How to Grow Okra: Planting, Care, and Tender Pod Harvests
How to grow okra successfully comes down to two timing decisions: plant into warm soil,…
How to Grow Okra: Planting, Care, and Tender Pod HarvestsRead More
How to grow okra successfully comes down to two timing decisions: plant into warm soil, then pick pods before they become fibrous. The crop tolerates summer heat well, yet an early sowing in cold, wet ground can produce a disappointing start. Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus, is a frost-tender annual with broad leaves, upright stems and pale…
Malabar Spinach: How to Grow and Harvest the Climbing GreenRead More
Malabar spinach is a heat-loving climbing vegetable with thick, glossy leaves and soft stems that wind around a support. Its botanical name is Basella alba. It is unrelated to true spinach, the low-growing crop that often struggles once summer becomes hot. Give this vine warmth, moist soil with drainage and a secure trellis, and it…
How to Grow Milkweed From Seed: Species, Sowing, and TransplantingRead More
How to grow milkweed from seed starts with the botanical name on the packet. Milkweeds belong to the genus Asclepias, and their needs change with the species, seed origin and growing site. A damp winter treatment that suits one temperate seed lot may be unnecessary for a California nursery’s locally sourced material. Start by choosing…
How to Attract Dragonflies: Build Habitat for Adults and NymphsRead More
How to attract dragonflies to your yard depends on which part of their life you can support. Flying adults need hunting space, sunny resting places and shelter. Their young develop underwater, where they hide among plants and catch small aquatic prey before climbing out to become winged adults. A flower border can help visiting adults…
Grow Lights for Seedlings: Choose, Position, and Time Your SetupRead More
Grow lights for seedlings need to deliver enough light across the whole tray, including the small plants tucked into its corners. A bright strip over the middle can leave those outer cells stretching sideways. Moving the strip closer may brighten the center and leave even less of the tray properly lit. White LED shop lights,…
Cold Stratification: Which Seeds Need It and How to Do ItRead More
Cold stratification gives certain dormant seeds a period of cool, moist conditions before they germinate. For these seeds, warmth and water alone may leave the internal dormancy barrier in place. A damp medium in a refrigerator can supply the missing winter-like treatment; outdoor winter sowing can do the same where the weather suits the species….
How to Propagate Hydrangeas From Cuttings: Rooting to First WinterRead More
Learning how to propagate hydrangeas starts with a healthy, nonflowering stem and a place where its leaves can stay hydrated before roots form. Choose flexible growth from the current season, trim below a leaf node, remove the lower leaves, and insert the bare base into moist, freely draining propagation mix. A clear cover helps hold…
How to Propagate Monstera: Find the Node, Root the Cutting, and Pot ItRead More
Before choosing how to propagate Monstera, find a healthy node with an intact growth bud on the main vine. That junction determines whether the cutting can develop a new leafy plant. A glossy leaf in a jar looks promising, especially when a long brown aerial root hangs beside it. Neither appearance proves that the piece…
Types of Blue Flowers: A Visual Guide for US GardensRead More
Types of blue flowers range from low spring bulbs and woodland perennials to trailing summer plants and flowering shrubs. Blue daze and baby blue eyes offer clearly blue blooms; grape hyacinth and balloon flower often lean toward violet. Choose by the plant’s identity, season and growing conditions as well as its color. A close-up can…
Deer Resistant Annuals for Sun, Shade and ContainersRead More
Deer resistant annuals can reduce browsing losses when the plants also suit the garden’s light, soil and summer temperatures. Consider ageratum, French marigold, mealycup sage, cleome or annual vinca for brighter beds, and wax begonia for shaded color. Edging lobelia suits cooler, moist conditions; polka-dot plant contributes patterned foliage in partial shade. Resistance means a…
How to Grow Zinnias From Sowing to Repeat BloomsRead More
How to grow zinnias starts with choosing a variety that fits the space, planting after frost in warm soil and leaving room for its mature branches. Tall cutting types and compact bedding hybrids need different handling. Give both sun, drainage and attentive watering during establishment, then adjust pruning to the plant you chose. A seed…
How to Get Rid of Nutsedge: Identify and Control RegrowthRead More
How to get rid of nutsedge depends on stopping new underground tubers, removing young shoots repeatedly and choosing controls that fit the planted area. Hand removal suits a few plants. A recurring lawn infestation may need a selective sedge treatment labeled for the exact turfgrass. A vegetable bed needs a different approach. The lime-green leaves…
Ground Cherry Plant: Growing and Harvesting PhysalisRead More
A ground cherry plant produces small berries inside papery husks on low, spreading branches. Choose an identified edible garden variety, give it warm growing conditions and leave access beneath the canopy for harvesting. Harvest only fully ripe fruit from a known edible variety. Green fruit, leaves, stems and husks are not for eating. The common…
Cattle Panel Trellis: Build a Secure Garden Arch or PanelRead More
A cattle panel trellis can form a walk-through garden arch or a straight support along a bed. Start with a rigid welded livestock panel, then choose the shape before marking posts. On a common 16-foot by 50-inch panel, the long dimension bends over the path for an arch. The short dimension becomes the depth of…
Bottom Watering Plants: Soak, Drain and Check MoistureRead More
Bottom watering plants means setting a pot with drainage holes in shallow water so the growing medium draws moisture upward. Check that the root zone needs water first. Remove the pot once the mix has moistened adequately, let excess drain and empty the saucer. Leaving an ordinary pot standing in water afterward can keep roots…
Coffee Grounds for Plants: Composting, Use and LimitsRead More
Coffee grounds for plants are best handled as an ingredient in mixed compost, rather than a daily fertilizer scattered around roots. Used grounds contain organic matter and nutrients, but they can also inhibit growth when added directly to soil. Composting changes the material before it reaches a growing bed. Keep grounds to no more than…
