How to Prune Tomato Plants: What to Cut and When
How to prune tomato plants depends on their growth habit, the support holding them, and…
How to Prune Basil for a Bushier Plant and Repeat HarvestsRead More
How to prune basil starts with finding a healthy pair of leaves below the growing tip, then cutting the stem just above that pair. Leave the leaves and the small buds beside their attachment points on the plant. Removing the tip gives those side shoots an opportunity to grow, changing one long stem into a…
Purple Flowers: Names, Pictures and Garden ChoicesRead More
Purple flowers include the upright spikes of salvia and blazing star, the broad blooms of clematis, and the small faces of pansies. Their shared color can hide very different needs. A sunny, dry border, a partly shaded woodland edge and a hanging basket each call for a different plant. Start by matching the flower’s shape…
Green Caterpillar Identification: Garden Species and SignsRead More
A green caterpillar on a tomato, cabbage or parsley plant can call for three different responses. One may strip a crop, another may become a butterfly you want in the garden, and a spiny species may be unsafe to touch. Start with the plant it is eating, then compare its markings, body shape and movement….
Hydrangea Fertilizer: When to Feed and When Not ToRead More
Hydrangea fertilizer is useful when a plant needs nutrients; it cannot replace flower buds lost to pruning, frost or deer. A vigorous shrub with green leaves and few blooms may already have enough food. Adding another high-nitrogen product can encourage more leafy growth without correcting the reason flowers are missing. Start with the plant’s identity,…
How to Prune Tomato Plants: What to Cut and WhenRead More
How to prune tomato plants depends on their growth habit, the support holding them, and which shoots are already carrying fruit. On an indeterminate plant trained up a string, removing selected side shoots keeps the chosen stems manageable. On a bushy determinate tomato, the same cuts can remove much of the coming harvest. Before cutting,…
How to Grow Potatoes in a Bucket: Drainage, Planting, and HarvestRead More
How to grow potatoes in a bucket starts with a safe container, working drainage and enough loose growing medium around the seed tuber. A small bucket can produce potatoes. It also gives roots a limited supply of space and water, so filling it higher is not a substitute for managing those conditions. Use certified seed…
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…
