Emperor Tulips Truly Are PerennialTry planting these larger-flowered tulips that will return faithfully year after year.
Collect Curbside Fall Leaves for Free MulchEach fall the last task to put the garden to sleep is to mulch everything with a thick blanket of fallen leaves. If you are like me, you don't have enough of your own to go on all of your beds. So, I go around my neighborhood and collect the bagged leaves put out by the curb.
Get Your Backyard Birds To Eat Those Tomato HornwormsI hardly ever can spot those nasty tomato hornworms. I let my feathered friends do it for me.
Juliet Grape Tomatoes. Productive and FoolproofTry these remarkably carefree and productive grape-shaped tomatoes for salads or for eating fresh.
Plant Saucers Attract Bathing BirdsBirds don't care if you keep it simple and don't spend money on fancy birdbaths.
Attract Songbirds with Fruiting ShrubsMany of us put seed out to attract backyard birds, but we can bring even more birds to the garden by adding summer fruiting shrubs.
Cover Crops for Beauty and the BeesCover crops are very useful to attract bees and other beneficial insects. They are most often used as green manures to enrich the soil, but I just grow them because they are pretty and they attract pollinators.
Milkweed, in SeedIn late summer Milkweed pods dry and burst open, showing seeds with silky parachutes.
Reuse Potting MixAre you doing a lot of container gardening? The potting mixes always say you should use fresh mix each year, but here is a way to save a little money.
Many Veggies Taste Best RawLots of summer veggies taste great raw, straight from the garden.
Make Your Ponds More Inviting to FrogsEver wonder why some ponds have frogs and others don't? Help the frogs out with pond plants.
Use Q-Tips To Pollinate Summer SquashA lack of bees in the early spring means that your summer squash might not develop. Help them out by pollinating those flowers yourself.
Red Currants. These Old-Time Shrub Fruits Are Easy To GrowRed Currants grew in our garden from the time of my childhood. My mother cooked them for jams, but I loved to simply pick them and eat them fresh.
Parking Lot DayliliesIn towns and cities all over Long Island, daylilies brighten shopping center parking lots with lively blooms.
Have a Slope That's Too Steep To Mow? Plant DayliliesHow I transformed my grassy slope into a paradise of daylily blooms.
Silk Road Lilies Are the Tallest in my GardenDo you want flowers with a haunting perfume that drifts through the garden? I recommend Silk Road.
Cypress Vine and Cardinal Climber Attract HummingbirdsIt's what every garden needs: a climbing plant that attracts hummingbirds.
Showy Mexican SunflowersMexican Sunflowers attract butterflies, honeybees, goldfinches, and hummingbirds to the garden. They are easily grown by seed, so give them a try in your garden this year!
Start Replacement Summer Squash Plants To Stay Ahead of Squash Vine BorersOne way to stay ahead of SVB damage is the practice of succession planting to keep your squash harvest going.
Corner Iris Garden Is Easy To MakeGrouping tall bearded iris plants in a front corner added a favorite focal point to an underused spot.
Stock Tank PondSink a stock tank in the ground and cover the edges with large flat rocks for a natural look.
Grow Eggplants in PotsHeat-loving eggplant thrives in containers. Take advantage of your sunniest location and use containers to grow eggplant.
A Favorite Spot by the Pond in SpringGardens are constantly changing. They need weeding and pruning, but every once in a while for a frozen moment in time, everything looks just perfect.
Tulips in Every Form and SizeTulips are a beautiful addition to every garden and come in many shapes and sizes.
Scilla sardensisMaybe you are looking for something different from the usual early spring blooms of crocus. Try the lovely bright blue blooms of Scilla sardensis.
Annual Sunflowers Are Pretty and Easy To GrowBig, bold and beautiful. Sunflowers make a grand statement.
Bamboo Poles Make Instant TepeesNeed a quick easy fix for those climbing peas or shorter vines? Simply use some bamboo stakes.
Brightly Colored Berries for Winter Beauty and Attracting Songbirds.An easily accomplished way of adding interest and color to your winter garden is by planting winter fruiting shrubs.
Reuse Your Seedling Cell Packs To Start Your Own SeedsSeed starting is easy when you reuse those garden center cell packs.
Use a Tall Shepherd Hook To Hang Suet FeedersKeep the suet away from squirrels and raccoons by using a shepherd hook to hang the suet cage.
Short on Space But Want Home-Grown Peas? Grow Peas in Pots.Any type of garden peas, including snap peas, snow peas and shelling peas, can be easily and successfully grown in large pots.
Mulch Those Daylilies with Fall LeavesEach fall I use the abundance of free leaves to heavily mulch my daylily gardens before the winter.
Want To Extend Your Bloom Season? Go with Late Bloomers. Here's HowDaylily bloom season never seems to last long enough to please us all, but around here it lasts for months longer than it used to when my garden was first planted.
Paver Method for Sinking Small Round Preformed Ponds in GroundRound preformed fiberglass ponds are made to be buried in the ground. Sinking looks natural, but makes them harder to clean. Adding landscape blocks around the edges makes cleaning easy.
Plant Species Crocus in the Lawn.Species crocuses usually have smaller flowers and smaller bulbs. One way to show them off in your garden is to plant them in lawn areas.
Tulips Among the Siberian IrisesAdd tulips between your clumps of Siberian irises and add an early season of bloom.
Above-Ground Ponds Are Easy: No Digging RequiredYou can easily have a small decorative pond by using a preformed ready-made patio pond.
Grow Your Cucumbers Vertically and Save Space.If you are short on space in your vegetable garden, as I am, then up is the way to go!
Instant Daylily Garden by Moving ClumpsI needed to move daylily clumps from an area in the backyard and was able to create an instant daylily garden in the front yard.
Tomato Cages for Pole BeansPole Beans save on space but need something to climb on.
Plant PortulacasWhether you call them Portulaca or Moss Rose, these low-growing bedding plants are a colorful and easy solution to that barren, hot, and dry garden spot where nothing seems to want to grow.
Add Water Hyacinths to Your PondWater Hyacinths will float on the surface and give your pond fish needed shade and places to hide from overhead predators. Water Hyacinths also give pond frogs safe places to sit when they are not in the water.
Support Your Tomato Plants Using Florida WeaveInstead of using cages or posts, try using the Florida Weave method to support your tomato plants.
Which Paste Tomato Should You Grow?Many of us grow paste-type tomatoes especially for cooking. Let's take a closer look at Roma and Viva Italia.
Make Room for Tomatoes in the LawnNo room for a conventional veggie garden? Think outside the box. I put new garden beds in the lawn.
Parsley and Dill Do Double DutyThese two common garden herbs are useful both for adding flavor to our cooking and for attracting butterflies to our gardens as host plants.
Roses and Lilies Belong TogetherI love the look of lilies planted between roses. The blooms complement each other when occurring at the same time or just give you extra color if blooming separately.
Rose Care in My Long Island GardenI have my own spraying and fertilizing routine worked out to keep my roses free of fungus and full of bloom.
Crowd your Roses for a Jumble of ColorConventional wisdom advises plenty of space between rose bushes for best results. Instead I break the rules, plant very closely together, and benefit from a riot of color.
Zinnias, Old-Fashioned Annuals for the Modern GardenZinnias are in constant bloom from late spring till frost. These vibrant colorful flowers come in a rainbow of colors and are attractive to butterflies and gardeners. Zinnias are so easy to grow and make wonderful cut flowers.
Bok ChoiBok Choi is a common ingredient in Asian Cooking. It can be stir fried or added to soups. But did you know that it is easy to grow your own from seed?
Grow Tatsoi, A Delicious Asian GreenLooking for something new to add to salad? Try Tatsoi Asian greens. Or serve as a quick stir-fry side dish. Steam it, stir fry it, or add it to soups. Tatsoi is versatile, pretty, and so easy to grow.
Tulip 'Beauty of Apeldoorn' for Beautiful Colors in SpringSometimes they are solid yellow and sometimes solid red, often yellow with red streaks, or red with yellow streaks. If you want similar warm colors that bloom at the same time, then plant 'Beauty of Apeldoorn' tulips.
How To Deal with Poison IvyLeaves of three, leave it be. What if you accidentally touched it? Here's how to stop the rash of Poison Ivy before it starts.
Scapes and StalksDid you know that daylilies bloom on scapes while irises bloom on stalks?
Daylilies in a Cottage GardenA daylily photo tour of my cottage garden daylily beds.
Daylilies and Spring Bulbs: the Perfect CombinationNow that it is fall, it is time to plant your spring bulbs. And what better place to add spring bulbs than in your daylily beds? Be sure to add some bulbs in and around your daylily gardens.
Ditch Lilies en MasseCommon ditch lilies are an effective landscape tool for erosion control and summer blooms.
Add Bulb Lilies to Your Daylily Garden and Add HeightBy planting Asiatic Lilies in your beds among your daylilies, you will add height and visual interest even before those daylilies bloom. Asiatics are early-blooming lilies, which bloom before most daylilies have started blooming for the season. It is easy to make room for the Asiatic Lilies because they are tall and skinny.
Feed Birds on the DrivewayTo keep birdseed from sprouting in your garden areas, toss mixed seed on a section of your driveway.
Add Cracked Corn to Your Birdseed Mix and Feed the SquirrelsAdding cracked corn stretches your mixed-seed budget and satisfies the squirrels. You can buy cracked corn in any farm feed store in large 50-pound bags.
Iris reticulata for Extremely Early Spring BloomPlant these charmingly diminutive bulb irises for an early flower show.
Cyclamineus Daffodils Add Charm to the Spring GardenFor a wind-blown look, plant daffodils of the Cyclamineus class. These early bloomers feature reflexed flower petals that have a wind-blown or bird-in-flight look.
Double Your Spring Bulb Flowers with Tulips and DaffodilsTo have more interest and blooms in the spring garden, plant early blooming daffodils behind later blooming Darwin Tulips. By the time the tulips begin blooming, the daffodils will have finished blooming, and the tulip blooms will help hide the daffodil foliage.
Roses in a Cottage GardenI love my roses, but I have never cared for the look of any formal type of garden, not even rose gardens. Instead, I have planted my many roses informally in my garden, which is very much a cottage garden. Take a picture tour with me to see my roses.
Daylilies in the Landscape: A Photo TourDaylilies can be mixed for multi-season appeal and they play great with other plants. Come view some selected photos of my daylily garden beds.
