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Gardening 101: Mayapples
Mayapples, Podophyllum peltatum Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) is a native North American woodland plant that goes by many names: mayflower, mandrake, and my favorite, raccoon berry. This low-growing,...
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The Garden Decoder: What Is the ‘Hardening Off’ Process?
Congratulations! You did it. You started from seed and raised all those little seedlings. You gave them the perfect potting mix. You watered, not too much, not too little. You gave them light to grow....
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5 Favorites: Fuss-Free Shrubs that Thrive on Benign Neglect
When you think of shrubs, you likely think of gardening chores—pruning, mulching, and fertilizing. Then there are the pests—scale on euonymus, blight on boxwoods, and ever-present hungry deer. And you...
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Search & Destroy: Scarlet Lily Beetles
I can tell when spring is in full force in many different ways. The longer days! The warmer weather! The beautiful flowers! The birdsong! The social media posts asking what is this bright red bug...
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Gardening 101: Mountain Mint
Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum It seems most of us gardeners love mint—as long as it’s in other people’s gardens, in tea, or in mixed drinks. In our own yards, plants from the Mentha genus—be it...
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Trap Crops: The Best Plants to Grow to Keep Pests Away from Your Vegetables
Wouldn’t be great if you didn’t have to use pesticides to keep bugs from eating your plants? How awesome would it be if you could just plant plants to take care of some of the most common pests? Guess...
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To Deadhead or Not to Deadhead, That Is the Question
To deadhead or not to deadhead—that is the question. Perhaps you’re new to gardening or maybe you have some new plants you’re not familiar with in your garden, and you want to know, do you need to...
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Gardening 101: Golden Alexander
Golden Alexander, Zizia aurea Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) is a native North American perennial wildflower known for its yellow, firework-like blooms that bloom in mid-spring—and, more importantly,...
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Gardening 101: How to Divide Tall Bearded Irises
While summer is normally the time to kick back and enjoy the literal fruits of your labor, there may still be a few gardening tasks lurking—such as that overgrown patch of past-bloom irises that need...
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The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Integrated Pest Management’?
Perhaps you’ve seen the initials “IPM” used by your CSA or at the local farmers’ market. What does it mean and why does it matter? Below, we explain what it is and how you can utilize it in your own...
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Got Powdery Mildew in Your Garden? How to Identify and Eradicate It
As you look over your garden, something catches your eye. There’s a powdery grayness on the leaves of your lilac and maybe your peonies. Maybe your roses or dogwoods have it too. You have powdery...
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The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Aster Yellows’? (And How Do You Stop It?)
As you walk around your garden, something catches your eye: a flower or plant you don’t remember planting. Or did you? Upon closer inspection, you realize you did plant it. But something is wrong. Very...
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August in the Garden: 5 Chores to Do in Late Summer
Summer is winding down, but a gardener’s work is never done. Fall is approaching and there are a few things you need to do to prepare your garden for its arrival. Here are five things to do in August....
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Search & Destroy: Goutweed, the Invasive Ground Cover of Your Nightmares
If I were to tell you there’s a groundcover sold at nurseries that could tolerate a range of conditions—poor soil, shade, and drought—and was deer-resistant with the benefit of being low-maintenance as...
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Time to Thin Out the Garden? How to Divide (and Multiply) Popular Perennials
We divide plants for two main reasons. First is to rejuvenate. As some plants grow older, they bloom less and are less vigorous. Dividing rejuvenates them. Second reason is to get more plants! If you...
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The Next Big Blight? Everything You Need to Know About Beech Leaf Disease
North America has been through more than a few tree blights and insect infestations. Pretty much all of them have been devastating for the affected species as well as the species that rely on the trees...
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Gardening 101: How to Propagate Your Annuals this Fall for Next Summer
Summer is over, and our gardens are slowly slipping into their winter sleep. For perennials, it is a much needed rest to recharge for next year. For most annuals, though—there’s no nice way to say...
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Fall Gardening 101: Autumn Can Be an Ideal Time to Plant. Here’s Why.
Fall is upon us and, naturally, thoughts turn to shutting down the garden for winter and planning next year’s plantings. Thing is, as savvy gardeners know, autumn can be a wonderful time to plant...
View Article5 Favorites: Instagram and TikTok Accounts to Follow for Gardening Advice
While progress in our gardens is very slow in comparison to our frenetic lives (a good thing and why many people garden), sometimes we need to problem solve without waiting—sometimes entire seasons—for...
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Ask the Expert: Doug Tallamy Explains Why (and How to) Leave the Leaves
As leaves fall and the call to “leave the leaves” rises—from major news outlets to your next door neighbor—you may find yourself scratching your head as to how, exactly, to leave the leaves. The slogan...
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Fall Fertilizing: How to Prepare Your Lawn, Shrubs, Trees, and Perennials for...
In addition to fall being a great time to get new plants in the ground, it can also be an ideal season to fertilize your lawn, trees, shrubs, and perennials. But you have to do it correctly: During...
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December in the Garden: ‘Tis the Season…to Plant?
December is an interesting month for most. It’s filled with fun things like parties and holidays, but the fun is inevitably accompanied by a whole lot of chores and stress. Wouldn’t it be great to get...
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Greatest Hits 2023: Low-Maintenance Flowers that Thrive on Benign Neglect
For this last week of 2023, we’re republishing the year’s top-performing posts on Gardenista. Enjoy this crowd-pleaser, first published March 7, all over again. Gardening is relaxing, joyous, and...
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Extend the Holidays: How to Care for Poinsettias, Amaryllis, and Other...
The new year brings clean slates, changing trends, fresh resolutions—and new houseplants. Remember that orchid a friend brought to your dinner party? Or the festive poinsettia you brought home? They’re...
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The New USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map: What Does It Mean for You?
Even if you’ve never seen a copy of the USDA hardiness map, you’ve likely comes across its zones mentioned on the backs of seed packets, on plant tags, and in plant guides on website like ours. More...
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The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Marcescence’?
You go for a long walk in the woods on a quiet winter day. All you hear is the crunching of snow as your boots hit the trail. The breeze picks up. And then you hear it. It starts out as a rustle, grows...
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The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Thermonasty’? (Hint: Your Rhodendron’s Secret...
Baby, it’s cold outside! How cold? Let’s go check the rhododendrons. Wait…what? What do rhododendrons have to do with figuring out how cold it is? Some rhododendrons exhibit thermonasty. Which means,...
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Prune This, Not That: A Guide to the Plants that Can Get Winter Cuts
February is a weird month—far enough away from the year-end holiday festivities for them to feel like a distant memory and yet, with the dreary days, also far from the exuberance of spring. On some...
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Digging Deeper: Why Are My Daffodils Popping Up Early?
Spring is just around the corner (if you believe a certain underground rodent)—but that doesn’t mean winter is kaput. Your garden may be warming up, then suddenly get covered under several inches of...
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The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Damping Off’?
You promised yourself you’d do better this year and start your seeds on time. You have the supplies, the seeds, a good location with a lot of light (or a grow light). You’ve checked the back of the...
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Indoor Gardening 101: The What, When, and How of Repotting Plants
Do your plants need to be repotted? What are the signs they have outgrown their pots? How do you actually repot anyway? Will repotting hurt your plant? Repotting isn’t hard. Let’s get started. N.B.:...
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Leave the Leaves…Again: 7 Reasons to Keep Fallen Leaves in the Spring, Too
Spring is in the air, and for many gardeners, that means it’s time to start cleaning up the yard. But what if I told you that your garden beds will be better off with a little mess? Leaving the leaves...
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5 Tips to Try from ‘A Year Full of Pots,’ Sarah Raven’s New Book
We are longtime admirers of English writer, cook, and gardener Sarah Raven, so we were super-excited to learn that her newest book, A Year Full of Pots, is now in bookstores. In this how-to guide on...
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The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Pee-Cycling’?
What if I told you that you have unlimited access to one of nature’s best fertilizers? And best of all, it’s easy to make and free? Read on to learn all about pee-cycling. What is ‘pee-cycling’? Above:...
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5 Favorites: Flowers to Sow in June for an Autumn Bloom
Even though Memorial Day is behind us, we’re still technically in the midst of spring (summer solstice falls on June 20 this year). This means you still have time to direct-sow seeds in your garden to...
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The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Ramial Mulch’?
When mulching your garden, you have many, many choices: shredded hardwood, pine needles, straw, and seashells, to name a few. One of the most common materials used for mulching is wood chips. But not...
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What to Plant in July for a Late Summer/Early Fall Harvest
You’ve pulled your neglected bolted lettuce and harvested your hardneck garlic. You have holes in your garden bed and it seems a waste not to fill them. But with what? July is a great time to sow the...
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Growing Tomatoes? 5 Gardening Tasks in July for an Excellent Harvest
July is the tastiest month of the year. So many delicious crops ripen this month—corn, watermelon, peaches, and the home-garden favorite, tomatoes. By now your tomatoes are hitting their stride, with...
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Gardening 101: 7 Things to Do in the Garden this Fall to Prepare for Next Spring
While spring may seem like a long way away—summer doesn’t even technically end until September 22—there are things you can do over the next month or so to prepare your garden for a successful spring....
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Fall Gardening 101: How to Ripen Green Tomatoes Off the Vine
Many home gardeners associate tomatoes only with summer. And after Labor Day, many move on to fall things, like apple picking and leaf peeping. But the weather is still warm and there are many green...
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