 The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies. -Gertrude Jekyll
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Rediscovering Zinnias
While gardening generally requires patience, this isn't the case with zinnias, one of the quickest flowers to bloom from seed. The huge range of flower colors, types, and sizes provides outstanding options. |  |
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How to Grow and Care for Cantaloupes
If anything says "summer" to most folks, it's a juicy slice of a good ripe melon. In addition to the familiar cantaloupe and muskmelon, a number of more exotic melons are available to home gardeners. |  |
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Cultivating Cucumbers
What would a summer salad be without the cool crunch of cucumber slices? It's no surprise that cucumbers are one of the top five home garden veggies. |  |
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Plant a Home Raspberry Patch
Who doesn't love raspberries? These delicious super-fruits are chock-full of nutrients and are easy to grow in the home garden, requiring just a little planning and some routine care. |  |
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Japanese Beetles
Japanese beetles are difficult to control. Unlike many garden pests that come in, do their damage, and then leave, Japanese beetles emerge in June and hang around for months. Here are some tips for controlling them. |  |
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Permeable Hardscaping
There are many ways to harvest rainwater in the landscape. One way to take advantage of rainwater is to allow soil surfaces to remain permeable wherever possible. |  |
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Pepper Types
Peppers can be divided into two categories: hot and sweet. The hot types include cayenne, jalapeno, and anaheim. Examples of sweet peppers are bell and pimiento. Banana and cherry peppers come both sweet and hot. |  |
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Together with Jung Seed Select items are now on sale up to 50% off including garden-ready vegetable plants, strawberries, trees, shrubs, roses, perennials and more. Shop now!
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Hepatica 'Double White'
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Plant Height: 4 to 6 inches
Leaves: Evergreen
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: White
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Spring
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
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Wood Spurge (Euphorbia x martini 'Rudolph')
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 6a -23.3 °C (-10 °F) to -20.6 °C (-5 °F)
Plant Height: 18" to 24"
Leaves: Unusual foliage color, Evergreen
Flowers: Showy, Other
Flower Color: Other
Flower Time: Spring, Late spring or early summer
Uses: Provides winter interest
Dynamic Accumulator: B (Boron)
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Toxicity: Leaves are poisonous, Roots are poisonous, Fruit is poisonous, Other
Containers: Suitable in 1 gallon, Suitable in 3 gallon or larger, Needs excellent drainage in pots
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Soldier Orchid (Zeuxine strateumatica)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 9a -6.7 °C (20 °F) to -3.9 °C (25 °F)
Plant Height: 6 inches
Leaves: Deciduous
Fruit: Edible to birds
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: White, Other
Flower Time: Late fall or early winter, Fall, Winter
Uses: Will Naturalize
Conservation status: Least Concern (LC)
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Hosta 'Abiqua Elephant Ears'
Name of Hybridizer: Walden West/Chuck Purtymun
Year of Registration: 1999
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Partial or Dappled Shade
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 3 -40 °C (-40 °F) to -37.2 °C (-35)
Leaves: Unusual foliage color
Flower Time: Summer
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Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 5a -28.9 °C (-20 °F) to -26.1 °C (-15 °F)
Plant Height: 6 to 10 feet (1.8-3m)
Plant Spread: 6 to 8 feet (1.8-2.4m)
Leaves: Deciduous
Flowers: Showy, Fragrant, Blooms on new wood
Flower Color: White, Pink, Red, Blue, Bi-Color, Purple, Lavender
Flower Time: Spring, Late spring or early summer, Summer, Late summer or early fall
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Windbreak or Hedge
Wildlife Attractant: Birds, Hummingbirds, Butterflies, Bees
Containers: Not suitable for containers
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 Photo by GigiPlumeria
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 Photo by jacqueshamel58
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 Photo by Valery33
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 Photo by blue23rose
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 Photo by Henhouse
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 Photo by GigiPlumeria
"My notocactus."
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 Photo by Hiyamakki
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 Photo by Maryl
"Hibiscus Disco Diva"
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 Photo by BlueOddish
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 Photo by BlueOddish
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Together with Dave from Victory Seed Company Edamame
My friend Rod and I shared lunch a few weeks ago at our favorite Hawaiian restaurant, and we got the usual: poke bowls with spicy ahi tuna. Poking around in the bowl, I noticed that they included edamame this time! These are actually soybeans, and they have a delightful taste similar to peas but with a much firmer texture. They also have 46% protein! I wanted to serve some to my family in my own homemade poke bowls, but balked at the store when I saw the price tag ($6 per pound, not even organic!). Food's getting expensive. But I'm a seedsman, and I remembered that we offer 5 different varieties of soybeans. So I sowed some in my garden this week, and as I await germination I am imagining the satisfaction I'll feel when I feed my family a generous amount this summer when the harvest starts coming in. I can't wait!
Soybeans are easy to grow. Wait til the soil is warm (late May is a good time in most of the US) and poke the seeds about an inch deep into loosened soil and then sit back and wait. When you harvest, boil the pods for 5 to 7 minutes, then immediately chill in cold water. Then open and remove the peas inside, and serve. The variety I'm growing this year is called Envy Soybean and I'd highly recommend it to your family, as well. Happy Gardening!
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Active threads from our forums:
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The numbers from this week:
303 members joined.
4,541 posts written in our forums.
1,574 photos posted to the plant database.
910 plants added to personal inventory lists.
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 There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder. — Alfred Austin
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