New England Regional Report

Gardening is a Natural High

Last night as I was picking delicacies for a fruit salad -- blueberries and strawberries and cherries and blackberries, all within a few yards of my back door, I was thinking about why gardening makes me feel so happy. It's partly the food value,...
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Resources

Natural Gardening in Small Spaces
Planting Lilacs

Fertilize Container Plants
Patrol for Japanese Beetles
Save Lupine Seeds
Stake Tall Dahlias
Keep Compost Pile Moist

Wildlife Musings

A grey catbird has claimed the tippy top of a birch tree in my backyard as his new roost. He serenades us morning and night with his impressively wide-ranging vocalizations and isn't even deterred when we eat on the back deck within 50 feet of him. A...
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Resources

Visit Gardens While on Vacation
Donate Extra Harvests

Take Advantage of Discounted Perennials
Keep Tomatoes Evenly Watered
Propagate Oriental Poppies
Fertilize Blueberries
Fertilize Container Plantings

Gardening With a 5 A Day Dog

My yellow lab, Sophie, is very single-minded. She lives for food ... fresh or rotten, it makes no difference. She'll tear into a garbage bag if given half a chance, gorge until she makes herself sick, then do it all again the next time the opportunity...
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Resources

Dogs in the Garden
Serenade Disease Control

Seed Summer Lettuce
Pinch Basil
Trim Back Early-Blooming Perennials
Snip Low Tomato Suckers
Cultivate After a Heavy Rain

Strawberry Season

Strawberry rhubarb pie is one of my favorite springtime treats, and although I grow both rhubarb and strawberries, I've never been able to make a pie using only fresh fruit from my garden. The rhubarb is always past its prime by the time the...
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Resources

Garden in the Woods
Make a Nursery Bed

Edge Garden Beds
Raise Containers Off the Ground
Deadhead Early Bloomers
Pruning Early-Blooming Clematis
Remove Moldy Strawberries

The Root of the Matter

Here's a little quiz to test your root IQ: 1. When you're planting a six-pack of annuals, what's the best way to deal with root-bound seedlings? Is it (a) tease the roots apart before planting, or (b) leave the rootball intact? 2. Is the...
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Resources

Skip the Gravel in Containers
Roots Demystified

Shorten Tall Perennials
Keeping Tulips Blooming
Foil Lily Leaf Beetles
Make a Nursery Bed
Remove Tree Suckers and Weeds

A Summer of Easy-Care Roses

What if there were plants you could grow around your home whose beauty and fragrance stopped you in your tracks every time you walked by? And what if that's about all the attention they needed? A multitude of roses offer all these attributes and more,...
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Resources

Cutting Roses
Black Lace Elderberry

Support Peonies
Attract Birds With Moving Water
Relocate Bulbs After Flowering
Pinching for More Flowers
Multiply Ground Covers

Welcoming Birds and Bees

No matter what motivates us to garden -- healthy food, beauty, relaxation, family fun -- we are not the only beneficiaries. Birds, insects, and other wildlife derive sustenance and shelter from what we grow. We may plant viburnums for their spring...
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Resources

Reducing Floppy Hydrangea Flowers
The Wildlife Gardener's Guide

Rooting Pussy Willow Branches
Warming Up the Soil
Remove Leaves Around Roses
Promoting Sturdier Transplants
Plant Rhubarb

Ode to Mulch

Spring is the time of year when a gardener's fancy turns to thoughts of ... mulch. The semi-annual ritual of mulching may not be as high on the list as romance, but it certainly is as much a rite of spring, giving gardeners SOMETHING to do in the garden...
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Resources

Choose the Right Rake for the Job
Amelanchier

Treat Lawns with Corn Gluten
Start Early Greens Indoors
Patch Lawn in Spring
Pruning Woody Perennials
Sow Peas

Essential Tender Summer Bulbs

My garden is still buried underneath mounds of snow and this morning the temperature was in the single digits. But the calendar says it's spring, and it must have spread the word to my overwintered summer bulbs because the potted crocosmias that I moved...
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Resources

Make Room for Clematis
Garden Conservancy Open Days

Remove Strawberry Mulch
Rotate Crops in Veggie Garden
Sow Early Crops
Move Shrubs and Small Trees
Control Lawn Weeds With Corn Gluten

The Survivor Tree

One evening last fall when I was in Oklahoma City for a Garden Writer's Association symposium, I walked to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum that honors those who lost their lives and those whose lives were forever changed by the 1995...
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Resources

Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs
Rejuvenating Lilacs

Finish Pruning Trees and Shrubs
Check for Frost-Heaved Perennials
Cut Back Ornamental Grasses
Spray Lightweight Oil on Houseplants
Spray Trees with Dormant Oil

Into the Dark With Foliage and Flowers

A diminutive pansy was the first black plant to turn my head. It was such a rich, velvety color I couldn't resist it at the garden center. It was a knockout in my garden, interspersed with annual peachy pink phlox. Next, I planted some deep purple-black...
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Resources

Sea Holly
New England Spring Flower Show

Cut Branches for Forcing
Start Perennial Seeds
Order Fruit Trees
Begin Fertilizing Houseplants
Warding Off Seedling Disease

New England Regional Report

Gardening is a Natural High

Resources

Reminders

Wildlife Musings

Resources

Reminders

Gardening With a 5 A Day Dog

Resources

Reminders

Strawberry Season

Resources

Reminders

The Root of the Matter

Resources

Reminders

A Summer of Easy-Care Roses

Resources

Reminders

Welcoming Birds and Bees

Resources

Reminders

Ode to Mulch

Resources

Reminders

Essential Tender Summer Bulbs

Resources

Reminders

The Survivor Tree

Resources

Reminders

Into the Dark With Foliage and Flowers

Resources

Reminders