeping it simple, planting in mass and trying not to overwhelm yourself by becoming too ambitious.

9. Paths should lead somewhere.  When someone walks down the path in your garden, give them something to  … [Continue reading]