Read on to learn all about growing mountain laurel in the landscape. Kalmia latifolia If you are lucky enough to visit the Blue Ridge Mountains in late May when the wild mountain laurel blooms, you are in for a spectacular show. It has been several years since I moved from western North Carolina up to Vermont, but when spring comes around I still pine for mountain laurel blooming season in the Smokies....

In this guide, we’ll get you started by exploring some strategies for propagating, cultivating, and maintaining these plants, including how to manage pests and disease and best utilize them in your outdoor space. Anemonoides nemorosa and A. quinquefolia Wood anemones are spring ephemerals that quickly burst above the surface of humus-rich soils under and around tree-filled areas in the early spring, only to die back in midsummer to lie dormant until the following year....

Succulents Looking to add some Aloe Vera to your indoor or outdoor garden? This particular plant is quite popular and has a wide variety of uses. In this article, gardening expert Emily Horn walks through every step you'll need to follow in order to plant, grow, and care for Aloe Vera. By Emily Horn Last updated: January 11, 2023 | 16 min read If you have been considering indoor gardening as a hobby, look no further than aloe vera as your next, or even first, addition to your houseplant collection....

In this article, I’ll include options for growing these vegetables in different conditions so you can find the best way to bring your plants to a tasty harvest. Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus If you love to eat artichokes, why not grow your own fresh supply? You can grow this highly ornamental plant in your garden or yard, where its silvery foliage can do double duty as a striking landscape feature....

How to Make a Book Planter First, learn how to make a book planter a super quick way. Get super cheap old books from the thrift store, yard sale, library or friends. Remember, you’ll need to use thick hardback or hardcover books for this purpose. Why? Because hardcover books have protective covers. The steps are simple, glue the pages together and measure a rectangular box on the front page of your book....

To avoid the late season, colorless doldrums, choose from our list of the best perennials to add vibrant shades to the late summer garden. By the time mid-summer rolls around, us gardeners are looking to enjoy the fruits of our labors. We put in those long hours in early spring to prep, shop, and plant, and now it’s time to kick back and enjoy the season. The veggie patch yield is increasing daily, containers of annuals are established and thriving, and the perennial garden is… well, yikes, it looks kind of tired and needs some help!...

What are the benefits of vertical gardening? One of the biggest advantages of growing vertically is that it saves space in the garden, so you can grow more in the same amount of space. But there are so many other wonderful reasons to grow vertically! Below I will discuss each of the vertical gardening benefits in detail. Benefits Of Vertical Gardening Not only does it look cool, but there are lots of advantages of vertical gardening....

By Matt Gibson Trying to decide between a vegetable garden or a flower garden? Let’s look at the differences between vegetable gardens and flower gardens and talk about the pros and cons of each type. Then we can talk about a third option, interplanting! Interplanting is the best way to blend the two garden types together harmoniously in a way that is beneficial to all the plants that you choose to cultivate....

By Erin Marissa Russell Are you curious what happened to the Zera Food Recycler? We’ll get you up to date in this article. Now discontinued, the Zera Food Recycler was a product of the Whirlpool Corporation. The Food Recycler was able to turn a week’s worth of food scraps into fertilizer for the garden in just 24 hours. The company took preorders on Indiegogo for the Food Recycler. In this fashion, the project was crowdfunded through the site....

QUESTION: What is double digging in a garden? I saw it in a vegetable gardening book and I don’t even know what it means. ANSWER: Double digging is a great way to get better soil, faster. The idea is to remove the topsoil of your garden bed. Once the topsoil is removed, add compost or other organic matter in the exposed layer. This will amend the dirt in your garden plot....

QUESTION: What is the best fertilizer for broccoli? When should I fertilize broccoli plants? -Tim L. ANSWER: Start off with using a high-quality, all-purpose 20-20-20 fertilizer at the start. Use this fertilizer when transplanting your young broccoli plants into their final location. Be sure to follow package directions. Liquid fertilizers are easier to apply. Granular products are also relatively easy and can cost less. Remember to water your broccoli right after fertilizing....

I always assumed that cacti just had spines for protection, but it turns out they have many more functions and are really quite remarkable adaptations. They help cacti overcome the difficulties of living in desert conditions in a variety of interesting ways. Why do cacti have spines? Spines help cacti to thrive in desert environments by providing multiple functions. They protect the plant from predators, provide shade, help regulate temperature, reduce water loss and even help the plant to spread and reproduce....

These Beautiful Golden Plants for Hanging Baskets add a subtle color to your plant collection with their eye-catching, dangling foliage and look great in patios, balconies, and gardens! Here are the best trailing foliage plants for hanging baskets Beautiful Golden Plants for Hanging Baskets 1. Creeping Jenny Botanical Name: Lysimachia nummularia The plant is also popular by the name moneywort, thanks to its coin-shaped leaves. For the best yellow shade, grow it in full sun as the leaves take a brown hue in the shade....

Flowers spread color and joy and complement the garden, but do you know about the most Common Flowers that are Poisonous? If you have children and pets, you should avoid growing these Toxic Flowers! Common Flowers that are Poisonous 1. Hydrangeas Be extra careful when growing hydrangeas, and don’t keep them indoors if you have cats and dogs. Hydrangeas contain a small amount of cyanide and can be lethal if ingested in very large quantities....

Check out our list of 13 eerie plants sure to give you the heebie-jeebies this October! Why spend the money on a bunch of flimsy plastic Halloween decorations when you could just grow your own? Nature is full of plants with creepy colors, twisting vines, and spiky stems. Some devour whole insects or are viciously aggressive towards other plants, others are associated with bizarre history and scary stories. Take your decor up a notch this Halloween and try decorating your home and yard with a collection of spooky plants!...

Read on to discover 15 plants that are either true annuals, or tender perennials commonly grown as annuals, with vivid hues that shout, “Welcome, fall!” The end of summer doesn’t have to mean the end of color in the garden. With bright annuals, you can rejuvenate the autumn garden and extend the growing season until the winter winds blow. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

Jasmine flowers are popular for their pristine beauty and mind-blowing fragrance. These are also not much demanding and thrive on neglect after maturity. You can grow jasmine flowers on hedges, trellis, arbors, and wall-side borders. Here are some of the best Types of Jasmine Flowers famous for their amazing fragrance! Check out our article on some great jasmine plant benefits here. Best Types of Jasmine Flowers 1. Common Jasmine Botanical Name: Jasminum officinale...

No matter who you are, Mediterranean herbs are a must-have for your herb garden. Originating from the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, these herbs prefer warm climates and well draining soils. Table of Contents Each of these spices or herbs gives a regional expression to the dishes it’s used in. Depending on the Mediterranean spices and herbs you use in cooking, your dish can be Greek, Turkish, Italian, and so on!...

Also known as zebra cactus, there are not just one or two of them but almost two dozen of plants with a striking striped appearance like a zebra skin. Perfect for modern decor, these 21 Different Types of Zebra Plants are easy to grow as well. Check out our article on growing Haworthias here Haworthiopsis attenuata vs. Haworthiopsis fasciata Note: This succulent is often confused with Haworthiopsis fasciata–you can easily differentiate among two as H....

By Erin Marissa Russell They say that gardeners are easy to shop for, because you can’t go wrong giving a gardener a plant—but what about when you need a gift for the gardener who has everything? Some people have such huge plant collections that you just know anything you pick out will simply be a duplicate of a plant they already have. That’s where we come in. We’ve curated this list of 24 rare plants that make excellent gifts for those gardeners that are so hard to shop for because they’ve already grown practically everything—or maybe you’re the one who has tried growing all the common plants for gardeners in your area and is looking for something new....