… glamorous thing in gardening. When seeds come in the mail, when garden centers start to fill with tempting flowers, when juices start to flow and gardeners' ambitions are highest, drudging … particles pack less closely, leaving more space between for water and air to flow. Sandy soil, with big particles, is most porous and drains almost too well for many plants, letting water … your soil — ideally neutral, or about 7 — and which nutrients it holds. The Plant Information Service can help you find a soil test lab. Soil in Your Pots What about potting soil? Drainage is …
Type: Plant Info
… have positive ecological implications. Dr. Becky Barak Brian Lovejoy (left), Ph.D. student with Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden; Rose Menzies (center), graduate … Tyler Peters (right), research assistant at the University of Michigan-Flint, work on research with the experimental plots. Former lawn alternatives research assistant and graduate student … lawn alternatives; now, we can give them the tools to know which lawn alternatives might match with their goals." The study kicked off in 2021 as a collaboration between Barak; Rebecca …
Type: Blog
… Pollinators are crucial to the health of the planet, helping with everything from the food we eat to the cycle of life. You can welcome pollinators such as … as 100 honeybees. Mason bees pollinate a wide variety of flowers, in addition to fruit trees, with a particular emphasis on the rose family. They are generalists though, so they pollinate … invite nature’s best pollinators to call your garden home. Rot-resistant cedar or redwood are excellent materials to use, but recycling-minded gardeners can reuse whatever wood they have or …
Type: Plant Info
… grow herbs on a south- or west-facing sunny windowsill or under a kitchen cabinet fitted with an LED or other light bulb. If you’re growing them under lights, they should get 10 to 12 … in egg and potato dishes and in gravies. It can be used in a cucumber salad as well as with poultry, cheese, carrots, green beans, peas, or cottage cheese. Once the plant flowers, you … three to four weeks. Chervil is quick to flower and go to seed (bolt) in hot weather. It is excellent in salads, soups, and vinaigrettes and with seafood. When using it in a soup or other …
Type: Plant Info
… to their strongest advantage—not lined up like so many plants on parade, but integrated with companion plantings of soft, sheltering evergreens, ground covers, vines, and perennials, … designed to complement the colors of the roses. The garden is a true stroll garden, with winding paths leading visitors in a circular fashion from the dark, richly red-toned roses … In between these extremes are the floribundas, like Singin' in the Rain ™ and Pink Iceberg ™ . Excellent choices for mixed borders or smaller spaces, the floribundas usually remain shorter and …
Type: Walks
… prominence far removed from its place on the prairie. Switchgrass can produce high yields with very low applications of fertilizer, greatly lessening the need for agricultural chemicals and making it appealing as a crop, along with its perennial nature. Bransby suggests that co-firing switchgrass with coal to produce … is distinctive with this 4- to 5-foot grass. The flower panicles persist for months and are excellent additions to cut-flower arrangements. Even in fall, the foliage remains blue while the …
Type: Plant Info
… any garden-variety diva, they’ve attracted bad press—too temperamental, not playing nicely with others, demanding way too much attention. Tom Soulsby, the horticultural impresario of roses … great flowers, smell great—the holy grail of what you want in a rose,” Soulsby says. It began with the Knock Out ® rose, introduced in 2000 by plant breeder William Radler (who, by the way, … which I use as a quasi-climber in parts of the Garden,” Soulsby said. Because it is large and fast-growing, it’s best for bigger spaces. It blooms in June and July. Above and Beyond ™ …
Type: Blog
… or improper watering and fertilizing techniques," says Johnson. The Garden's Plant Information Service can help if you have questions. Finally, at some point you may need to repot your …
Type: Plant Info
… has for rose gardeners. As the senior horticulturist at the Rose Garden, Tom knows how to deal with roses at every stage of their lives: young and old, tended and in need of pruning, healthy … lot of energy to support an old cane, which therefore won't produce as many flowers. The canes with the potential to produce the most roses will be young, new shoots. Rosa 'Golden Wings' … musts. When it comes to roses, you'll be working with long, whipping canes loaded with thorns—excellent reasons for extra precautions. Need new pruners? The Garden Shop carries these sturdy …
Type: Plant Info
… This got us thinking about the issue of maturing gardens—a topic that every gardener deals with sooner or later. In this issue of Smart Gardener , we offer some thoughts about helping your … few years after renovation is a sanctuary of dappled shade and vivid color in the fall, thick with native shoreline plants, which add a lush texture to the landscape while preventing erosion. … and slabs tilt as tree roots flex their might. Wooden structures cry "uncle" after decades of service. (This spring, our carpentry crew rebuilt —beautifully—the wooden pergola/arbor in the …
Type: Plant Info
