New meaning to Winter blues


Fri. Jan. 11, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  New meaning to Winter blues

Lift the blues with these blues!  There are plenty of hardy blue perennials for our cool climate!  Some lovely choices include a native called Amsonia. The cultivar is ‘Storm Cloud’.  

It’s a low-maintenance shrub-like delight that grows to about 36 inches tall and about 40 inches wide.  The leaves are a sort of olive green while the perwinkle flowers sit atop making it look like a cloud of blue.  Plant in sun  … [Continue reading]

Scale – it’s a living thing


Thu. Jan. 10, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Scale – it’s a living thing

Yesterday I talked about the new threat… EHS, Elongate Hemlock Scale.  Today I’m talking about Scale too, but these insects are natives.  Still, we don’t really appreciate them…

That word “Scale” seems odd to me for a living creature but there it is sucking the life right out of your houseplants. Scale-damaged plants look withered and sickly. Leaves turn yellow and may drop from the plant.

If left, they will kill it  … [Continue reading]

EHS – invasive alert


Wed. Jan. 9, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  EHS – invasive alert

It ain’t easy stopping invasive plants and pests from coming into our country.  The Upper Midwest just got a new warnings last week. 

The Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of Agriculture issued alerts on EHS, Elongate Hemlock Scale.  And so did South Dakota…

This guy is from Asia and feeds on the underside of conifer needles. It was discovered on wreaths, swags and other evergreen decorations sold at big box stores. The Wisconsin Department  … [Continue reading]

Light spectrum for houseplants


Tue. Jan. 8, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Light spectrum for houseplants

Yesterday I talked a little about the light spectrum for houseplants.  If you’re trying to get a houseplant to flower, ideally you’ll give it the full spectrum of light.  While you can achieve that with a combination of warm/soft bulbs and the cool/white bulbs you may consider full spectrum LED lights.   They cost more initially, but their cost savings over time makes it worth it, if you want that flowering plant!

According to a  … [Continue reading]

How to kill a houseplant in 5 easy steps


Mon. Jan. 7, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  How to kill a houseplant in 5 easy steps

Now why in the world would I tell you how to KILL a houseplant?  To try and stop you!

Seriously, most of us can easily kill houseplants – it’s the WHY we don’t always know.

  1. Poor light. Either too little, too much or poor quality. Your plant may need artificial light from the blue and red ends of the spectrum.  One soft/warm light and one cool/white light can usually
 … [Continue reading]

The catalogs are coming, time to start planning!


Fri. Jan. 4, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  The catalogs are coming, time to start planning!

Odds are pretty good you’ve already been getting catalogs in the mail from plant and seed companies.  It does a heart good at this time of year to dream of your newly designed garden with a plethora of perennials and a vast array of veggies.  It’s a really good time to look over last year’s journal. See what worked, what didn’t, what you might change.

Plans are fun to make  … [Continue reading]

Living Coral – Pantone color of the year 2019


Thu. Jan. 3, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Living Coral – Pantone color of the year 2019

As we push headlong into 2019,  Pantone has chosen the Color of the Year…  Living Coral.  As described on their website, it’s an animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge.  I see it as kind of a pinky-orangy salmon.

So who is Pantone and how come THEY get to pick a “color of the year”.  It’s a  … [Continue reading]

Clearing the air and a fresh start


Wed. Jan. 2, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Clearing the air and a fresh start

The aromas of holiday cooking still linger in our minds and perhaps in the drapes too if we’ve burned anything!  Not that I would know about that! But in case I did, I know a way to “clear the air”.

Plants!  Decades ago NASA, yes the THAT NASA, proved plants could remove volatile chemicals from the air Including formaldehyde which is found in, or used to produce, a multitude of everyday  … [Continue reading]

Champagne History


Mon. Dec. 31, 2018

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Champagne History

From “Mad wine” to “the Bubbly” – a history of Champagne – the wine most associated with festive occasions!

The bubbles in the wine are a natural process arising from Champagne’s cold climate and short growing season.  The grapes are picked late in the year. This doesn’t leave enough time for the yeast present on the grape skins to convert the sugar in the pressed grape juice into alcohol before the cold winter temps put a  … [Continue reading]

Deer resistant seeds?


Fri. Dec. 28, 2018

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Deer resistant seeds?

I’ll admit, when I first saw the ad for “Deer resistant seeds”, I thought they were genetically modified somehow.  That shocked me as the ad came from a highly respected seed company known for native plants!  They wouldn’t genetically modify?  Would they?  No, of course not.  So here’s what they did do….

Prairie Moon Nursery out of Winona, MN, has rolled out a deer-resistant seed mix for 2019.  They are a native seed company focused  … [Continue reading]