Gardener’s Notebook: Quashing quackgrass
My first garden foe, which I haven’t seen for years, recently sneaked into the greenhouse. Damping-off sounds pretty bad, but not as bad as its scientific names: probably Rhizoctonia or Pythium, which, along…
Early warmth + late frosts = garden casualties
The talk of the town these days is the weather – in this town, at least, and other towns throughout the Northeast. After a relatively snowless winter punctuated with warm spells, spring knocked…
Now’s the time to prune shrubs before spring growth begins
In years past, when I went outdoors this time of year, it was usually with skis strapped to my feet. Or wearing snow boots. Or snowshoes. With this snowless, warm winter, I’m mostly…
Gardener’s Notebook: Mystery of the undead rose
It was with red rose in hand – a long-stemmed red rose – that Deb returned from a recent bridal shower. The rose was a party favor, the flower a welcome sight in…
Even indoors, shiitakes just keep on keepin’ on
The 15 oak logs sitting in the shade of my giant Norway spruce tree more than earned their keep last year. Seven of them got inoculated with plugs of shiitake mushroom spawn in…
How to know when to toss your old seeds
“Ring out the old, ring in the new” – but not all the “old,” when it comes to seeds for this year’s garden. I’m flipping through my plastic shoeboxes (I think that’s what…
Cardoon’s questionable
I haven’t yet given up on cardoon – growing it. But eating it? I just about give up. It’s like eating humongous stalks of stringy celery having just a hint of artichoke flavor. As…
Balmy fall means problems for garden plants in spring
The season has been “chill,” literally and figuratively – the former predicted by weather experts based on this year’s strong El Niño. Because of El Niño, the West was pounded with rain; here…
African violets aren’t quite so fussy as they’re reputed
And now, with a bow to my feminine side, a little something about African violets: houseplants that have traditionally been thought of as old ladies’ flowers. Still, I’ll admit it: I like African…
Putting plants’ natural ethylene production to good use
Late fall, and my thoughts turn naturally to…ethylene! You remember ethylene from high school chemistry: a simple hydrocarbon with two carbon atoms double-bonded together with two hydrogen atoms attached to each of the…
