Category: Plants
New Vegetable Varieties 2012
What better way to scratch your gardening itch this winter than to page through garden catalogs or surf websites with the promise of mouth-watering produce for the coming growing season! Here’s a look at just a few of the new vegetable seed offerings for 2012. Try a few alongside your old standby favorites so that you can compare performance in your garden. Following the description of each vegetable is the number of days to maturity […]
Question and Answer
Q. Saw your article the other day about bulbs blooming in winter. I’ve never seen January budding snowdrops. When do they normally bloom? My daffodil’s are up about 3 inches! Also, I would like info on flowers to plant in clay-like soil. I would like perennials that bloom quite a bit of the summer and in partial shade or full sun. I have planted many flowers and half don’t live or don’t come up the next […]
Question and Answer
Q. I had to harvest quite a few tomatoes that weren’t quite ripe yet to avoid the frost. What can I do with these now? A. Tomatoes will continue to ripen off the vine if they have reached the critical stage of development called mature green. If the tomatoes have not hit that stage yet, they will remain green once removed from the plant. Mature green tomatoes are about normal size and have a whitish-green […]
Coping With Storm-Damaged Trees
Homeowners assessing tree damage caused by recent storms will want to make a few important decisions soon. Small trees with minor damage can probably be taken care of by the homeowner but large mature trees likely will need the help of a professional tree service. It can be hard to decide whether trees with severe damage should be completely removed. Homeowners often are reluctant to cut down a tree, either because of sentimental attachment or […]
Question and Answer
Q. I have grown impatiens on the north side of my home in containers for a number of years. Until the last 4 or 5 years they have been great, lush and beautiful. Now for the last few years they have black dots appearing on the leaves and blossoms with the dots eventually turning yellow. The plants are stunted and just seem to be hanging on, never really becoming bountiful and lush as in years past. I have changed […]
Question and Answer
Q. I lost every one of my rhubarb plants late last summer and fall. The plants started dying at one end of the row and just worked on down the row to the opposite end. Someone told me it was due to grubs; another told me that it was moles eating the grubs. Since this is a plant I intend to eat, whatever I use needs to be food safe. A. It is unlikely that […]
Question and Answer
Q. We have an older Bartlett pear tree. It bears a lot of fruit almost every year. The pears rot around the core on the tree. I understand there was a problem last year with a lot of fruit trees, especially apple trees. But our pears rot each year and seem to be getting worse. The pears are big but rotten around the core first, and then the whole pear rots. What can I try, […]
Coping With Storm-Damaged Trees
Homeowners assessing tree damage caused by recent storms will want to make a few important decisions soon. Small trees with minor damage can probably be taken care of by the homeowner but large mature trees likely will need the help of a professional tree service. It can be hard to decide whether trees with severe damage should be completely removed. Homeowners often are reluctant to cut down a tree, either because of sentimental attachment or […]
Norfolk Island Pine Needs TLC
Unlike most pines that are familiar to Midwesterners, the Norfolk Island pine is far too tender to plant outdoors in our climate and, in fact, is not a true pine at all. But the good news is that it makes an elegant houseplant when given proper care. It also makes a terrific living Christmas tree; its lush green twigs of soft needles provide a lovely backdrop for festive holiday ornaments. Norfolk Island Pine Known botanically […]