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Don’t give hand pruners as a gift. Here’s why.
I have a long list of gifts that make excellent gifts for gardeners, but I have a short list of things that are poor gifts for gardeners. At the top of that list are hand pruners. My rule for hand...
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Practical gifts for real gardeners
I’m thinking about starting my holiday shopping soon. It appears that I’ve been having a bit too much fun planning for next gardening season and forgot about things like Christmas shopping. If you’re...
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Three ways to grow annual poppies
Gardeners are always looking for the best way to stack the deck in their favor and have the best success growing a plant. But sometimes, there are many ways grow a plant well. Rather than cause...
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Grow peppers + begonias from seed
Thank you to Park Seed for partnering with me on this post. As always, all words and thoughts are my own. You might be asking yourself what begonias and peppers have in common that they’d end up in the...
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Seed abuse in the name of cool plants
There is a tendency to think of plants as delicate things that require coddling, but some demand the opposite treatment. That’s how I found myself in a full-on assault a couple weeks ago as I engaged...
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Party with your plants: Ball Horticultural style
This post is done in partnership with Ball Horticultural, which not only produces amazing plants, but also throws a mean party. Thank you so much to Ball for a fabulous night. If you ever wondered how...
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4 reasons to hold off on fall garden cleanup
For no good reason at all, there is still an annual debate about when you should clean up your garden. Well debate no more, because as far as I’m concerned, the answer is that you should do what’s best...
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Gifts for gardeners: The very best tools
I’ve recommended some garden gear every single year since I discovered it. These are items that I think are so good, I assume they’ll be on my recommendation list forever. I can’t promise that...
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Understanding your new plant hardiness zone
The USDA just updated the plant hardiness zone map for the first time since 2012 and there’s a very good chance you may find yourself in a different zone than you thought you were gardening in. So...
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Gifts for gardeners: Something for everyone
If you have a gardener on your holiday gift list you are a lucky person indeed. Not only do you probably share an interest, you also have an excellent starting point to give them a gift they will...
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2024 Garden Color of the Year: Super silver
At this time of year a lot of people who like to pretend to be experts armed with crystal balls predict trends with a concerning degree of confidence. Pantone’s Color of the Year is selected in a...
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How to choose the best plant
There are two types of plant shoppers: the kind who spots the variety they are looking for and they grab the first one they see and the kind who will look through a minimum of a dozen plants before...
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The all-purpose annual that carries the garden
Thank you to Wave Petunias for partnering with me on this post. I’m often asked a question that is perplexing to me: “Do you grow annuals or perennials?” I don’t fault the people asking the question...
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Planting now for a quick fall harvest
Thanks to Park Seed for partnering with me on this post. As always, all words, thoughts and vegetable opinions are my own. There are gardeners who have spreadsheets and schedules that tell them exactly...
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A repotting project illuminates good and bad container ideas
There is remarkable satisfaction in seeing how a garden project plays out down the road. I recently revisited a pair of Clematis ‘Little Bas’ that I planted in large 24-inch square containers in 2020...
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