Basil Varieties

Common basil (Ocimum basilicum) includes a number of different basils most commonly used for cooking. Sweet basil Your basic basil, with large leaves and white flowers. The Genovese variety (names include Sweet Genovese and Genovese or Genova Profumitissima) is particularly nice, with a very pleasing flavor preferred for pestos. I've also found it a vigorous, luxuriant grower, slow to bolt.

Guidelines for Successful Tree Planting

Planting a tree is a long-term investment. Your tree will do the best if you take the time to get it off to the best start by planting and caring for it correctly.

Gardening Tips for Attracting Birds

The National Wildlife Federation has designated the entire month of May as Garden for Wildlife Month. Next up in our weekly series about creating wildlife habitat gardens are some tips on attracting birds from the Federation's Naturalist David Mizejewski.

Planning for Peaches

Few gastronomical treats come close to the season's first bite into a peach: the faint tingle of fuzz on your lips, the flesh, softer and sweeter than you remembered, and the trickle of juice down your chin, warm, sticky, and wonderful.

Maintaining Container Gardens

These simple maintenance tasks keep your patio planters and window boxes looking their best throughout the growing season and help cold-climate gardeners prepare for winter.

What's a pre-digested fertilizer?

Organic gardeners are faced with many challenges that come with growing food naturally, without the use of chemicals and pesticides. One of the biggest challenges has to do with how we feed our plants, and learning exactly why organic fertilizers take so long to be converted into plant food may help organic growers overcome some of these challenges.