April 13, 2019 - Issue #404

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Today's re-acquisition of this group by NGA brings the research work back to its original home.

We've put together some great gardening gift ideas for your Easter Baskets and Spring Gifts for 2019. All of these ideas are garden themed and thoughtfully chosen for instilling (or displaying!) a love of gardening and the natural world.

For 100 years the American Iris Society has been working with and for iris hybridizers, growers and iris lovers (irisarians) to promote and advance the "flower of the rainbow."

Have you tasted these remarkable miniature kiwis yet? Every bit as delicious as the larger, more familiar fuzzy kiwi, hardy kiwis are much easier to grow and eat (skin and all). And just about every home gardener in North America can grow them.

Leeks have an unfair reputation for being complicated to grow. These delicious, mild-tasting, non-bulbing onion relatives are in fact easy to start from seed and, with some simple techniques, produce long, white stalks that taste great in traditional leek and potato soup, braised in wine, or chopped in casseroles and risottos.

By creating a garden that attracts a range of pollinators, you can provide vital oases amidst seas of buildings and concrete. Kids can play a role in digging shallow pools and mud puddles and providing piles of twigs and animal hair for nesting materials.

Basil is one of the most popular culinary herbs and is used in cooking around the world. It is very symbolic and has a rich history.

The first homegrown salad of the season is an eagerly awaited treat, made from tender lettuce picked fresh from the garden.

Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) is a fast-growing summer annual.

Salvias are a large group of garden plants that includes annuals, biennials, perennials, and shrubs. The perennial salvias are mainstays of the midsummer garden border. Another common name is sage.