with Teri Knight
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Small space garden plants
A small space doesn’t mean you can’t have a garden! I have a raised bed for my vegetables but I also plant in pots. I like to have a few cucumbers but don’t want to give up space for them. ‘Patio Snacker’ is the perfect size cuke to plant in a 15 inch pot with a trellis for the 3 to 5 foot vines to grow on. Bonus, they mature in 50 days!
Peppers … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Seed buying 101
Tis the season of seeds! A perennial topic this time of year as we really start the gears rolling on early seed starting. All America Selections put together some great information regarding seed terminology. Descriptive terms to know as you search out seeds. Click on that link for more.
So what is a “cultivar”? It’s often presented as the ‘variety name’ after the genus and species in seed catalogs. So ‘San Joaquin’ is the cultivar … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Popular annuals for 2023
The plant breeder, Proven Winners, analyzed the most sought-after annuals from nurseries who purchase seeds and/or plugs of plants to grow for their upcoming season and came up with some predictions for the most in-demand Proven Winners annuals for the spring of 2023.
Supertunias tops the list and they happen to have a brand new one called ‘Persimmon’.
First, Supertunias are petunias with more vigor and a more mounded habit. ‘Persimmon’ flowers … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Mexican vacation and plant discoveries
As you know I was on vacation in Mexico a couple of weeks ago and did manage to take a few pictures of the plant life! The hibiscus were blooming. That was a welcome sight in the middle of winter!
The one I id’d easily was Monstera deliciosa. The leaves are WAY larger outside in their native … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: How invasive species get around
We have many invasive plants and insects that affect our ecosystems. It’s hard to imagine NOT having them based on the fact that humans are a traveling invasive species! Centuries ago our ancestors traveled to the Americas bringing with them all kinds of plants and taking other plants back to their homelands.
There wasn’t a thought to the ramifications of what one species would do to the local plant and/or insect populations. … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Should we plant more trees or not?
Is planting trees enough to reverse climate change? Short answer: no.
Last week I re-aired Garden Bites from last year as I was on vacation. One of those was titled a Change of Climate for gardening and I talked about the various ways to help our planet including planting trees.
My arborist friend, Faith Appelquist of Treequality, came out with another awesome article regarding that very thing. She got a … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Buckthorn, bunnies and blue pee
Years ago, I lived on 5 acres in Lakeville, MN. While wandering through the woods, I discovered smurf blue stains in the snow! The property had been a “farm dump”.
After cleaning up a bunch of barbed wire, old farm implements and plastic toys, that blue stain was worrisome. I knew it wasn’t mouthwash that I’d spit out or what I called “Blue Juice” back in my traffic reporting days, out in the … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Valentines Day traditions around the World
Be with someone you love, do something you love, eat something you love, grow something you love!
In the meantime I’ll share some Valentine traditions around the world. In Denmark people traditionally exchange pressed white flowers called snowdrops instead of fresh bouquets. It’s also traditional for people to send their crushes “joke letters” called gaekkebrev. These poems or rhymes are signed only with dots, so the recipient has to guess who … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Symbolism behind the color of flowers
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, just in case you hadn’t heard! Flower color symbolism dates back centuries and is found in most cultures! What DO those colors mean? You might want to know before you buy, just in case your special someone DOES know!
Red, in particular with roses, stands for romantic love and passion, but can also mean desire, strength, courage and respect.
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: A new sunflower for bees and a “parasol” for humans!
Last year I planted several sunflowers in support of Ukraine and also for bees and the finches too!
This year, as I was perusing my Burpee catalog, I noted a new sunflower they’re offering for 2023 called ‘Creme Brulee’.
This is their description: Elegant crowns of golden-yellow petals surround fluffy, amber-bronze centers, a floral reflection of the caramelized sugar atop that fabulous dessert, crème brulee! It really … [Continue reading]