Home & Garden category, Page 8

It’s always fun to put together the annual gift guide for gardeners. They (we) are easy to buy for, so here’s a list of some of my favorite things that will make you a hero when they unwrap these unique gifts. • Growing vegetables and flowers from seeds is fun,...

There’s nothing quite like pulling a homegrown carrot from the soil for a winter meal. If you’ve never managed this feat before, perhaps this will be your year! Overwintering root vegetables is easier than you think, if you employ a successful overwintering strategy. While many gardeners store harvested root crops...

One of the most beloved winter holiday symbols — decorated and brightly lit trees — will take center stage in “Holiday Magic! Winter Flower Show and Light Garden” at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. It’s not only traditional Christmas trees that will fill the exhibit rooms at the Victorian glass...

Question: My daughter lives in Georgia and has had a healthy, blooming lipstick plant for years. Primarily it lives inside, but she puts it on the patio in summer. A few days ago while daytime temps were in the 70s, they had a frost or freeze while she was out...

There’s an unmistakable pine scent released when brushing against the evergreen trees lined up outside of Best Feeds Garden Center’s location in Ross. That aroma conjures up childhood memories of sleepless nights and presents under the tree the next morning. Owner and manager Dwayne Evans is getting ready for the...

If celeriac hasn’t yet found its way into your garden plot, make next year the year. This surprisingly tasty, bulbous root can be eaten fresh in salads, or cooked and used in soups and stews. Softball sized and looking like a lumpy chunk of tree bark, celeriac, also called celery...

Question: When can I cut back my hardy hibiscus? Also, something devastated the leaves on my hardy hibiscus this summer. How can I prevent this from happening again? Answer: Hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos) are show-stopping late-season bloomers for sunny gardens. These big beauties are hardy down to -20 degrees F,...

As I stepped out the kitchen door to walk the dog, a young deer munching on hydrangeas confronted us. This buck was in rut and looked at us as if we were competitors in the race to mate. As my dog barked wildly, the deer backed off a little but...

While the important message to “leave the leaves” has hopefully kept most gardeners from raking up every last leaf in their landscape (leaves are critical overwintering habitat for many creatures and should be left in flower and shrub beds for the winter), there are still plenty of other things to...

The outdoor growing season is over in most of the U.S., and it’s time to pause and take stock. Review those gardening impressions that delighted you as well as those that disappointed. Apply what one veteran planter calls “creative staring” to improve the look of your landscape and the rewards...

Question: We had several huge canna lilies in our garden this year. They have now been killed by these recent cold temperatures. Is it too late to dig them up? If we do, how do we keep them through the winter? Answer: Cannas are beautiful, tropical plants that make a...

It’s always a sad day to walk out to the garden after the first hard frost of the season. But as another year of growing tender plants comes to an end, there’s still time to sneak in some bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs. Often times they can be found on...

Air plants have made a comeback. These members of the bromeliad family, known as Tillandsia, were popular with 1970s houseplant growers, and they’re now back in vogue. While many folks think these cute little plants survive on just air, they’re mistaken. Air plants need a little more TLC than you...

As I savor one of my just-picked American persimmons (Diospyros virginiana), I’m reminded how this fruit — and a few other delectable fruits — would never sell. Why not? Because they’re ugly! Although the persimmons hung from the branches as handsome, plump, orange orbs up to a few weeks ago,...

There was a little patch of purple and yellow crocus flowers blooming annually at my childhood home. They were right at the base of a hose spigot near our well. When I would run home after school in the spring, I’d see those flowers and connect the dots, knowing the...

While the first frost certainly signals the end of fresh basil harvests, it doesn’t have to signal the end of all herb harvests, especially if you’re willing to get a little creative. With a little effort, you can harvest several types of fresh herbs all winter long by potting up...

Question: Now that the gardening season is over, we would like to save some seeds from our flowers and vegetables to replant in the garden next year. What’s the best way for us to do this, and can we save seeds from all plants or just certain ones? Answer: Saving...

The soft plumes of tall, ornamental grass sway in the breeze in the Sensory Garden at Pioneer Education Center in the Brookline neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The school was designed and built as a special education center. Many of its students are medically fragile with multiple disabilities. The garden at Pioneer...

The last green and blushing tomatoes still hang in the garden. It’s been a longer than usual season and they won’t be harvested until there’s a credible chance of frost. Even then, it’s not critical to have them off the vine, but soon after. Holding a tomato which has just...

Growing microgreens is a great way to get some homegrown veggies into your diet during the winter months. Microgreens are the young shoots of various plants, harvested soon after the seedling develops its first set of leaves. Microgreens are somewhere in between the “sprout” stage and the “baby greens” stage...

Nature abhors bare ground, and so should you. Her response to naked earth is to clothe it, a job at which many weeds excel. Bare soil is too easily blown and washed away by wind and water. Rainfall pounding on it seals pores, making it much harder for water to...

Question: We grew a few parsley plants in containers this year. I have three curly plants and two flat-leaved plants. Now that cold weather is here, what should I do with the plants? Will they survive the winter? I don’t think we can eat all the parsley before it would...

There are good and bad things about being obsessed with garlic. On the bright side, it’s tasty, really good for you, and when cooked, fills the house with the aroma of love. (It repels vampires, too, right?) On the downside, after eating too much, that “lovely” fragrance permeates from pores,...

Fall is the best time of year to get new trees, shrubs and perennials into the ground before cold weather sets in, and it’s often the best time to buy them, too. Garden centers traditionally mark down their off-season inventories rather than muscle them indoors for overwintering protection. Now is...