My yard is a delightful mess right now. Delightful because there’s a ton of moisture which makes pulling weeds and tidying up perennials much easier. A mess because…well it was a rough winter. Either way, it’s time to get ready for the yardening season! Don’t let the task of tackling your yard and garden this […]
04
Mar
Mar
With spring right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about all of the wonderful flowers and flavorful vegetables you will plant this year. Yet in our high desert climate, it can often be a challenge to raise some varieties that require a longer growing season than what we typically have here. Vegetables in […]
18
Feb
Feb
With spring right around the corner, those dormant trees, shrubs, and perennials you have in your yard will be starting to wake up soon. Many a gardener has pulled out a plant that appears dead, only to discover later that it was just a late bloomer and wasn’t dead at all. It simply hadn’t broken […]
Winter is the season when many plants in your garden are dormant, but what does dormancy really mean? Technically, the term “dormancy,” as it relates to gardening, refers to a state of temporary metabolic inactivity. In layman’s terms, the plant needs to rest from the growing season and dormancy is mother nature’s way of providing […]
21
Jan
Jan
This week I get to talk about a word that I haven’t been able to use in a few years- snow! If cold weather is beneficial for your garden, then snow is the icing on the cake. The obvious benefit of a good snowpack for any area, and most importantly in our area, is the […]
07
Jan
Jan
Happy Gardening New Year! If you’ve felt like you’ve been living in Antarctica the last few weeks, you’re not alone. The cold temperatures have been downright frigid in some areas. As a gardener, however, I’ve welcomed this venture into the deep freeze! Although you may not realize it right now, the results of a prolonged […]
10
Dec
Dec
It’s hard to think of the holidays without having the colors of green, red, and white immediately come to mind. These seasonal favorites are all colors that originated in nature and have come to be associated with the holiday season. Green is the first color that I always associate with the holidays, perhaps because there […]
30
Nov
Nov
In our high, dry desert climate we often hear customers at the garden center talk about how they’d love to have a live or cut Christmas tree, but that it dries out so fast that they are afraid to bring them into their homes. Moisture loss is certainly of real concern, but the good news […]
12
Nov
Nov
Although many of my fond memories around the holidays involve food, one of my favorites is that of the oranges that we’d get as a present from my Dad each Christmas. My Dad lived in Indian River County, Florida for many years and many family owned groves were literally in his backyard. Each year at […]
Although tulips, daffodils, and crocus are the first flowers to bloom each spring, you can capture that beauty through the winter months as well. Forcing bulbs is a sure fire way to bring this breath of spring indoors even in the dead of winter and it isn’t difficult to do but now is the time […]